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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Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres January 28th, 2022 “Fine and Delicate Taste Is the Fruit of Education and Experience” The popular French expression “le violon d’Ingres” essentially makes reference to a secondary skill or hobby, that is, an activity done in one’s leisure time. This figurative term originated -
George Rochberg: Caprice Variations
Léo Marillier: Violin January 27th, 2022The violin virtuoso Niccolò Paganini (1782-1840) wrote his set of 24 Caprices for Solo Violin between 1802 and 1817. Dedicated by Paganini to ‘all artists’ upon its publication by Ricordi in 1820, his own score carries names of performers and -
On This Day
27 January: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Was Born January 27th, 2022On 27 January 1756 a boy was born to Leopold Mozart and his wife Anna Maria, née Pertl, in an apartment on the third floor of Getreidegasse 9 in the city of Salzburg. That particular house is still standing, and -
The Soul of the Composer: Simone Menezes’ Metanoia Project January 26th, 2022 Metanoia, a change in one’s way of life resulting from penitence or spiritual conversion, can be considered one of the interesting offshoots of the whole COVID period. If we redefine it away from spiritual matters and make it “transformations in -
On This Day
26 January: Gustavo Dudamel Was Born January 26th, 2022Son of a trombonist and a singing teacher, Gustavo Dudamel was born 26 January 1981 in Barquisimeto, Venezula. In this city full of crime and drugs, Gustavo initially took violin lessons, but he had a favorite game as a child. -
The Lost Art of the Composer-Conductor January 25th, 2022 It is not only the essence of music which has evolved over the centuries, but also the manner in which it has and is being created, produced and performed — its medium. As music became more and more complex, its -
Looking From the Inside Out: Self-Portraits in Music
Couperin, Poulenc, Thomson, and Ligeti January 23rd, 2022How does a composer look at himself? In these works, covering some 400 years, we’ll see composers’ self-portraits in music and try to discern how they saw themselves. Seeing himself in an allemande rhythm, the French composer François Couperin (1668-1733) -
On This Day
23 January: Yvonne Lefébure Died January 23rd, 2022Yvonne Lefébure, who passed away on 23 January 1986 in Paris, was one of the premiere French pianists and teachers of the 20th century. She was a remarkably well-rounded and cultured musician with a no-nonsense approach to performing and to