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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Flood
Luna Pearl Woolf’s Après moi, le déluge December 18th, 2023Looking at the climate terrors of 2023, we can only anticipate what 2024 might hold. The historical calamity of the Flood seemed to affect everywhere last year. But when you look at the music for flood (and for how we’re -
10 Inspirational & Thought-Provoking Quotes From Musicians and Composers December 17th, 2023 “Every time you play a great piece of music, there is a new discovery. Every time.” – Mitsuko Uchida, pianist MITSUKO UCHIDA ~ Beethoven Piano Concerto # 5 / BSO /Andris Nelsons “I am interested in music as ecstasy, as -
Beethoven’s Piano Trio Opus 1 December 17th, 2023 As we celebrate the birthday of Ludwig van Beethoven on 17 December, we are once again reminded that the composer and thinker elevated musical expression to a new level of consciousness. From his early days, it was clear that Beethoven -
The Less-Classical Cello Concerto
Miguel del Águila’s Concierto en Tango December 17th, 2023Uruguayan-American composer Miguel del Águila (b. 1957) was commissioned by Buffalo Philharmonic principal cellist Roman Mekinulov for a cello concerto. Specifically a ‘concerto in tango form that would explore the less classical sound and technique of the cello’. Mr. Águila -
Antigone in the New World
Carlos Chávez’s Sinfonia de Antígona December 16th, 2023In 1932, Mexican composer Carlos Chávez wrote incidental music for a staged performance of Jean Cocteau’s version of Sophicles’ Antigone. Cocteau had created the play a decade earlier and called it a ‘contraction’ of the original. The original, one of -
Sheep May Safely Graze
A Personal X-mas Reflection December 16th, 2023Truth be told, I am almost apprehensive when watching or reading the morning news these days. Front pages and screens are full of yet more atrocities against humanity, and the death of innocent people from around the world is treated -
On This Day
16 December: Camille Saint-Saëns Died December 16th, 2023When Camille Saint-Saëns died of a heart attack on 16 December 1921 in Algiers, his body was taken back to Paris for a state funeral at the Madeleine. His career had spanned 70 years and five continents. He performed as -
Dance Music of the 1840s
Johann Strauss I, Joseph Lanner and Hans Christian Lumbye December 15th, 2023The early to mid-19th century was more than just a time of waltzes, it was also the polka and the galop that held the floor. The most important dancemen came from Vienna: Johann Strauss I and Joseph Lanner. A group