For as long as composers have been writing music, they’ve been inspired by the mystery, mood, and mythology of the night. We’ve gathered ten pieces of classical music about the night that explore themes associated with the hours after dark,
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Here Be A Dragon February 2nd, 2024 With a joyous call on his horn, Siegfried announces his presence in the great forest of Fafner. Turned into a dragon by the lure of the Ring, Fafner, one of the two giants who built Valhalla for Wotan, is being -
A Major Minor Opera: Nadia Boulanger’s La ville morte, The Performance January 31st, 2024 In the first part of this article “A Major Minor Opera: Nadia Boulanger’s La Ville morte, A History”, we explored the background of Nadia Boulanger’s opera. Jumping forward to the modern day, the first staging of the full opera was -
Schubert for Beginners: Eleven Pieces to Make You Love Schubert January 31st, 2024 Composer Franz Schubert was born on 31 January 1797 in a suburb of Vienna. Here are a few brief facts about his life: Schubert wrestled with health problems throughout his life and died young. He was diagnosed with syphilis in -
On This Day
30 January: Lynn Harrell Was Born January 30th, 2024Cellist Lynn Harrell, winner of the inaugural Avery Fisher Prize and two Grammy Awards had the ability to generate a penetrating richness of sound, and to communicate with tremendous personal warmth. A formidable technician, Harrell was appointed principal cellist of -
A Surprising Start
Dohnányi’s Variations on a Nursery Song January 30th, 2024The orchestra is mighty, chords resonating in a large space, the timpani emphasizing the vastness of the concept. It’s a bit Wagnerian – some ideas seem like they might do well in Die Walküre or perhaps there’s a foreshadowing of -
Happy 150th Birthday Josef Suk January 29th, 2024 “I do not bow to anyone, except to my own conscience and our own noble Lady Music” January is a busy time for lovers of classical music as we celebrate the birthdays of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Franz Schubert on -
ECHO…..echo January 29th, 2024 Poor Echo. In Greek mythology, she was a nymph who came to the attention of Zeus and then of Zeus’ wife, Hera. Finding her husband in a compromising position and delayed in her discovery by Echo’s long conversations, Hera condemned -
Alone Yet Together: The Shared Experience of Live Performance January 28th, 2024 I’ve been going to live classical music concerts since I was a little girl – and not just professional concerts, but also amateur performances when my dad (a clarinettist) played in a local amateur orchestra. As keen music-lovers, my parents