The viola may be the less flashy sibling of the violin, but in the hands of these seven great women composers, the viola truly shines as a solo instrument. From the bold modernism of Marga Richter and Peggy Glanville-Hicks to
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Making It Easier for Audiences October 10th, 2021 As concert life begins to return to something resembling “normal” after months of silence – the result of government restrictions in response to the coronavirus pandemic – venues, promoters and indeed the performers themselves can do a great deal to -
Bright Celebrations: Shostakovich’s Festive Overture October 9th, 2021 Written in a rush for a celebratory concert, Shostakovich’s Festive Overture is a joyous bubble starting with a brilliant fanfare. Written for a concert in Moscow at the Bolshoi Theatre celebrating the 37th anniversary of the October 1917 Revolution, this -
Chamber Music by Women Composers II
Mendelssohn, Lombardini, Bonis, Smith, and Tailleferre October 9th, 2021Musicologists have suggested that “the life of Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (1805-1847) is compelling proof that women’s failure to compete with men on the compositional playing-field has been the result of social prejudice and patriarchal mores, which in the nineteenth century -
On This Day
9 October: Giuseppe Verdi Was Born October 9th, 2021We do know that Giuseppe Verdi was born in the small village of Roncole, near Busseto in the Duchy of Parma. What is not clear, however, is the exact date of his birth. The baptismal register of 11 October records -
Folk Instruments Blossom in the Concert Hall October 8th, 2021 Creativity never ends! Our predecessors contributed a lot of fantastic musical compositions using what have become known as “standard” orchestral instruments. Our contemporary composers continue to build on this tradition. However, “folk” and “classical” music has become more blended in -
From Lucretius to Goethe to Strauss: Metamorphosen October 7th, 2021 In the last days of WWII, German composer Richard Strauss saw the world he knew in tatters around him. Germany was occupied by foreign powers, the great monuments of German culture had been destroyed – its opera houses and theatres, -
Forgotten Pianists: Vladimir Krainev October 6th, 2021 Little known in the West, Vladimir Krainev (1944 – 2011) was an exceptional yet criminally underrated pianist and pedagogue. Born in Krasnoyarsk, Krainev displayed musical talent at a precocious age and gave his debut performance at 7 with piano concertos -
Music In View: The National Portrait Gallery – London October 5th, 2021 The National Portrait Gallery in London holds images of important and famous British people as drawings, painting, and photographs. We will be ignoring the single portraits of musicians, conductors, composers, and others with a life in music and will examine,