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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The Memory of Music September 20th, 2019 Do you dream about music? I do. I hear music in my sleep. Sometimes it wakes me, and I get up to write it down. There has been quite a bit written about exposing babies in the womb to classical -
Schubert’s Moments Musicaux
A Distinct Soundworld in Microcosm September 19th, 2019Published in 1828, the year Schubert died, and written between 1823 and 1828, the six Moments Musicaux (literally “musical moments”) are amongst Schubert’s best-loved works for piano and are as accessible to the competent amateur pianist as they are to -
We the People
Revolutions and Music September 18th, 2019Revolutions have always been part of human history, and they certainly have been central to the formation of the modern world. We frequently use the word “Revolution” in generic ways to describe various phenomena like the “industrial revolution” or the -
Clara Wieck-Schumann (1819-1896)
“Composing Gives Me Great Pleasure” September 17th, 2019Clara Wieck-Schumann (1819-1896) is considered one of the most talented and distinguished composer-pianists of the 19th Century. In an era when women, apart from singers, almost never performed in public or composed music, Clara did both. Although blessed with outstanding -
Baroquism September 16th, 2019 Over the years, I have come to realise that somehow my tastes in classical music often balanced between baroque and minimalism. For some reason, each period seemed to refer to the other—the latter more than the former. I felt like -
Presaging the Future of Opera? Thomson and Stein’s Four Saints in Three Acts September 15th, 2019 In 1926, the American composer Virgil Thomson went to the fabled address of 27 Rue de Fleurus, where the American poet and writer Gertrude Stein lived with her companion, Alice B. Toklas. Thomson was familiar with Stein’s writings and spoke -
The Concert Programme as Menu September 15th, 2019 Composing a concert is like composing a menu…. If you start with light pieces and play a 45-minute sonata after the interlude, it’s like starting dinner with hors d’oeuvres and dessert and finishing with a Châteaubriand and vegetables. – Arthur -
Love Is in the Music September 14th, 2019 Love has been an unfailing interest of mankind and an indispensable element of human lives. Love is much more than superficial attraction: at its best, love displays trust, commitment, longing, making sacrifices for the greater good. Yet on the flip