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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A National Mexican Symphonic Poem
Silvestre Revueltas’ Sensemayá January 2nd, 2024Although we generally associate the symphonic poem with Liszt and mainly German composers, it also popped up in other countries, one of the most interesting being Mexico. Silvestre Revueltas (1899–1940) had a distinguished career as a conductor, principally as assistant -
Mozart for Beginners: Ten Pieces to Make You Love Mozart January 1st, 2024 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in Salzburg in current-day Austria on 27 January 1756. He was one of the most talented prodigies in the history of music, and he grew up to become one of the most beloved and influential -
A Happy and Peaceful 2024 January 1st, 2024 As we welcome 2024, societal friendship and harmony are once again nowhere to be found. Hostilities, violence, intimidation, and wars are overrunning the planet on a virulent wave of entitlement and righteousness. In her poem “The Rock Cries out to -
Arranging One’s Winter’s Journey I: Leaving the Dorfe
Schubert’s Winterreise December 31st, 2023In Schubert’s great 24-song cycle, Winterreise, he sketches the bleakness of the countryside, the coldness of the setting, and the despair of the narrator as he leaves the small village where he was once welcomed and now has to depart -
On This Day
31 December: Jennifer Higdon Was Born December 31st, 2023When Jennifer Higdon received the 2010 Pulitzer Prize in Music for her Violin Concerto, written for the young Hilary Hahn, the committee cited the work as “a deeply engaging piece that combined flowing lyricism with dazzling virtuosity.” Those particular qualities -
Boat Songs
Gabriel Fauré’s Barcarolles December 31st, 2023We know the ‘barcarolle’ most famously from Offenbach’s Les contes d’Hoffmann, but relatively few other composers picked up on it. In Offenbach’s opera, the barcarolle, ‘Belle nuit, ô nuit d’amour’ (Beautiful night, oh night of love) opens Act III where -
David Popper (1843-1913)
The Cello Concertos December 30th, 2023For every aspiring professional cellist, David Popper (1843-1913) is a household name. His High School of Cello Playing Op. 73, a collection of advanced cello etudes, is considered the cream of the crop of cello instruction for its pedagogic value -
What Is the Best Recording of Vivaldi’s Winter? December 30th, 2023 The days are getting shorter, and Christmas and New Year ads are everywhere. We’re clearly coming up in winter. That made me wonder: what’s the best recording of Vivaldi’s Winter from his Four Seasons? Today, I went to find some