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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Musicians and Artists: Leisner and Bellows September 15th, 2022 David Leisner: Dances in the Madhouse American realist painter George Bellows (1882–1925) is best known for his realist paintings of New York City. Before that, while still in his student years in the Midwest, he made a drawing based on -
On This Day
15 September: Jessye Norman Was Born September 15th, 2022The incomparable Jessye Mae Norman was born on 15 September 1945 into the segregated American South. As she wrote in her memoirs, “I am the joy and pride of my maternal grandmother, looking out over a front yard overflowing with -
1937: The Year of the Ondes Martenot September 14th, 2022 It was the hot new instrument in town – eventually combining a seemingly traditional keyboard with the modern valve/tube technology developed in the first world war. Maurice Martenot (1898-1980) developed his ‘Ondes Musicales’ (musical waves) instrument in 1928, first as -
On This Day
14 September: Tōru Takemitsu’s Fantasma Was Premiered September 14th, 2022Commissioned by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) for the clarinetist Richard Stoltzman and the BBC Welsh Symphony Orchestra, Fantasma/Cantos for clarinet and orchestra first sounded on 14 September 1991 in Cardiff. In this composition, Takemitsu imagined the orchestra as a -
Music to Make You Run Away
L. Frank Baum’s The Patchwork Girl of Oz September 13th, 2022In his 1913 children’s book, The Patchwork Girl of Oz, L. Frank Baum added a bit of music criticism into his text. His characters disapprove of classical music, ragtime, and ‘popular’ music, and, in fact, you sense a slight disapproval -
On This Day
13 September: Clara Schumann Was Born September 13th, 2022An eminent scholar writes, “Clara Schumann was the creative partner of three men: Friedrich Wieck, Robert Schumann, and Johannes Brahms. Her father was her sole teacher, much maligned for the role he later played in the romance between his daughter -
Famous Music Composers
New York September 12th, 2022In 1944, Leonard Bernstein wrote music for the musical On the Town. It tells the story of three sailors on shore leave for their 24 hours of adventures and romance in New York City. The song “New York, New York,” -
On This Day
12 September: Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 Was Premiered September 12th, 2022On 12 September 1910, audiences in Munich were treated to a unique classical music extravaganza. For the premiere of his 8th Symphony, Gustav Mahler had assembled a performing cast that stretched the resources to their limits. It involved 858 singers,