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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A Danced Poem: Dukas’ La Péri June 16th, 2021 Commissioned in 1911 by Serge Diaghilev for the Ballets Russes, the ballet by Paul Dukas, La Péri, had a difficult birth. Dukas came up with the scenario and then wrote the music; choreography, design and stage decoration followed. Originally intended -
The “Leschetizky Method” June 15th, 2021 What made Theodor Leschetizky one of the most impressive piano pedagogues of all time? Supposedly, his success was based on the so-called “Leschetizky Method,” a method of instruction that relied on several distinct influences. As part of an unbroken chain -
Impressionism, a Three-Part Series: In Our Modern World June 14th, 2021 The following article is the third and last of a three-part series on impressionism around the world; in France, in Europe and in our Modern World. In these articles, I explore the genre of impressionism. Born in France, it is -
The Music of Poetry
Friedrich Hebbel: “Nachtlied” June 13th, 2021Robert Schumann had a face-to-face encounter with Friedrich Hebbel in 1847. Hebbel had called on Schumann in Dresden while passing through. Hebbel found Schumann “not only persistently, but also uncomfortably mute.” Schumann, as he noted in his diary, however, felt -
Narrow Repertoire Can Hold Us Back, Musically and Culturally June 13th, 2021 When I was having piano lessons as a child and teenager from the early 1970s to the mid-1980s I never played any piano music by women composers, except perhaps some very rudimentary pieces by the late Fanny Waterman (though I -
Classical Violin Music June 12th, 2021 Albert Einstein is one of the greatest physicists of all time. Since he was a highly original thinker, his name has become synonymous with genius. Yet, this most famous and immortal scientist once said, “the most joy in my life -
Musicians and Artists: Shohat and Modernism June 11th, 2021 One of the problems in trying to portray a painting in music is how literal one chooses to be. Some of the most successful of the musician / artist combinations we’ve looked at in this series have dealt with modern -
Piano Music in the Key of F-Sharp Major June 10th, 2021 F-sharp major: “Triumph over difficulty, free sigh of relief uttered when hurdles are surmounted; echo of a soul which has fiercely struggled and finally conquered lies in all uses of this key”. – Christian Shubart Ideen zu einer Aesthetik der