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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Tingle Factor September 24th, 2017 We gather music along the way and it forms a personal soundtrack to our lives, evoking memories of times past, and a few bars of a significant song or piece of music can create an instant reaction, a ‘tingle’. -
The Forgotten Voyager September 23rd, 2017 It is often a great mystery what people, works, and instruments remain in the minds of those who enjoy classical music. Even in the very small world of saxophonists, there are certain legends which take hold and others which fall -
Is it time for nontraditional casting in Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess? September 22nd, 2017 However you’d like to look at it, George Gershwin was unique! Freely mixing and combining classical and popular music styles, his works have been heralded as representing “an exciting new American musical art.” Yet when it came to Porgy and -
Love on a cosmic scale
Olivier Messiaen, Claire Delbos and Yvonne Loriod September 21st, 2017Claire Delbos was the daughter of a Sorbonne professor, a member of the prominent new music society “La Spirale,” and an accomplished violinist and composer. Predictably, she studied at the Paris Conservatory and quickly crossed paths with another highly talented -
Forgotten Pianists: Edwin Fischer September 20th, 2017 Bringing Bach to the 20th century was the fame of Swiss pianist Edwin Fischer (1886-1960). After first studying music in Basel, Switzerland, he went on to attend the Stern Conservatory in Berlin, where he studied with Martin Krause, one of -
Works Disliked By Their Own Composers! Part I September 18th, 2017 Imagine you spent dozens or hundreds of hours writing a piece of music, but for whatever reason, you’re not satisfied with it. What does it take for you to repress, ignore, or even destroy your own hard work? Here are -
Mechanical Haydn September 18th, 2017 Nicholas I, Prince Eszterháza was crazy about the arts! He built a number of palaces and his taste for opera and other grand musical productions earned him the title “the Magnificent.” He certainly was extravagant in his clothing budget, and -
Lessons in Making Music September 17th, 2017 Were Your Childhood Music Lessons Fun? If you, like me, had piano lessons as a child, I expect there were rather too many times when you sat at the piano and wondered what this thing called “music” was all about?