Specific cities have inspired a huge amount of classical music over the years. Today, we’re looking at a selection of classical works explicitly connected to major cities, examining how each composer responded to each place. Some pieces reflect civic pride
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Maurice Ravel and His Circle of Friends November 6th, 2022 How private was Maurice Ravel’s private life? Well, to this day nobody has uncovered conclusive evidence that he ever had a sexual relationship. While his music is passionate and distinctive, Ravel’s personality remains mysterious. His friend and biographer Alexis Roland-Manuel -
Playing Music Has Amazing Benefits for Young and Old November 5th, 2022 Did you know that years of music training can dramatically shape our brains? Those of us who spend many years practicing—repeating passages, mastering scales, and working on studies and repertoire—know that we not only become better musicians as a result. -
Musicians and Artists: Turnage and Bacon November 5th, 2022 Mark-Anthony Turnage: Three screaming popes British artist Francis Bacon (1909-1992) was a figurative painter in terms of starting with a figure. Where he took that figure, into often unsettling portraits, made him one of the giants of contemporary British art. -
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5 November: György Cziffra Was Born November 5th, 2022György Cziffra, born in Budapest on 5 November 1921, must be counted among the greatest pianists of the twentieth century. “Born with outstanding talent in circumstances of dire poverty, he survived war, imprisonment and hard labor as a political prisoners, -
Dance, Dance, Dance: The Waltz November 4th, 2022 After the quadrille had had its day, the waltz took the dance floors of Europe by storm. The title for the dance comes from the German meaning to revolve and that twirling motion was the primary characteristic of the form. -
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4 November: Gabriel Fauré Died November 4th, 2022Once he had reached the age of 75, Gabriel Fauré retired as head of the Paris Conservatoire in October 1920. He was excited to finally have the time to devote himself entirely to composition, and “produced a series of works -
The Mechanics of Movie Music in Concert November 3rd, 2022 Rehearsing and Performing Film Music in Orchestral Concerts I look out across the audience from my seat on the stage of the Royal Albert Hall. The audience is slowly filling the building, couples holding hands, parents with young children, and… -
On This Day
3 November: Vincenzo Bellini Was Born November 3rd, 2022The city of Catania, at the beginning of the 19th century, was considered the jewel of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Picturesquely located on Sicily’s east coast, it sits at the base of Mount Etna, one of the tallest