The love story between Robert and Clara Schumann is often regarded as one of the most romantic in classical music history. Happily for historians, many of their love letters survive. They document their inner thoughts and emotions, as well as
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Food for Thought
Mealtime with Richard Wagner October 22nd, 2022As we all know, Richard Wagner (1813-1883) was a man of numerous contradictions. And that is certainly true of his eating habits as well. According to his second wife Cosima, Richard Wagner was “in principle” a vegetarian, but “in practice -
Dance, Dance, Dance: The Quadrille October 21st, 2022 You might know the Quadrille as a dance from Alice in Wonderland. When she’s speaking with the Mock Turtle and the Gryphon, they tell her about the dance they used to perform at school, when they were learning the fundamentals -
Musicians and Artists: Musgrave and the Seasons October 20th, 2022 Thea Musgrave: The Seasons Inspired by Paintings From the 15th to 20th Century When we think of a musical work called The Seasons, we first think of Vivaldi’s set of violin concertos or Glazunov’s ballet or Tchaikovsky’s cycle for piano, -
On This Day
20 October: Ivo Pogorelichh Was Born October 20th, 2022For his admirers, Ivo Pogorelich “has broadened the horizons of piano literature with his evocative interpretations and refined musical taste.” Others suggest that he is capable of producing a vast tonal palette, although his interpretations can sometimes be marred by -
How Do Recording Sessions Work? October 19th, 2022 Things That Actually Happen in the Recording Studio The world of session recordings can seem quite mysterious from the outside. What actually happens in the recording studio, and how is it to work as a musician in a recording session? -
On This Day
19 October: Richard Wagner’s Tannhäuser Was Premiered October 19th, 2022Prior to his transformation of operatic thought via the notion of the “Gesamtkunstwerk,” a concept that attempted to achieve a synthesis of poetic, visual, musical, and dramatic arts, Richard Wagner was predominantly known as an opera composer in the romantic -
On This Day
18 October: Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 Was Premiered October 18th, 2022In the afternoon of 24 February 1901, Gustav Mahler conducted the sixth Philharmonic concert in a performance of Bruckner’s Fifth Symphony. Mahler had been unhappy that Bruckner had left so many passages and themes “of a Beethovenian grandeur not carried -
The Greatest Composers of Film Music
From John Williams to Tan Dun October 17th, 2022Do you know the answer to the question as to which film score the American Film Institute considers the greatest film score of all time? I am sure you can hazard a pretty good guess, but just in case, the