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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When Girls are Boys June 19th, 2018 We’ve all been to the opera when they cast young men with unchanged voices in operatic roles and, well, they may not just have, let’s say, the vocal maturity to carry this off. Time for the women to take charge! -
Music for the Eyes
From the Music Catalogue of Breitkopf & Härtel June 18th, 2018No other invention had a greater impact on how music found its way from the composer to the public than the printing of music. After Ottaviano Petrucci published the first edition of the famous Harmonice Musices Odhecaton A in Venice -
Mozart: Symphony in D major, KV 297 (Paris)
Premiered Today in 1778 June 18th, 2018In the spring of 1778, the 22-year old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart returned to the city of Paris. This time he was chaperoned by his mother—who would tragically fall ill and die—with father Leopold staying put in Salzburg to appease their -
Finding His Own Way – An Interview with Stephan Moore June 17th, 2018 His is the art you hear but don’t see; he’s the invisible performer behind the sound. Stephan Moore is your man of all audio skills: he’s a sound artist who invents his own speakers, he’s a musician who’s created multichannel -
Should I be applauding now? June 17th, 2018 Every year, around the time of the start of the BBC Proms, that wonderful 2-month long festival of music, the thorny issue of when to applaud rears its head. In fact, the debate over the appropriateness of applause is ongoing, -
Bach Makes a Joke: The Peasant Cantata June 16th, 2018 In 1742, Bach, late in his career, took a long look back at the music of his day and made such a thorough-going parody of it that we’re still not sure if he was making a social commentary or a -
Bruckner: Mass Nr. 3 in F minor
Premiered Today in 1872 June 16th, 2018Nothing came easy for Anton Bruckner, and habitually plagued by debilitating periods of low self-esteem, he was an easy target for music critics, journalists and composers alike. A particularly vicious critic accused him of “composing like a drunkard.” Given such -
The Sapho Affair!
Charles Gounod and Pauline Viardot June 15th, 2018Charles Gounod unabashedly referred to Pauline Viardot as “The godmother of my career.” He first met her around a rather difficult time in his life. His brother Urbain had unexpectedly passed away, leaving behind a two-year-old child and a widow