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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Classical Romance
The Sweetest Love Stories of Classical Music Composers November 15th, 2021I am not a great fan of tabloid or boulevard journalism. Surely you have seen these colourful publications at checkout counters in your local supermarket and elsewhere. Most carry outrageous headlines of alien invasions or some poor souls doing something -
Celebrating Twenty Years of Music Making
Weymouth Lunchtime Chamber Concerts November 14th, 2021The bustling English seaside town of Weymouth, which enjoyed its heyday in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries after King George III visited the town to partake in the health-giving properties of “sea dipping”, is not the most obvious location -
On This Day
14 November: Aaron Copland Was Born November 14th, 2021Harris Morris Kaplan grew up in Lithuania, and before immigrating to the United States he lived in Scotland for a couple of years. It was in Scotland that he changed his family name “Kaplan” to “Copland.” He had no particular -
Mozart and His Circle of Friends II November 14th, 2021 The composer and tenor Benedikt Schack (1758-1826) was a close friend of Mozart, and he was the first performer of the role of Tamino in The Magic Flute. Schack hailed from the Bohemian provinces of the Austrian Empire, but moved -
Notes From a Cello-Playing Mom
Practicing and Performing Still Has to Be Done November 13th, 2021My two-year old wasn’t feeling well. “Mommy don’t go,” he whined. I had already donned my long black satin dress. Looking nervously at my watch I realized that it was very near concert time. I bent over to pick him -
On This Day
13 November: Gioachino Rossini Died November 13th, 2021Gioachino Rossini (1792–1868) was celebrated throughout Europe, and his operas became fixtures on the most prestigious stages around the world. However, things weren’t all that cheerful in terms of his health. An infection with gonorrhea, the result of his early -
Felix Mendelssohn and Queen Victoria November 12th, 2021 Queen Victoria (1819-1901) and Prince Albert (1819-1861) were accomplished pianists and singers, and Felix Mendelssohn was their musical hero. The composer first met the Prince on 14 June 1842, hand delivering a letter from Albert’s cousin, Frederick William IV of -
Ten Piano Works by Female Composers From Baroque to Present November 11th, 2021 The music of women composers has long been overshadowed by their male counterparts. In an effort to shine a light, and cast away the shadows, this article features ten works for piano, each written by a female composer. Élisabeth Jacquet