In classical music, the Romantic Era lasted from around 1810 to around 1910. That century gave us some of the most famous symphonies in the repertoire. Nineteenth-century composers like Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Dvořák, Schubert, Mahler, Rachmaninoff, and others elevated the symphony
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Paraskeva Clark’s Petroushka February 15th, 2023 The crowd gathers in the cobbled yard, children lifted to their shoulders. They are called to the puppet theatre by the showman with the bass drum on his back. On top of the theatre appear three characters: a man in -
Comrade Composers
Aaron Copland, Louis Durey and Alan Bush February 14th, 2023A group of foreign delegates arrived in New York in late March 1949 to advance the cause of world peace. The “Cultural and Scientific Conference for World Peace” was to prove that the Iron Curtain did not divide the world, -
On This Day
14 February: Renée Fleming Was Born February 14th, 2023For Renée Fleming, born on 14 February 1959 in Indiana, Pennsylvania, music was part of her earliest memories. “My memories so often involve someone singing,” she writes, “or me singing, or someone striking the first notes on the piano that -
Violin Masterworks Inspired by Pablo de Sarasate February 13th, 2023 Pablo de Sarasate (1844-1908), alongside Henryk Wieniawski, Joseph Joachim, Eugène Ysaye, and countless others, was part of a group of violin virtuosi that decidedly contributed to the development of instrumental music as both performers and composers. But what is more, -
On This Day
13 February: Ignaz Friedman Was Born February 13th, 2023On 13 February 1882 in Podgórze, near Kraków, Salomea (Salcia) Friedman (Freudmann) gave birth to her son Solomon Isaac (Ignacy). She had already suffered six miscarriages and stillbirths before giving birth, and she had married the father Nachman Wolf (Wolko) -
Cellists and Their Composers
Mendelssohn Sonatas: On the Cusp of the Romantic Cello February 12th, 2023Although Felix Mendelssohn predated Brahms, his cello music is on the cusp of romanticism, bridging the classical and the romantic periods of music. He wrote two cello sonatas, No. 1 in B-flat Op. 45, and No. 2 in D Major -
Antonín Dvořák and His Circle of Friends II February 12th, 2023 The fierce music critic Eduard Hanslick (1825-1904) became aware of Antonín Dvořák’s music when he was a member of the commission which offered state scholarships to impoverished young musicians. In fact, Hanslick was instrumental in furthering Dvořák’s career by taking -
Musicians and Artists: Mondrian’s Broadway Boogie-Woogie and Three Composers February 11th, 2023 Piet Mondrian (1872–1944) was a Dutch painter who expanded the modern abstract painter’s vocabulary by reducing his colour choices and moving to geometric elements to express his art. He is now regarded as one of the greatest artists of the