The love story between Robert and Clara Schumann is often regarded as one of the most romantic in classical music history. Happily for historians, many of their love letters survive. They document their inner thoughts and emotions, as well as
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E.T.A. Hoffmann on Steroids!
Edgar Allan Poe in Music May 29th, 2016Reading American literature during my student days in Europe was a rather thankless and boring task. I simply had no connection to the naïve optimism of the American frontier mentality or the preachy virtues of the Puritan legacy. For me, -
Movers and Shakers of Music World
Antonio Vivaldi: Produced by the Red Priest May 29th, 2016An impresario working in the late 17th century was solely responsible for running all the artistic and business matters of the theater. He rented the house, negotiated and signed contracts with everyone connected with productions. Singers, instrumentalists, technical staff and -
Making the Music Come Alive:
An Interview with Anderson and Roe May 28th, 2016Duo pianists Greg Anderson and Elizabeth Joy Roe have been performing together since meeting at Juilliard in 2002. Their solo piano careers have been augmented by their duo piano careers and their international touring schedule has brought them worldwide recognition. -
Beethoven at the Ballet May 28th, 2016 We don’t often think of Beethoven as a composer for the ballet – as an original composer, that is, rather than having his music used in later times for ballet. In 1801, however, Salvatore Viganò (1769-1821) came to Vienna and -
How You Should Feel in the Key of F Sharp Minor May 27th, 2016 In our earlier series on C major and minor, G major and minor, and D major and minor, and A major and minor, E major and minor,and B major and minor, we listed Ernst Pauer’s suggestions from 1876 of pieces -
Developing a Gregorian Idea May 26th, 2016 Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936) started working on his Tre Preludi sopra melodie gregoriane (Three Preludes on Gregorian Melodies) in 1919, finishing them in 1921. His wife, Elisa Olivieri-Sangiacomo, had brought Gregorian chant to his attention. -
Nielsen and the Four Temperaments May 25th, 2016 One of the fundamental beliefs of Greek medicine, and one that extended up to the 19th century and the beginnings of modern medicine, was that of the four humours that regulated the body. The four humours were the four liquids -
Trouble in the Barnyard: Stravinsky and Renard May 24th, 2016 Renard, the Fox, is a long-established character in the folk tales of many countries. He’s reputed to be sly, be a creature cunning and trickery. Stravinsky took up the character in his comic masterpiece Renard, or, to give it its