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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Interview With a Recorder Player – Alicia Crossley January 29th, 2021 When listening to Alicia Crossley play one of her 18 handmade recorders, which I’ve heard her play many times, a listener gets the feeling that the instrument was made for her. In this interview, we get to understand more about -
Note For Note: A Musical Fable by Howard Smith January 28th, 2021 In part a memoir, ‘Note for Note’ is a Pilgrim’s Progress for the amateur pianist – indeed, any amateur musician – and in it the author charts the pleasures and the pitfalls, the breakthroughs and “lightbulb moments” as well as - Fairies and Butterflies in the Salon: Debussy’s Two Arabesques January 27th, 2021 Private gatherings at home, known as salons, started in the 17th century in France, where literary gatherings or intellectual groups would get together to exchange ideas. Often headed by a brilliant man or woman who could bring like-minded people together,
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Franz Schubert and His Circle of Friends III January 26th, 2021 Franz Schubert and his close-knit circle of artist and friends frequently gathered at the large apartment of Ignaz von Sonnleithner to hold their Schubertiades. These meeting had distinct intellectual, erotic and often political undercurrents. In the aftermath of the French - Finding Comfort Through Music
Recovery from Illness January 25th, 2021In April 1825 Ludwig van Beethoven developed a serious intestinal illness. His exact condition was unclear, but his doctor ordered him away from Vienna to rest at the nearby spa of Baden. Placed on a strict diet and forbidden to -
Musicians and Artists: Feldman and Guston January 24th, 2021 The art of Philip Guston (1913-1980) remains controversial even 30 years after his death. A founder of the New York School, this abstract-expressionist was not afraid of putting his beliefs on canvas. One of his early 20th century works, The -
In Praise of Audiences January 24th, 2021 We missed our audiences in the year of pandemic and when they returned, they were sparser than usual due to social distancing. But they are coming back to the concert halls and opera houses, their appetite for live music apparently -
Listening to Recordings When Practising: Useful, or a Thing to Avoid? January 22nd, 2021 Many musicians or students start learning a piece that inspired them when they heard it at a concert or on the radio. Some famous pieces have been recorded hundreds of times, and with streaming services and YouTube out there for
