In classical music, the Romantic Era lasted from around 1810 to around 1910. That century gave us some of the most famous symphonies in the repertoire. Nineteenth-century composers like Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Dvořák, Schubert, Mahler, Rachmaninoff, and others elevated the symphony
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Franz Liszt: Dante Symphony
Premiered on 7 November 1857 November 7th, 2021Enjoying the shores of Lake Como with Marie d’Agoult in 1837, Franz Liszt (1811-1886) immersed himself in a close reading of Dante’s Divine Comedy. The idea of composing a symphony to Dante’s Divine Comedy, one that would combine music, poetry -
Going It Alone: The Autonomous Musician November 7th, 2021 autonomy: the ability to make your own decisions without being controlled by anyone else – Cambridge Dictionary definition As musicians, we may seek external endorsement and extrinsic motivation through examinations and assessments, the accrual of qualifications such as diplomas, and -
The Symbol of Love: Couperin’s Nightingale November 7th, 2021 French Baroque composer François Couperin (1668–1733), who had a career as a composer, harpsichordist, and organist in the French royal court, was born into a famous family of Parisian musicians. He served in the court of Louis XIV as organiste -
Chamber Music by Women Composers IV
Farrenc, Beach, Tate, N. Boulanger, and Liu November 6th, 2021Louise Farrenc (1804-1875) was one of the first successful female composers in 19th century France. That opinion is not only based on 21st century assessments, but also on views expressed by her contemporaries. Robert Schumann wrote for example, “her works -
Musicians and Artists: Reger and Böcklin November 6th, 2021 Known more for his abstract works, Max Reger decided to take, as he described it, ‘an excursion in the realm of program music’ in 1913 when he created his 4 Tondichtungen nach Arnold Böcklin (4 Tone Poems after Arnold Böcklin). -
On This Day
6 November: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Died November 6th, 2021Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky arrived in St Petersburg on 22 October 1893 to oversee the first performance of his Sixth Symphony. Tchaikovsky was elatedly optimistic and wrote, “I think it will be successful; it is rare for me to write anything -
Vienna Does the Shimmy
Bittner, Krenek, Grosz and Martinů November 5th, 2021Ah, Vienna! The city of Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert and the waltzing Lanner and Strauss families. Even today, Vienna likes to promote itself as the eternally waltzing city. While that may be the case to some extent, in the period between -
On This Day
4 November: Felix Mendelssohn Died November 4th, 2021Although Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) had suffered from poor health for a number of years, he maintained a hectic performing schedule in the early months of 1847. He conducted Gewandhaus concerts in Leipzig, and presented a series of four historical concerts