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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Three Female Composers in Société Nationale de Musique
Augusta Holmès, Clémence de Grandval and Marie Jaëll January 9th, 2022In 1871, the loss of Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871) led to a musical movement in France to strive for a real “Frenchness” of music. Under the leadership of Camille Saint-Saëns and Vincent d’Indy, Société Nationale de Musique adopted the motto “Ars -
Time of Day: Morning
Schwanter, Bax, Delius, Baltas, Fokkens, Achalinotopoulos, and Grieg January 9th, 2022Morning can be a time for a slow start – a reflection on the day to come, a slow sip of a warm beverage, waiting for the sun to make its appearance. We’ll ignore those mornings we used to have -
Teaching Healthy Piano Technique with Penelope Roskell January 9th, 2022 A comprehensive course for piano teachers Following on from the success of her award-winning book, The Complete Pianist: from healthy technique to natural artistry (Peters Edition, 2020), renowned pedagogue Penelope Roskell has now produced a nine-hour series of videos which -
Conductors 1/3: Conductor Basics.
Who Are They and What Do They Do? January 8th, 2022If you’ve ever spoken to an orchestral musician, it is almost without doubt that you will have experienced at some point or another an (often strong) opinion on a conductor they recently worked with. It’s like British people with the -
On This Day
8 January: Alexis Weissenberg Died January 8th, 2022On 8 January 2012, the legendary pianist Alexis Weissenberg died in Lugano, Switzerland. Weissenberg possessed otherworldly technical prowess, but was taken to task for his unsentimental and cold performances. Sitting stoically at the keyboard, he barely raised an eyebrow, cracked -
On This Day
7 January: Francis Poulenc Was Born January 7th, 2022Francis Poulenc (1899-1963) was one of the most original and sincere voices of the 20th century. His music and personality mirror the often-conflicting nature of humanity. Simultaneously earthy and refined, a promiscuous homosexual who fathered a daughter late in his -
Introduction to a Podcast: A Musician Who Can’t Tolerate Sound; My Story January 7th, 2022 It’s no secret that our world is becoming toxically noisy. People like to make a lot of noise. In fact, for some musicians, producing a huge sound is a goal in itself. But at what cost? Like overuse syndromes, the -
Benjamin Britten: Songs from the Chinese January 6th, 2022 Benjamin Britten was working on the full-length ballet The Prince of the Pagodas when he wrote to Edith Sitwell that he was “on the threshold of a new musical world.” This project, slated for Covent Garden, was set aside for