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Ten Excerpts from Robert Schumann’s Love Letters to Clara
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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Spotlight

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  • What’s Better Than One Violin, Viola, and Cello? TWO! String Sextets What’s Better Than One Violin, Viola, and Cello? TWO! String Sextets
    The combination of two violins, two violas, and two cellos is a lush and almost orchestral sound. Most musicians I know relish the opportunity to play string sextets. Even so, these works are not played as often as other chamber
  • Dance, Dance, Dance: The Pavan and Galliard Dance, Dance, Dance: The Pavan and Galliard
    We saw in the Baroque dance suite that the dances were in pairs: Allemande–Courente and then Sarabande–Gigue. Those dances had tempos of slow/fast and this continues with our next pair, the Pavane and Galliard. The Pavan came from Italy and
  • Food and Meals as the Cue in Operas Food and Meals as the Cue in Operas
    Meals and food in operas can be dramatic turning points – let’s look at how they can help us understand the character more deeply or provide the push for the action. At the very end of Mozart’s Don Giovanni, the
  • Andrey Gugnin Andrey Gugnin
    Playing Is ‘Your Reflection Of Your Soul’ Andrey Gugnin Plays Chopin’s Sonata No. 3 Russian pianist Andrey Gugnin has toured all over the world, performing across Europe, America and Australia, and makes his Hong Kong debut on 16 September, giving
  • Composers and Poets: Walton and Sitwell Composers and Poets: Walton and Sitwell
    The musico-poetic work Façade: An Entertainment Called ‘the high priestess of 20th century poetry,’ English author Edith Sitwell used her experimental poetry to drive a dying form forward. Sitwell (1887-1964) filled her poetry with melody, new rhythms, and confusing private
  • The Melody of Death: The Dies Irae The Melody of Death: The Dies Irae
    Composers make up melodies all the time and create new and innovative pieces to show off those talents. Occasionally, though, they go back to older melodies, even melodies that they may not have written, and use them to make a