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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“If music be the food of love, play on.”
Shakespeare and Music VIII – Othello April 10th, 2016Othello has long been a seductive Shakespeare tragedy, adaptable to our present day life with its enduring leitmotifs—love, mistrust, duplicity, racism, retaliation and remorse. -
The Mermaid Singer and Her Song April 10th, 2016 The not-so-young composer was working on the next piece after the work that made him a national star. The singer was an up-and-coming contralto. At the 1899 Norwich Festival, Edward Elgar unveiled his new song cycle, Sea Pictures, with the -
The Angst and Agony of Young Love
Ferruccio Busoni and Gerda Sjöstrand I April 9th, 2016At age 22, Ferruccio Busoni (1866-1924) was appointed piano teacher at the conservatory of Helsingfors, then part of the Russian Empire, today known as the Finnish capital Helsinki. Stable employment and income aside, Busoni could not speak a word of -
How You Should Feel in the Key of A major April 8th, 2016 In our earlier series on C major and minor, G major and minor, and D major and minor, we listed Ernst Pauer’s suggestions from 1876 of pieces that fit the particular affect he assigned for a key. For the rest -
Cosplay at the Philharmonic April 7th, 2016 I went to a concert the other night – dynamic conductor, electrifying soloist, enthusiastic audience that cheered as each piece was announced and often sang along with the melodies – and yet the programme consisted of music that you hear, -
Ferruccio Busoni April 6th, 2016 Music is the gate between the earthly and eternal world In 2016 we celebrate the 150th birthday of Ferruccio Dante Michelangiolo Benvenuto Busoni (1866-1924), one of the most talented and controversial piano virtuosos active during the second half of the -
Irish Mist
John Field and Adelaide Victoria Percheron April 5th, 2016She was described as “a tiny little person, perfectly proportioned and extremely graceful, with lively expression and half-closed eyes, which suggested the wit and malice of a ‘petit diable bleu… She also possessed a coquettish magnetism, which attracted men towards -
Minors of the Majors
Gustav Mahler: Piano Quartet in A Minor April 4th, 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!