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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Music is History June 7th, 2019 No — music is not finished, but when you listen to a piece of music, you are hearing the history of music and the people who have lived and created it. The importance of music cannot be overstated. Yehudi Menuhin -
The Piano Sonata IV June 6th, 2019 The Form is Alive and Well Given the myriad explorations and experiments in musical form and structure in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, it is perhaps surprising that the Piano Sonata has endured. While many of the most important composers -
Brahms and His Late Piano Works
Klavierstücke Op.119 June 5th, 2019Concluding this series on Brahms’ late piano works, we have reached the last composition for solo piano by Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) – Klavierstücke Op.119. It was written together with Op.118 during his stay in Bad Ischl in 1893. Consistent with -
Jacques Offenbach June 4th, 2019 “The Mozart of the Champs-Élysées” Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880) was of outstanding significance in popular music of the 19th century. He composed some of the catchiest tunes and melodies ever written, and he exerted a powerful influence on subsequent composers for -
The Writing on the Cards – The Tarot Suite of Victoria Bond June 3rd, 2019 American composer Victoria Bond (b. 1945) took three cards from a tarot deck and wove a work for small ensemble and dancers around it. Commissioned by Kathryne Pirtle and the Orion Ensemble in collaboration with choreographer Daniel Duell, artistic director -
Music to Save Your Life
An Interview with Jeanne Kelly of Encore Chorale June 2nd, 2019In America, we tend to think of music as something done by children, or professionals, or, perhaps done by adults who are still channeling their inner child (a nod to Mr. Jagger, now hitting a youthful 75). In other countries, -
Mozart’s Musical Journey
2 June 1763: “The boy alone took up most of the concert” June 2nd, 2019Every year millions of visitors to the city of Salzburg eagerly make their way to Getreidegasse No. 9. Leopold Mozart and his family lived at that address for 17 years, and famously Wolfgang Amadeus and his sister Nannerl were born -
What is Practice? June 2nd, 2019 Practice and practising is what musicians do. It’s the bulk of their “work” and must be undertaken with an almost clockwork regularity in order to learn new music, hone skills and keep existing repertoire going. The traditional view is of