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
Latest article
Spotlight
-
“Through discipline comes freedom” (Aristotle) November 10th, 2016 The world of classical music is driven with conventions from the way we dress to the manner in which music is presented in public and when it is acceptable to applaud. Many of these customs developed in the second half -
Arthur and the Lady Bliss
Arthur Bliss and Trudy Hoffmann November 8th, 2016Although he was born in a suburb of London, Sir Arthur Bliss was half American. His father Francis Edward Bliss, a successful businessman from Massachusetts, had settled in England after marrying his second wife Agnes Kennard Davis. When Agnes died, -
Minors of the Majors
Gustav Holst: Ave Maria November 7th, 2016“Minors of the Majors” invites you to discover compositions by the great classical composers that for one reason or another have not reached the musical mainstream. Please enjoy, and keep listening! -
Tango Beyond Piazzolla – III. Osvaldo Pugliese November 6th, 2016 Lasting around forty years with the glorious peak in the 1940s, a Golden Age of tango music was born with the rise of the “big four” composers: Juan D’Arienzo, Aníbal Troilo, Carlo di Sarli, and Osvaldo Pugliese. While Juan D’ -
Musical Giants of the 20th Century: Choirs November 6th, 2016 Our Musical Giants of the 20th Century series have so far looked at some of history’s finest musicians – string players like Heifetz and Hubermann, pianists including Richter and Rubinstein and conductors from Kleiber to Karajan. We now turn our -
A Week in The Life at the Tanglewood Music Festival November 5th, 2016 The verdant hills of the Berkshires beckon not only for the exceptional scenery but also because of Tanglewood—the eight-week music festival and school, home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra from June through early August. I had the privilege of experiencing -
Composers and Their Poets: Schubert IV November 4th, 2016 We’ve looked at Schubert’s song cycles, but that was only a small part of the enormous number of lieder he wrote. There were many other poets he set than just the majors we are so familiar with (Goethe, Schiller, and -
Mily Balakirev: Islamey, “Oriental fantasy for piano” November 3rd, 2016 “It’s unplayable,” said the virtuoso pianist and composer Mily Balakirev, “there are passages in this work that I simply can’t manage.” Alexander Scriabin seriously damaged his right hand frantically practicing this composition, and Maurice Ravel remarked that his goal in