The solo violin has long been acknowledged as the perfect instrument to express emotions like love, longing, heartbreak, rapture, and romance. The Romantic era lasted from the early nineteenth century to the early twentieth century and produced numerous works that
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On This Day
26 September: European Day of Languages September 26th, 2021The Council of Europe represents 47 member states, and roughly 800 million Europeans. Celebrating Europe’s rich linguistic diversity, the Council celebrated the European Year of Languages in 2001. At the end of this campaign the Council of Europe’s Committee of -
Chamber Music by Women Composers
Schumann, Lebrun, Bond, Boulanger, and Carreño September 25th, 2021Clara Wieck-Schumann (1819-1896) confided in her diary, “a woman must not wish to compose—there never was one able to do it. Am I intended to be the one? It would be arrogant to believe that.” Her husband Robert was supportive -
On This Day
25 September: Dmitry Shostakovich Was Born September 25th, 2021Born in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on 25 September 1906, Dmitry Shostakovich was the second of three children of Dmitri Boleslavovich Shostakovich and Sofiya Vasilievna Kokoulina. His father was studying physics and mathematics at St Petersburg University, and subsequently worked as -
Starker Tales: The Great Cellist Was Human September 25th, 2021 Perhaps some of you don’t know that the great cellist and pedagogue János Starker began his illustrious career as an orchestral musician. He played in Broadway orchestras too. Born in Budapest July 5, 1924, as a wunderkind, Starker performed all -
Fugues and Other Musical Charms
From Bach to Shostakovich September 24th, 2021Among the most feared course requirements for many aspiring composers and students of music is a class simply labeled “Fugue.” And it’s no wonder, as a good many universities that still teach this kind of skills will ask you to -
Simple and Complex: Ustvolskaya’s Children’s Suite September 24th, 2021 Leningrad / St. Petersburg composer Galina Ustvolskaya (1919-2006) was considered to be one of the most gifted of the students of Russian composer Dmitry Shostakovich. She studied with him from 1937 to 1947 and it is rumoured that he even -
Charles Ives’ Approach to Music September 22nd, 2021 The American composer Charles Ives has often been associated with experimental music, or rather advanced music. One does not simply immerse himself in the academic music world through him. Indeed, his works include polytonality, polyrhythm, tone clusters, aleatory elements and -
On This Day
21 September: International Day of Peace September 21st, 2021The International Day of Peace was established in 1981 by the United Nations General Assembly. It is dedicated to world peace, and specifically to the absence of war and violence, “such as might be occasioned by a temporary ceasefire in