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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Spotlight
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Germaine Tailleferre April 4th, 2017 “Perhaps women have always been in closer contact with reality than men” Germaine Tailleferre (1892-1983) was the sole female member of the intriguing group of young French composers eventually known as “Les Six.” Her association with “Les nouveaux jeunes” aside, -
Very Quiet Screeching Allowed April 4th, 2017 We were looking at a score by the Finnish composer Perrtu Haapanen and found his performance directions very interesting for his 2014 work Compulsion Island, commissioned by the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra. His instructions for the strings are very specific -
Forgotten Pianists: Theodor Leschetizky April 3rd, 2017 Theodor Leschetizky (1830 –1915) is a pianist who crosses wide musical and time scales. His father was a talented pianist and teacher; after his first lessons with his father, he was taken to Vienna to study with Carl Czerny. At -
Muses and Musings
Salon Marie Trélat April 2nd, 2017Beginning in the late 18th century, something magical happened in Paris on Friday! As a contemporary observer wrote, “Friday is the day that was adopted by most artists as the day to entertain; on this day, everyone visits their painter. -
Jeanne’s Fan April 1st, 2017 In France, the reaction against the excesses of Wagnerism in the late 19th century turned music toward the lighter side. Les Six collaborated with Jean Cocteau to create collaborative pieces such as Les mariés de la tour Eiffel (The Wedding -
Maria Milstein April 1st, 2017 Trios, Travelling and Teaching Moscow-born violinist Maria Milstein balances a successful solo career with the work of her chamber group the Van Baerle Trio. I speak to Maria in the days following a week with six concerts with the group, -
Composers and their Poets: Falla March 31st, 2017 Manuel de Falla (1876-1946) set relatively little vocal music and the most well-known of his vocal setting is of a set of 7 anonymous popular songs from different regions of Spain: Murcia, Aragon, the north of Spain, the Moorish south, -
Unsung Concertos
Bohuslav Martinů: Oboe Concerto H.353 March 29th, 2017Bohuslav Martinů (1890-1959) always paid close attention to avant-garde cosmopolitan musical developments. Yet simultaneously he was acutely aware of his position as a composer of Czech national music. Ceaselessly working to “express the never-ending search for truth and the meaning