Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) wrote 4 Overtures (as he called them), known as his four Orchestra Suites between 1724 and 1731. Each of these suites consists of several movements that are dance-pieces. The form was extremely popular in Bach’s time,
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Manchester Camerata to Host the UK’s First Centre of Excellence for Music and Dementia May 31st, 2024 The therapeutic benefits of music are well-known and widely documented. For people with dementia, music can help reduce anxiety and depression, help maintain speech and language, enhance quality of life, and have a positive impact on families and carers too. -
Fairy Tales and Metaphors
Elisabetta Brusa’s Favole May 30th, 2024The Italian composer Elisabetta Brusa (b. 1954) started composition as a child before attending the Milan Conservatory, where she studied composition. She graduated in 1980 and returned to Milan in 1985 to teach at the Conservatory. Fellowships (Fromm and Fulbright) -
Grey Clouds Descending
Franz Liszt’s Failing Eyesight May 24th, 2024Franz Liszt first sought medical care in 1881, suffering from the early cardio-respiratory disease that would eventually take his life. Concurrently, Liszt also noted a gradual decline in the vision of his left eye. He had used corrective lenses for -
Food for Thought
Mealtime with Gustav Mahler May 23rd, 2024Stepping into the footsteps of his idol Richard Wagner, Gustav Mahler wrote to a friend in 1880.“For the last month, I have been a total vegetarian. The moral effect of this way of life, with its voluntary castigation of the -
From Venice to Naples
Franco Alfano’s Suite romantica May 21st, 2024The Italian composer Franco Alfano (1875–1954) was one of the Italian ‘Generazione dell’Ottanta’ of composers born in the 1880s, the best known of which included Alfredo Casella, Ildebrando Pizzetti, Gian Francsco Malipiero, and Ottorino Respighi, who sought to bring back -
Masterworks Dedicated to Yehudi Menuhin May 18th, 2024 Ever since I was a little child, I listened to recordings by Yehudi Menuhin. In every single note that phenomenal violinist produced fantastic intensity and emotion. I remember listening to Bach’s Air on a G string, and I had never -
Enescu’s First Rhapsody May 17th, 2024 A product of a 19-year-old composer, George Enescu’s Romanian Rhapsody No. 1, completed in 1901, is thought to be a loosely connected set of episodes sources on folk dances and folk songs. But although these are seemingly ‘as found’, Enescu -
Vagn Holmboe: “Moya”—7 Japanese Songs May 14th, 2024 In Japanese architecture “moya” designates the core or central part of a residential building. When Buddhism was introduced to the country in the 6th century, “moya” became the designation of the sacred central area of a temple building. In the