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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Père Franck October 14th, 2015 In 1843, César Franck began work on his first non-chamber work, the oratorio Ruth. The libretto by Alexandre Guillemin is inspired by the biblical “Book of Ruth” and arranged in the manner of an operatic text. In fact, the three-part -
Composers by the Numbers October 13th, 2015 We have the 3 Bs, The Five, and the Six. They’re all from different countries and cover some 300 years. Do you know who they are? The Three Bs are J.S. Bach (1685-1750), Beethoven (1770-1827), and Brahms (1833-1897). In those -
Louis Vierne: Born Unlucky October 12th, 2015 Louis Victor Jules Vierne was seemingly born under an unlucky star! He emerged into this word nearly blind on 8 October 1870. Two serious operations in 1877 finally enabled him to read large print, and he eventually learned Braille in -
Louis Vierne: Dying on the Job October 11th, 2015 If you are working as a roofer, miner, logger, fisher, construction-equipment operator or in law enforcement, you have selected a profession that is designated as high-risk or safety sensitive. Although these jobs are not especially lucrative in terms of payment, -
Chinese Musical Instruments: Wood October 11th, 2015 Musical instruments in China were traditionally classified into 8 groups delineated by the material used in the instrument: Silk, Bamboo, Wood, Stone, Metal, Clay, Gourd and Hide. We will look at selected instruments in six of these groups in this -
What are Concerts for? October 10th, 2015 Concert noun 1. a public musical performance in which a number of singers or instrumentalists, or both, participate. 2. a public performance, usually by an individual singer, instrumentalist, or the like; recital: Earlier this year, I took part in a -
Music and Art: Bacon October 10th, 2015 When art becomes distortion, we think of the 20th century as the time and place for this to become an art form. The British artist Francis Bacon (1909-1992) was a figurative painter who created bold images against isolated backgrounds. In -
A Revolutionary Union
César Franck and Eugénie-Félicité-Caroline Saillot-Desmousseaux October 9th, 2015César Franck had a rather ambitious and overbearing father! Determined to make the most profitable use of his son’s musical talents, he forced him into a career as a virtuoso pianist. Studies at the Liège and Paris Conservatory set the