In essence

1705 Posts
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The Top Ten Loves of Franz Liszt’s Life
Women loved Franz Liszt, and Franz Liszt loved women. The pianist and composer is almost as famous for his love life and his effect on women as his music-making. Today we’re looking at ten of the most intense love affairs
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Electronics and La Marseillaise
Danish composer Else Marie Pade (1924-2016) was a pioneer in electronic music. Her initial music studies were in piano and composition, moving into 12-tone technique. In 1954, inspired by the first electronic composers such as Pierre Schaeffer, she became Denmark’s
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Making the River Accessible
The Blue Danube for Other Voices
If you love The Blue Danube, but didn’t happen to have an orchestra hanging about, there were many options for being able to play the piece at home, either by yourself or with friends. For solo piano, the work is
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A War Cemetery in Sound
Johanna Doderer’s Second Symphony “Bohinj”
Austrian composer Johanna Doderer (b. 1969) looked at the Slovenian Lake Bohinj for her second symphony, Bohinj (2015). Lake Bohinj in Slovenia is a remote lake on the edge of Triglav National Park. Ms. Doderer first focused on the magnificent
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Eduard Tubin: Kratt
The Goblin from Estonian folklore
When I was writing my blog on the Estonian composer Eduard Tubin, I came across a quote that reads, “Eduard Tubin is to Estonia what Jean Sibelius is to Finland.” This struck me as a very insightful statement. Both composers
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Mozart and Death and Klezmer and Healing
Filip Runesson’s Hur länge ska hon vara död? (after W.A. Mozart’s Requiem in D Minor, K. 626) Mozart and Death, but not the way you think about it. Swedish musician Filip Runesson took Mozart’s Requiem and rearranged it in klezmer
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A Whale Strangled by a Giant Squid
Ralph Vaughan Williams’s Tuba Concerto
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the London Symphony Orchestra, a very special premiere took place on 13 June 1954. Philip Catelinet, the orchestra’s principal tuba player, featured as the soloist in Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Tuba Concerto,
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Ghosting in Rag Time
William Bolcom’s 3 Ghost Rags
American composer William Bolcom (b. 1938) brought popular music of the 19th century back into the spotlight, first with his many recordings with Joan Morris, mezzo-soprano, of music from the Golden Era at the turn of the 20th century. Show
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