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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On This Day
1 October: Vladimir Horowitz Was Born October 1st, 2022On his Russian tour in 1912, the fabled pianist Josef Hofmann performed twenty-one consecutive recitals, with each program different and no single work repeated. Since his recitals were sold out weeks ahead of time, the eight-year-old Vladimir Horowitz snuck into -
Dance, Dance, Dance: The Branle September 30th, 2022 The Branle was a group dance, performed by couples in a line or in a circle. The name of the dance comes from the French verb ‘branler’, meaning to shake, sway, or wobble because of the sideways steps. After the -
On This Day
30 September: David Oistrakh Was Born September 30th, 2022A good many commentators consider David Oistrakh as one of the preeminent violinists of the 20th century. Said to represent “the ideal violinist, combining fingers of steel with a heart of gold,” Oistrakh made playing the violin look easy. His -
Brett Dean’s The Lost Art of Letter Writing September 29th, 2022 In his 2009 violin concerto, composer Brett Dean looked at an art form that is not only being lost in today’s world but being replaced with something that gives a different level of satisfaction: the letter. The Lost Art of -
How Influence Carries
Perilous Night From Cage to Johns to Crumb September 28th, 2022In 1944, John Cage wrote a work for prepared piano that reached beyond the sound into emotion. The Perilous Night takes its title from Arthurian legend, where the knight Gawain, in the Marvelous Castel, encounters a bed on ruby wheels -
On This Day
28 September: Krzysztof Penderecki’s Polish Requiem Was Premiered September 28th, 2022The Stuttgart Liederhalle witnessed an unusual premiere performance on 28 September 1984. It featured a Russian conductor, a German choir and orchestra, an American soprano, a German mezzo-soprano, a Polish tenor, and a British bass. They had gathered to present -
More Than a Toy
Everything About the Toy Piano September 27th, 2022There are a surprising number of pieces written for toy piano. One of the most famous is John Cage’s Suite for Toy Piano (1948) but the instrument has a much longer history, dating back to the mid-19th century. As pianos -
Nicknamed Compositions by Franz Schubert September 26th, 2022 During the first decades of the 19th Century, the city of Vienna must have been a real party town. Conductors, performers and composers from all parts of Europe flocked to the city to take advantage of the rapidly expanding employment