Specific cities have inspired a huge amount of classical music over the years. Today, we’re looking at a selection of classical works explicitly connected to major cities, examining how each composer responded to each place. Some pieces reflect civic pride
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Musicians’ All-Year Survival Guide July 27th, 2018 Whether we’re a student musician, or an amateur or professional musician, we are passionate about our music-making—Brahms, Beethoven, Chopin, Stravinsky? Bring it on…I’ll just practice more! Want it faster and louder? Sure… But wait. This attitude has caused many a -
Wagner: Parsifal
Premiered Today in 1882 July 26th, 2018Hoping to gain financial independence, Richard Wagner was eager to establish an annual music festival that would realize his particular vision of music and theatre. Initially he contemplated Munich, but his extravagant and scandalous behavior in that city caused him -
Early Works July 26th, 2018 The other day I was looking through the earliest articles written for my blog. Some of my early writing is horribly self-conscious, and evidently written with little expectation of anyone actually reading it. But however much this “juvenilia” may make -
Competing In a New World – An Interview with Samantha Crawford July 25th, 2018 Soprano Samantha Crawford was recently a finalist at the Hong Kong International Operatic Singing Competition (HKIOSC) and spoke with us about the competition and her thoughts on the whole competition process. -
Making Percussion a True Soloist – John Corigliano’s The Conjurer July 24th, 2018 Percussion can be anything from the lowly triangle to the majestic piano and all struck things between. In his recent work Conjurer, John Corigliano took on the difficult task of writing a percussion concerto. In his own words, he said -
Penderecki: Viola Concerto
Premiered Today in 1983 July 24th, 201824 July 1983 marked the 200th birthday of Simón Bolívar, known around South America as “El Libertador.” The Venezuelan military and political leader played a significant role in the establishment of Venezuela, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Panama as sovereign -
Mozart and The Deluded Bridegroom July 23rd, 2018 In a letter to his father, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart made a reference to a seven-member Italian opera troupe visiting Vienna. That troupe arrived in the Austrian capital during Lent 1783, and first performed on 22 April 1783 in Antonio Salieri’s -
The Musical Bed of Sadiq Muhammad Khan IV July 22nd, 2018 We’ve all heard of musical chairs, a game of elimination involving players, chairs, and music. With one fewer chair than players, when the music stops the player who fails to sit on a chair is eliminated. A chair is then