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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The Transfigured Night
Richard Dehmel, Arnold Schoenberg and Oskar Fried July 14th, 2021In his breakthrough instrumental piece, written in 1899 and given its premiere in 1902, Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951) set aside all the vocal music he’d been writing to produce a work of true beauty. Verklärte Nacht (Transfigured Night) was based on -
Albinoni and Bach
“What I Have Achieved by Industry Anyone Else Can Also Achieve” July 13th, 2021Tomaso Albinoni (1671-1750) and Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) were contemporaries, but they never actually met. While Albinoni was at home on various Italian and international operatic stages, Bach never traveled far away from his native community in North-Germany. We do -
Perceiving Music July 12th, 2021 This article addresses the elephant in the room; music genres. And questions the whole concept of labelling art and music. For starters, let’s stop talking about classical music, jazz music, popular music, folk music, and let’s try to perceive music, -
The Best Performances
“Flower Duet” by Delibes July 12th, 2021One of the most famous duets in all of opera comes from Lakmé composed by Léo Delibes. The opera is set in British India during the late 19th century and was first performed in 1883. It brings together many popular -
The Music of Poetry
Giovanni Battista Guarini: “Tirsi wanted to die” July 11th, 2021The Italian lyric and dramatic poet Giovanni Battista Guarini (1538-1612) is credited with establishing a new literary genre, “the pastoral drama.” According to scholars, he was the poet “whose verses were most frequently set by Italian madrigalists and monodists in -
On ‘Letting Go’ as a Musician
Part 3 – Letting Go of the Notes July 11th, 2021In my first article on ‘letting go’ as a musician I explored how we know when it is time to “let go” of a piece of music we have been learning and set it free in a performance setting or -
Not a Niche, but an Opportunity
An Interview With Guillaume Descottes of Vialma.com July 10th, 2021Classical music is always viewed as a niche market with a big learning curve for admission. It’s often derided as being music for the elite or music for the wealthy. As a listener, people find it hard to break into -
Music and Bows and Clothes: Oh My!
More Musician Mishaps July 10th, 2021It’s hard to believe how many hilarious behind-the-scenes mishaps we musicians experience. Afterwards, once we’ve recovered from the embarrassment, we love to share these stories at parties! My friend cellist Clay Ruede recently told me this one: He was playing