In classical music, the Romantic Era lasted from around 1810 to around 1910. That century gave us some of the most famous symphonies in the repertoire. Nineteenth-century composers like Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Dvořák, Schubert, Mahler, Rachmaninoff, and others elevated the symphony
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Ikutaro Kakehashi (1930-2017)
“Originality and Creativity in the Digital World” April 13th, 2017Does the name Ikutaro Kakehashi ring a bell? Well, he was a self-made Japanese engineer who survived malnutrition, tuberculosis and the firebombing of Osaka. A digital music pioneer, he created the Midi (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) technical standard, which describes -
The Day After the Concert… April 13th, 2017 I don’t perform that frequently – maybe four or five times a year (excluding informal performances and “house concerts” at home) – but I understand the “process” of performing and the necessary and special preparation which goes into a public -
Unsung Concertos
Ernst Sachse: Concerto in F Major for Bass Trombone April 12th, 2017The modern era of the trombone as a solo instrument began on 6 April 1815, when Friedrich August Belcke performed a potpourri with obbligato trombone by Carl Heinrich Meyer with the Gewandhaus orchestra in Leipzig. A critic for the Allgemeine -
Stingy Olympic Judges April 11th, 2017 Baron Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympic Games, was raised and educated in the classical tradition. “He was particularly impressed with the idea of what it meant to be a true Olympian, someone who was not only athletic, -
Forgotten Pianists: Ignaz Friedman April 10th, 2017 The Polish pianist Ignaz Friedman (1882-1948) was considered not just the one of the top but one of the supreme piano virtuosos of his time. As were so many of his contemporaries, he was a child prodigy and he left -
“Sex is more fun than cars but cars refuel quicker than men”
Germaine Tailleferre and Ralph Waldo Emerson Barton April 9th, 2017It started like a fairy tale, as it often does. In 1925, she was the hottest French musical ticket in New York City. Germaine Tailleferre had just arrived on a huge wave of personal and artistic success stemming from her -
Music Icons of Minnesota: Prince and Paulus April 9th, 2017 Nestled in the middle of the country, the state of Minnesota conjures bitterly cold temperatures and towers of snow; hooded parkas and polar snow boots. But the icy squalls generate a spawning ground for artists. Hailing from Minnesota are authors -
The Man of Many Firsts: William Grant Still April 8th, 2017 William Grant Still (1895-1978) is called ‘the dean of African-American composers’ and throughout his life, worked in all genres of music, from jazz, where he was an arranger for both W.C. Handy and Artie Shaw, to Broadway, where he played