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
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Sergei Prokofiev: Enfant Terrible December 29th, 2015 The piano was the prominent vehicle for Sergei Prokofiev’s musical expression. In the tradition of the great piano virtuosos of the 19th century, he was initially looking to impress his audiences with his considerable keyboard skills. Igor Stravinsky attended a -
Minors of the Majors
Felix Mendelssohn: “On New Year’s Day,” Op 79, No.2 December 28th, 2015“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! -
Muses and Musings
Lusty Eye for the Music Guy: Johann Mayrhofer and Franz Schubert December 27th, 2015Johannes Brahms considered the poet Johann Mayrhofer “the most serious of all Schubert’s friends.” This complicated man, full of self-hatred and driven by emotions whose violence he could not accept, transferred the conflict-ridden passions of his inner world into powerful -
Music and Art: Mendelssohn and Leighton December 27th, 2015 In our series on Music and Art, we’ve been looking at works of music inspired by works of art. The influence also goes the other way, where works of art have been inspired by music. Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) came from -
Old Flames burn the hottest!
Sergei Prokofiev and Eleonora Damskaya December 26th, 2015Sergei Prokofiev would make a compelling case study for a textbook investigating the psychology of the exceptional child. Supremely talented in musical matters, Sergei had composed a number of overtures, various piano pieces and his first opera The Giant by -
Ludwig van Beethoven: String Quartet in G Major, Op. 18, No. 2 December 25th, 2015 The early career of Ludwig van Beethoven was decisively shaped by the patronage of Count Ferdinand Ernst Gabriel von Waldstein and Prince Joseph František Maximilian Lobkowicz. In fact, without the unquestioning support and friendship from these two individuals, Beethoven’s musical -
Sergei Prokofiev December 24th, 2015 Celebrating the 125th Anniversary of his Birth Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) “There are still so many beautiful things to be said in C major” Sergei Prokofiev’s death on March 5, 1953, only hours before the passing of Josef Stalin, went almost -
Antique Instruments in the Orchestra December 23rd, 2015 Can you name an instrument used for an orchestral solo that used to be so common that nearly everyone owned one but now are quite rare? One piece of popular light music calls for an instrument that was in every