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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Past & Present: Overtures for the Concert Hall November 10th, 2024 William Shakespeare, the immortal “Bard of Avon”, is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world’s pre-eminent dramatist. He has given us 38 plays, 154 sonnets, and two narrative poems alongside other verses of uncertain -
Sigurd Raschèr: King of Sax November 9th, 2024 In the 1840s, the Parisian instrument builder Adolphe Sax provided a welcome addition to the family of woodwind instruments. Named after its inventor, the saxophone features a single reed mouthpiece like the clarinet, a conical brass body like the ophicleide, -
14 Pieces of Classical Music About the Sky November 6th, 2024 Whenever people are looking for inspiration, they often look up into the sky. Classical composers are no exception. We’ve gathered fourteen pieces of classical music that encourage us to take a breath, go outside, and look up. Franz Liszt: Nuages - Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924)
An Anniversary Cello Tribute November 4th, 2024On 4 November 2024, we commemorate the 100th anniversary of the death of Gabriel Fauré. He might well have been the greatest master of French songs, with his settings achieving a beautiful balance of prosody, melody, harmony, and polyphony. In -
Chamber Music Dedicated to Johannes Brahms November 1st, 2024 We’ve looked at compositions dedicated to Johannes Brahms before, let’s put our focus on various chamber music pieces dedicated to Brahms this time. Heinrich von Herzogenberg: Piano Quartet in B-flat Major, Op. 95 Heinrich von Herzogenberg: Piano Quartet in B-flat -
15 Pieces of Classical Music About Trees October 30th, 2024 No matter how many of us end up moving into towns and cities, human beings are still irresistibly drawn to forests, woodlands, and trees. Classical composers are no exception. In fact, a huge percentage of them were great nature lovers -
The 10 Most Beautiful Piano Quintets in Classical Music October 28th, 2024 A piano quintet is generally a composition for piano and four other instruments. Composers throughout the ages have combined a variety of instruments to play along with the piano, but the standardised form of instrumentation features the string quartet. Interestingly, - Goldfish
“Moving Flowers” October 28th, 2024Two visually stunning icons habitually greet visitors to Japan. One, of course, is the iconic Mount Fuji towering over the Kanto plains. The other icon is rather more subtle and it was first brought to Japan in 1502 by Chinese
