The love story between Robert and Clara Schumann is often regarded as one of the most romantic in classical music history. Happily for historians, many of their love letters survive. They document their inner thoughts and emotions, as well as
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At the Center of the Musical Universe
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart October 30th, 2017Albert Einstein once famously remarked “Mozart’s music is so pure that it seemed to have been ever-present in the universe, waiting to be discovered by the master.” In the end, both Einstein and Mozart were successful in untangling the complexities -
Music 33,000 Feet Above
Aeroflot October 29th, 2017How does one kill time on board a transcontinental flight? Some are determined to sleep over. Some keep watching movies until get tired and fall asleep. Those in the business or first class may lie down to have a decent -
How music is catalogued October 29th, 2017 To help identify and organise pieces of music by a particular composer, individual compositions or sets of works are usually given an “Opus” number. The word “opus” is Latin and means “work” or “work of art”, often abbreviated as “Op.”, -
Princesse de Polignac: Maurice Ravel’s Most Passionate Patron October 28th, 2017 The initial meeting between Winnaretta Singer aka Princesse de Polignac and Maurice Ravel was described as “an audacious feat of social climbing” in 1899. The Prince and Princess de Polignac had established a salon in Paris, and the music room -
Franz Liszt: The Forgotten Romance October 27th, 2017 Arnold Simon of Hamburg published a composition by Franz Liszt in 1881 with the title Romance oubliée. Interestingly, this little gem was published in four versions simultaneously, for piano solo, for violin and piano, for viola and piano, and for -
An Autumn Sonata – Schubert’s Piano Sonata in A, D959 October 26th, 2017 The Sonata in A, D959, is the middle panel of the triptych of Schubert’s final sonatas. Schubert completed his final three piano sonatas in September 1828, just a few months before his death at the age of 31. Schubert numbered -
“Music is Life”
Zuzana Růžičková (1927-2017) October 25th, 2017Zuzana Růžičková (1927-2017) experienced personal tragedy and suffering on an unimaginable scale! She was a happy but sickly child suffering from tuberculosis, who “was in love with music from the beginning.” She asked her parents to buy her a piano - How Mozart Was Inspired by His Pet Starling October 23rd, 2017 On 27 May 1784, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart bought a pet starling bird at a Viennese pet shop. Normally historians and musicologists don’t pay much attention to composers’ pets, but this starling wasn’t your average pet. Because when Mozart recorded the