In classical music, the Romantic Era lasted from around 1810 to around 1910. That century gave us some of the most famous symphonies in the repertoire. Nineteenth-century composers like Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Dvořák, Schubert, Mahler, Rachmaninoff, and others elevated the symphony
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Enrique Granados June 28th, 2016 Chopin of Spain When Enrique Granados (1867–1916) drowned in the English Channel trying to save his wife 100 years ago, the musical world lost an extraordinary poet of the piano. “His hands stroke the keys with a delicacy, with a -
Minors of the Majors
Anton Bruckner: String Quintet in F Major June 27th, 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! -
Critical Ear with Sharpened Pen
Meet the Critics June 26th, 2016Everybody today seems to have an opinion, and, with the benefit of the web, many of more of us can know their opinions as well. Yet, what we value is not necessarily any opinion, but an informed opinion. Interlude will -
“Dying is just the way I composed it”
Richard Strauss: Four Last Songs June 26th, 2016Henry David Thoreau once wrote, “Most people go to the grave with a song still in them.” A good number of famous composers throughout the ages have gone to their graves with a lot of songs in them! Take for -
Music à la “Mode”
Phrygian Gates June 25th, 2016In the world of the ancient Greece philosophers, music could greatly affect the mood and character of an individual. In fact, this “ethos of music,” as it was called, even made a person more or less fit for a particular -
How You Should Feel in the Key of A flat minor June 24th, 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, B major and minor, F sharp major and minor, and C sharp major -
Sibelius Academy June 23rd, 2016 What springs to mind when you think of Europe’s great music colleges? Germany? Britain? Austria? Take a leap north-east, and you’ll come across Sibelius Academy, unassumingly nestled in Helsinki’s University of the Arts, ranking at number 7 in the QS -
Celebrating Young Talent – the BBC Young Musician competition June 22nd, 2016 Bartok may have declared that competitions were “for horses”, but this year’s prestigious BBC Young Musician competition, which has just reached its thrilling conclusion with the prize being awarded to cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, proved above all that music brings joy