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
19 June: Elgar’s Enigma Variations Was Premiered June 19th, 2022One October evening in 1898, having returned home after a long day teaching, Edward Elgar lit a cigar and began to improvise at the piano. Elgar recalls, “I began to play, and suddenly my wife interrupted by saying: ‘Edward, that’s -
Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527)
“It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both” June 18th, 2022Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527) is frequently called the father of modern political philosophy and political science. Machiavelli’s best-known book Il Principe (The Prince) was written around 1513 and contemplates a new type of ruler not guided by the conventions of heredity. -
Anton Reicha: Inventing the Wind Quintet June 17th, 2022 Antonín Rejcha, later Antoine or Anton Reicha (1770-1836) came from a hard childhood. His father, Simon, the town piper of Prague, died when he was 10 months old and at age 11, he ran away from his mother who couldn’t -
On This Day
17 June: Charles Gounod Was Born June 17th, 2022Charles Gounod, born on 17 June 1818 in Paris, is primarily remembered as the composer of the opera Faust and an Ave Maria descant to the first prelude of J.S. Bach’s C-major prelude from the WTC. Yet in his day, -
King and Composer:
Henry VIII of England (1491-1547) June 16th, 2022We have a variety of images of Henry VIII, King of England (1491-1547). The majority of them come from late in his life, when he was overweight and suffering from a sequential wife problem. Or maybe it was a sequence -
On This Day
16 June: Spohr’s Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra No. 1 Was Premiered June 16th, 2022When it comes to collaborations between clarinetists and composer we quickly think of Mozart and Stadler, Weber and Baermann, and Brahms and Mühlfeld. In my opinion, these pairing should also include Louis Spohr and Johann Simon Hermstedt. Hermstedt was born -
From Tragedy to Art: Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, “Resurrection” June 15th, 2022 The Birth of Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony When he started work on his second symphony, Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) started with a funerary idea. After a performance of Carl Maria von Weber’s comic opera Die drei Pintos, which Mahler had completed from -
On This Day
15 June: Edvard Grieg Was Born June 15th, 2022Bergen is Norway’s second-largest city, picturesquely located on the west coast of the country. It is known as “the city of seven mountains,” and the birthplace of Edvard Hagerup Grieg. He was born on 15 June 1843 to Alexander Grieg