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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Murakami & Music December 21st, 2021 The Japanese author and writer Haruki Murakami is quite passionate about music. So much, that his works are filled with quotations, references and inspiration from the music world, and some of them even take their structure in musical works. He -
Peter Ritzen: The Last Empress Piano Concerto December 21st, 2021 The pianist and composer Peter Ritzen, born in Ghent, Belgium in 1956 might not be a household name in Europe and the United States, but he certainly enjoys high acclaim in Mainland China and in Taiwan. In fact, between 2009 -
Christmas Bells are Ringing December 20th, 2021 Depending on your location, there might already be a touch of frost in the air. Days are getting shorter and the nights much darker and longer. There might even be a whiff of snow in the air. Judging by the -
On This Day
20 December: Arturo Márquez Was Born December 20th, 2021Born on 20 December 1950 in the colonial town of Álamos deep in the Sonoran desert, Arturo Márquez has “always been enthralled by the music bubbling out of cafes and dance salons in Mexico.” That love for the musical forms -
Poetry and Music:
Whitman and Vaughan Williams and Holst December 19th, 2021The American visionary poet Walt Whitman (1819-1892) was one of the transitional writers between transcendentalism and realism and his works reflect both points of view. He is considered the ‘father of free verse’ and his non-sectarian poems and his views -
Exploring Partitas III
Marx, Casella, Martinů, Petrassi, Dressel, Leighton, Penderecki, and Pärt December 19th, 2021Joseph Marx (1882-1964) enjoyed an esteemed reputation as a major composer and teacher. Nikolay Medtner, one of the most important representatives of the group of composers based in Moscow that included Sergei Rachmaninoff, Alexander Scriabin and Alexander Taneyev expressed his -
From Ugly Duckling to Leading Composer
Tālivaldis Ķeniņš: Symphony No. 6, “Sinfonia ad Fugam” December 19th, 2021Latvian-born composer Tālivaldis Ķeniņš (1919-2008) was educated first in Latvia and then in France, and made his home in Canada, serving on the faculty of the University of Toronto. He composed across many genres, with his output including 8 symphonies, -
Leningrad Does Varietee
Wooding, Shostakovich, Dunayesky and Prokofiev December 18th, 2021Just a couple of years after Western Europe fell under the spell of popular American musical styles, it also debuted in the Soviet Union. As a musical language increasingly placed at the service of social commentary, and with its strong