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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Contemporary Music for Film: Three Great Soundtracks June 22nd, 2020 I am not always convinced about soundtracks. On the one hand, I regret music being composed, recorded and produced for the sole purpose of being an accompanying sound to a busy image. On the other hand, when developed rightly there - Composers of the Zodiac
The Tropic of Cancer June 21st, 2020Apologies to author Henry Miller for lifting the title of his novel, but for countless centuries people have gazed at the stars and studied the movements and positions of celestial objects. This particular study is currently known as astrology, and -
Everything Is Connected: Body Mapping for Musicians June 21st, 2020 Most people, including musicians, don’t really take any notice of their bodies until they feel pain or are injured. Athletes on the other hand tend to have a far greater awareness of the body, in tune with its mechanisms and -
Always Wanted to Learn How to Read Music but No Time to Try? Some Fun Hints June 20th, 2020 I started the piano when I was five. My parents, both musicians, sensed I had talent because after my mother taught a piano lesson I would pick out the tunes with my pudgy little hands. But my first lessons were -
Discovering Rubinstein June 20th, 2020 My first approach to Anton Rubinstein’s music came around 2013/14 when I was still a protégé of pianist Leslie Howard. He himself was indeed the first to rediscover and record the 4 Piano Sonatas and other pieces such as the -
Black Composers Matter June 19th, 2020 Protesters across the United States have taken to the streets in the wake of George Floyd’s death demanding an end to police brutality and systemic racism. And as the international human rights movement “Black Lives Matter,” that protest has resonated -
Playing with Dolls: The Theremin Reborn June 18th, 2020 They sit in rows, earphones on, doll in hand, and hand poised. A sound emerges, as much like singing as you can imagine. It’s a matryomin ensemble. Invented in 2003 by Japanese theremin player Masami Takeuchi, the matryomin combines two -
Antoine Reicha (1770-1836): A forgotten visionary June 17th, 2020 “Music is as much a science and craft as it is an art” In his unpublished autobiography, probably dictated to his wife Virginie Enaust, Antoine Reicha summarizes his aesthetic outlook on music. He writes, “As I was both composer and
