We’ve looked at Schubert’s song cycles, but that was only a small part of the enormous number of lieder he wrote. There were many other poets he set than just the majors we are so familiar with (Goethe, Schiller, and

When we think of Marc Chagall and opera, we think first of the wonderful murals he created for the Metropolitan Opera in New York and the Paris Opera. Born in Russia in 1887, Chagall was largely self-taught due to the

We mentioned the collection Schwanengesang in our last Schubert article. The collection was put together posthumously by Schubert’s publisher without regard to Schubert’s usual practice or Schubert’s probable wishes. Schubert never mixed his poets and also had a firm regard

After the simple joys and fatal ending of Die schöne Müllerin, the feeling of Winterreise comes as an interesting change. This time, Schubert set all 24 of the verses written by Wilhelm Müller. The cycle was first published in 1823

If you’ve been reading my column on instrument makers over the years, you certainly must have noticed that I am highly critical of the huge number of mass-produced and bland pianos that are being churned out by established brands every

In my September Interlude article I focused on the close relationship between Bauhaus architecture, art and music. It is interesting to note, however, that the Bauhaus’ own teaching program consisted of studies in architecture, art and various crafts, whereas music

A Look at Schubert Vocal Works When we look at Franz Schubert’s song output, it is a truly amazing number. In just a few years, 11 to be exact, Schubert (1797-1828) wrote over 600 songs. The poets he set varied

Many countries have songs that are patriotic but that are not their national anthems. Sometimes these are known as the ‘unofficial national anthems’ and sometimes they’re just more familiar.