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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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 -
On This Day
26 September: George Gershwin Was Born September 26th, 2022George Gershwin thought of himself as “a modern romantic” but more than any other American composer of the period “his impact on the American musical scene is of social as well as musical significance.” The son of Russian-Jewish immigrants, born -
Opera Doctors – the 20th century, Part II September 25th, 2022 The character of Dr. Daniel Athanasius in Hans Pfiztner’s 1931 opera Das Herz returns us to the Faustian pacts we saw in the 19th century, however, this opera has a very different ending. Instead of being dragged down to hell, -
School Music Teachers: Ingenuity, Innovation, and Inspiration September 25th, 2022 Christian Li Plays Handel Halvorsen Violin and viola duo Once again, it’s back to school time and music teachers are preparing their classrooms with equipment and with innovation. You’d be surprised how many issues a music teacher encounters. Organizing the -
On This Day
25 September: Glenn Gould Was Born September 25th, 2022Nothing could possibly have prepared Florence Emma Gold and Russell Herbert Gold for the arrival of their son Glenn Herbert, born on 25 September 1932 in Toronto. Florence was a part-time voice teacher, and her maternal grandfather John Charles Holman -
King and Composer: Henry V of England September 24th, 2022 We know of Henry V through Shakespeare’s eponymous history play, telling of the events surrounding the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. We first met Henry V when he was plain Hal, bouncing around the play Henry IV, parts 1 and