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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Life After Life
Missy Mazzoli’s Millennium Canticles December 9th, 2023American composer Missy Mazzoli (b. 1980) has been given the title of ‘Brooklyn’s post-millennial Mozart’ and in 2018, was one of the first two women commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera (the other composer commissioned was Jeanine Tesori). She attended the -
On This Day
9 December: Elisabeth Schwarzkopf Was Born December 9th, 2023Olga Maria Elisabeth Frederike Schwarzkopf was born in Jarocin near Poznán, then Germany, now Poland, on 9 December 1915. She was to become the pre-eminent female lieder singer of the post-war decades and an operatic artist “in whom personal beauty, -
15 Pieces of Classical Music About Snow December 9th, 2023 The delicate dance of snowflakes – the hushed stillness of a winter landscape – the fury of a raucous blizzard… It’s easy to see why composers have been inspired by these snowy scenarios for generations. So bundle up and join -
On This Day
8 December: Bohuslav Martinů Was Born December 8th, 2023In the years preceding World War II, Bohuslav Martinů was a much-respected composer experimenting with jazz, folk, and avant-garde creations in Paris. Forced to flee to the United States in 1940, he soon became the living composer whose works were -
Opera in Translation December 8th, 2023 Among the crowning glories of German and Italian opera are The Magic Flute, Tristan and Isolde, La Traviata, Tosca, Norma, and Aida; English opera has Balfe’s “Bohemian Girl” which is barely ever performed, Britten’s “Peter Grimes” whose chief attributes are -
First Concert of the Philharmonic Society of New York
7 December 1842 December 7th, 2023A momentous occasion took place on 7 December 1842 in the Apollo Rooms on lower Broadway. On that day, 600 audience members witnessed the first concert of the Philharmonic Society of New York. Formed as a cooperative organization of about -
On This Day
7 December: Johannes Brahms’ Handel Variations Was Premiered December 7th, 2023When Johannes Brahms first met Richard Wagner in 1863 he played his Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel, Op. 24 for the prophet of the “Artwork of the Future.” The work sounds like an impressive catalogue of variation -
15 Pieces of Classical Music About War and Peace December 6th, 2023 It seems to be a sad, tragic fact of human existence that war will always be with us. Classical composers have served in, survived, and written about war and peace for generations. Today we’re looking at fifteen pieces of classical