The solo violin has long been acknowledged as the perfect instrument to express emotions like love, longing, heartbreak, rapture, and romance. The Romantic era lasted from the early nineteenth century to the early twentieth century and produced numerous works that
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In Praise of the Classical Music Nerd May 16th, 2023 A nerd is a person seen as overly intellectual, obsessive, [or] introverted…. Such a person may spend inordinate amounts of time on unpopular, little known, or non-mainstream activities, which are generally either highly technical, [or] abstract….to the exclusion of more -
9 Greatest Arias by Gaetano Donizetti May 15th, 2023 175 years ago, Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848) died in a state of mental derangement due to neurosyphilis. His disease was confirmed by autopsy, and many commentators have “speculated that the composer’s brain disease may have had an influence on his ability -
On This Day
15 May: Stravinsky’s Pulcinella Was Premiered May 15th, 2023In 1917, Igor Stravinsky and Pablo Picasso made an excursion to Naples, with the composer commenting on its “half Spanish character, on the pleasure he found in the aquarium, and in the Neapolitan watercolors.” They also attended a commedia dell’arte -
Music for Every Room
Dr. J. Clarence Chambers’ All American May 14th, 2023Dr. J. Clarence Chambers (1910–2006), in his studies at Amherst College, became the rehearsal pianist for the music department’s operetta performances. He graduated in 1934 from Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons and did his internship at Harlem Hospital. -
Edward Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance
“Regal Pageantry” May 14th, 2023Like countless people around the world, I recently settled in to watch at least part of the coronation of Charles III and Queen Camilla. This ceremony has great tradition and theatricality, from the arrival of the golden carriage to the -
On This Day
14 May: Otto Klemperer was Born May 14th, 2023When famed conductor Otto Klemperer was roughly nine years of age, he encountered “the man who was to be the central inspiration of his entire life as a musician.” He remembers “seeing Mahler on the street when I was quite -
5 Composers Who Died in the Holocaust Who You Need to Know May 13th, 2023 The impact of the loss of life under the Nazi regime was incalculable. One of the only ways we can begin to comprehend the scale of the destruction is by looking at the impact that the Holocaust had on individual -
Wearing Your Music on Your Gown May 13th, 2023 The 2023 Met Gala brought out all kinds of dresses, including Karl Lagerfeld’s 40-year-old violin dress, designed in 1983 for Chloé, worn here by Olivia Wilde. But Lagerfeld wasn’t the only designer to find his inspiration in the instruments of