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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Harriet Cohen: The Glamorous Pianist Who Brought New Music to Life December 2nd, 2023 Harriet Pearl Alice Cohen was born in London on 2 December 1895. We may have largely forgotten her today, but this little girl turned out to be one of the most important musicians of the twentieth century. The Musical Childhood -
Charles Gounod (1818-1893): “Le Soir”
The Adventures of a Good Tune December 1st, 2023After winning the prestigious Prix de Rome, the young Charles Gounod (1818-1893) arrived in the Eternal City of Rome in 1840. After experiencing a spell of melancholy and homesickness, which he described “this kind of shroud in which I was -
Santiago Cañón-Valencia December 1st, 2023 ‘Music Was Meant to Be’ Few cellists can lay claim to the breadth and inventiveness of a career such as Santiago Cañón-Valencia. A self-confessed ‘soloist, composer, commissioner, recording artist, painter and photographer’, his prominence on the traditional concert platform, appearing -
Blurring Society’s Lines
Ernesto Lecuona’s Danzas Afro-Cubanas November 30th, 2023Ernesto Lecuona (1896–1963), the foremost Cuban composer of the first half of the 20th century, straddled the pop and classical worlds. He was a composer of popular and film music and a classical musician, performing internationally as a pianist and -
On This Day
30 November: Charles-Valentin Alkan Was Born November 30th, 2023Charles-Valentin Alkan (1819-1888) was one of the most celebrated pianists of the nineteenth century, mentioned in the same breath as Frédéric Chopin and Franz Liszt. He was also a most unusual composer, “remarkable in both technique and imagination,” and compared -
Engelbert Humperdinck November 29th, 2023 Only one of Engelbert Humperdinck’s compositions may have entered the repertoire, but what a composition it is! Today we’re looking at the life and work of Engelbert Humperdinck, composer of the magical fairy tale opera “Hansel und Gretel.” Engelbert Humperdinck’s -
Winter Winds and Falling Snow November 29th, 2023 Composers are particularly adept at portraying the weather in music, the most obvious example being Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, with its summer breezes, autumn gales and icy cold. The piano is a versatile vehicle to create atmospheric, evocative music, from Chopin’s -
The Green Salamander of Love
Benjamin Britten’s The Prince of the Pagodas November 28th, 2023Benjamin Britten (1913–1976) first fell under the influence of Balinese music when he met the Canadian composer Colin McPhee (1900–1964) in New York in 1939. McPhee had just returned from 6 years in Bali and in 1940, wrote his highly