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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Writing Music in Light November 7th, 2015 The Russian composer Alexander Scriabin was very interested in relating color and sound. Scriabin had synesthesia – he actually heard in color; his friend Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov had the same sense. In 1910, Scriabin codified his sound and color senses and -
Muses and Musings
Bohuslav Martinů and Albert Einstein November 6th, 2015Artists tend to find inspiration everywhere; in food, unrequited love, the beauty of nature or even in a textbook on physics! It so happened when Bohuslav Martinů met Albert Einstein in December 1943. Both men had been forced to escape -
![Plucking at my [Heart] Strings](https://interlude-cdn-blob-prod.azureedge.net/interlude-blob-storage-prod/2015/10/Ready-for-Pizzicato.jpg "Plucking at my [Heart] Strings")
Plucking at my [Heart] Strings November 5th, 2015 When the string section changes from a lush sound to a percussive sound, we know that it’s all about pizzicato. The word in Italian means pinched or plucked and that’s what the string players are doing. They’ve put down their -
Playing in Pairs: Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra November 4th, 2015 Béla Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra challenges the educated listener on several fronts, starting with the title itself. A concerto is a work for soloist and orchestra (or, perhaps, soloist versus orchestra!). What are we to think of a work where -
Telling Tales of War November 3rd, 2015 In 1918, Stravinsky was in dire straits: the revolution in Russia meant the loss of his property (and income), WWI meant the death of his brother fighting in Romania, his wife was ill, and then there were the four children -
Muses and Musings
Guillaume de Machaut and Péronne d’Armentières November 2nd, 2015It has long been suspected that intense sexual relationships are an impediment to artistic creativity. Don’t take my word for it, just read what Frédéric Chopin had to say about the disastrous effect the Countess Delphina Potocka had on his -
Julie Fuchs November 1st, 2015 ‘Take care of yourself because nobody is going to do it for you’ Recently returning from her Paris Opéra debut, singing La Folie in Rameau’s Platée, and finding a moment of respite before a run of Il viaggio a Reims -
Music and Art: Goya II November 1st, 2015 We looked earlier at the Spanish artist Francisco Goya (1746 – 1828) and how his ‘maja’ pictures influenced the 20th century Spanish composer Enrique Granados (1867-1916) to create his Goyescas.