The solo violin has long been acknowledged as the perfect instrument to express emotions like love, longing, heartbreak, rapture, and romance. The Romantic era lasted from the early nineteenth century to the early twentieth century and produced numerous works that
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Arranging One’s Winter’s Journey II: Going on the Road Schubert’s Winterreise January 7th, 2024 Let’s continue to explore more re-arrangements of Schubert’s Winterreise. With Song 13, the village of disappointment is left behind, and our narrator sets his face on the road. But, inevitably, there are things that call his mind back. Just as -
Humanity
Erwin Schulhoff’s “Menschheit” January 6th, 2024The question as to what makes us human has been pondered for many thousands of years. While there are multiple theories, we can probably say that humans are unique. In fact, the very act of contemplating what makes us human -
David Popper (1843-1913)
“Very Few Luminaries Survive More Than One Generation” January 6th, 2024David Popper, born in Prague in 1843, was one of the most influential cellists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was a celebrated virtuoso of his time, lauded for his flawless technique and expressivity, with George Bernard -
Why Does Classical Music Make Us So Emotional? January 6th, 2024 Have you ever found yourself awed by a symphony? Have you ever been moved to tears by a delicate cascade of notes in a piano concerto? Have you ever wondered why this music makes me feel so emotional? Classical music -
The Avant-Garde of 1760s London
Carl Friedrich Abel’s Symphony in D Major, WKO 41 January 5th, 2024English musician and historian Charles Burney, in his History of Music, vol. 2 (1782), credited three people with being the style leaders of the day: Felice Giardini, the director of the Italian opera theatre; J.C. Bach (London Bach), and Carl -
On This Day
5 January: Maurizio Pollini Was Born January 5th, 2024The literary critic and cultural commentator Edward Said observed that “such complete satisfaction as offered by Maurizio Pollini’s consummately undemonstrative but unpretentious performances is very rarely found.” Pollini was able to conjure an infinite variety of tonal shades and inflections -
COVID in Music
Simaku’s Catena III, “Corona” January 5th, 2024The piece opens with a crash that quickly fades away. This is Albanian-British composer Thomas Simaku’s piano work Catena III–Corona. A product of the first lockdown that started in March 2020, when about half the world’s population had to stay -
On This Day
4 January: Boris Berezovsky Was Born January 4th, 2024Pianist Boris Berezovsky, born on 4 January 1969 in Moscow, has been described as “a player of dazzling virtuosity and formidable power.” Winner of the 1990 International Tchaikovsky Competition, he has established himself as a virtuoso pianist and a gifted