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 in Words: The Kreutzer Sonata February 7th, 2019 “Music carries me immediately and directly into the mental condition in which the man was who composed it. My soul merges with his and together with him I pass from one condition into another, but why this happens I don’t -
The Inspiration of Imagination – The Comics February 6th, 2019 Maybe they’re your secret reading. Maybe they’re your guide to life in general or your source of the perfect wry joke. As much as they inspire you, they’ve inspired composers as well. On Broadway, we’ve had musicals such as Li’l -
Mozart’s Musical Journey
5 February 1783: Symphony No. 35 (Haffner) February 5th, 2019Increasingly rushed for time, Wolfgang Amadeus writes to his father on 5 February 1783, “I have received your last letter, and hope you have also gotten mine. With regard to the symphonies, especially the last, pray let me have them -
“My Experiences as a Cellist are Central to Everything I Do” – Interview with Joy Lisney February 4th, 2019 British cellist Joy Lisney is one of the most exciting string players to emerge in recent years and the model of a modern musician with a strong advocacy for contemporary music. Yet in her varied musical activities she also harks -
At the Center of the Musical Universe
Franz Schubert IV February 4th, 2019Nobody composed variations like Austrian composer Franz Schubert! An undisputed master of the genre, his variations on his own melodies became a fascinating combination of formal innovation and musical poetics. Peeling away layer upon layer of significance and meaning, Schubert -
On This Day
3 February: Hector Berlioz’s Overture to Le Carnaval Romain, Op. 9 Was Premiered February 3rd, 2019Hector Berlioz published his famous handbook on the art of orchestration, his Traîté d’instrumentation, in January 1844. It remains, even today, a landmark in the history of the symphony orchestra. It is a concise and brilliant historical document that details -
An Admission of Failure? February 3rd, 2019 Why would a talented leading British composer include a document called a Failure CV on her website, alongside details of her extensive oeuvre and the many plaudits for her work? -
Louis Marchand February 2nd, 2019 The Belligerent Virtuoso Our birthday boy this month is Louis Marchand (1669-1732), born 350 years ago in Lyons on 2 February 1669. By all accounts, he was a rather strange and disturbed character. Described as restless, cumbersome, self-conceited, and ambitious