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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Practicing Without Your Orchestra December 18th, 2021 It’s always been a problem – you want to practice your piano concerto and the orchestra is away for the day, or on a break, or just not able to assemble due to the new social distancing rules. You need -
Legitimatizing Jazz and Failing: Copland’s Piano Concerto December 17th, 2021 American composer Aaron Copland (1900-1990) only wrote one work for piano and orchestra, his 1926 Piano Concerto. To put this work in context, we need to listen to it not only as a work by the young American composer newly -
On This Day
17 December: Ludwig van Beethoven Was Born December 17th, 2021Ludwig van Beethoven probably wasn’t actually born on 17 December, but in the absence of an authentic record of birth, we rely on the registry of his baptism in the Catholic Parish of St. Remigius in Bonn on 17 December -
Hearing Beethoven a New Way
Michael Gordon: Rewriting Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony December 16th, 2021In 2020, the year the “Beethoven Year” met the COVID-19 virus, we heard hours and hours and miles of miles of Beethoven. We recently found, however, a different version of Beethoven that we found very intriguing. American composer Michael Gordon -
Camille Saint-Saëns December 16th, 2021 “I am an eclectic spirit” Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921) was one of the leaders of the French musical renaissance during the later part of the 19th century. He was a scholar of music history and tolerant of a wide range of -
Henryk Wieniawski and Isabella Hampton
“Music May Melt the Heart of Stone” December 15th, 2021We all know that music may melt the heart of stone! And that was seemingly the case when Mr. Hampton heard the Légende by superstar violinist and composer Henryk Wieniawski (1835-1880). You see, Henryk had fallen in love with Isabella -
Mixing the Symphony and the Concerto: Lalo’s Symphonie espagnole December 15th, 2021 The 1870s were a time for Spanish, or Spanish-themed music, especially by French composers. Édouard Lalo’s Symphony espagnole was written in 1874 and a months after its February premiere, Bizet’s Carmen has its premiere at the Opera-Comique in Paris. Pablo -
What Should We Be Looking for in Chopin Competition?
A Promising Pianist or a Chopinist? December 14th, 2021This is a never-ending question that always sparks heated debate, which sometimes even the jury can’t come to an agreement. It was also why Fou Ts’ong protested against awarding the first prize to Stanislav Bunin by not signing the verdict