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
Latest article
Spotlight
-
A World of Influences
The Orchestral Music of Thomas de Hartmann June 26th, 2022The Ukrainian-born composer Thomas de Hartmann (1885-1956) studied at the Imperial Conservatory of Music with the three greatest Russian composers of the late 19th-century: Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Anton Arensky, and Sergei Taneyev after entering the conservatory at age 11. The first -
Remember Me!
Dido’s Apocalyptic Romance June 26th, 2022Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas in Different Instrumentations At the tragic conclusion to English composer Henry Purcell’s opera Dido and Aeneas, Aeneas has been given a message supposedly sent by the god Jove to leave Dido and Carthage and to -
On This Day
26 June: Mahler’s Symphony No. 9 Was Premiered June 26th, 2022After listening to Mahler’s Ninth Symphony, the American physician and poet Lewis Thomas wrote an essay that addresses the anxieties produced by the development of nuclear weapons. “I cannot listen to Mahler’s Ninth with anything like the old melancholy mixed -
The Parents of Wi-Fi
Hedy Lamarr and George Antheil June 25th, 2022Do you know the joke about the Hollywood screen goddess and the bad boy of music collaborating to invent a remote-controlled torpedo? Funny enough, it actually isn’t a joke but a delightful anecdote from the pages of music and science -
Weird and Wonderful: Discovering Classical Music with a Difference June 25th, 2022 Sometimes composer break out of their box – make a new sound – make you hear music a new way – and sometimes it’s the performers who help as well. Take a listen to these performances and these interesting works -
Prince and Composer
Prince Johann Ernst of Saxe-Weimar (1696 – 1715) June 24th, 2022Johann Ernst died at age 18, in 1715, but in his few years, wrote 19 concertos and a trumpet sonata. Two of his concertos were arranged for keyboard by no less a composer than J.S. Bach. His importance lies in -
Whom Would You Have Chosen if You Had Been on the Jury of Cliburn 2022? June 24th, 2022 One of the most prestigious piano competitions worldwide, the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition 2022 has finally come to an end after an enduring 17 days, in which competitors had to go through 4 rounds and prepare solo recitals of -
Scandalous Tales of Society Told in Ceramic
Faustina Bordoni and Johann Adolf Hasse June 23rd, 2022The Italian mezzo-soprano Faustina Bordoni (1697-1781) started her career in opera in Venice in 1716. She created dozens of roles as she moved around Italy: Milan, Modena, Bologna, Naples before moving north and creating a sensation in Munich and Vienna.