As a mythological character, Hercules is one who has always captured our attention. Famed for his strength and for his adventures around the known world, he’s caught the attention of writers and musicians for centuries. The stories and feats of
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Do You Know Daisy Bell? October 27th, 2023 Daisy Bell is a song that lives in popular culture. Don’t recognize the title? You might know it better by the final line of the chorus: ‘….a bicycle built for two.’ English composer Frank Dean (1857–1922) immortalized the tandem bicycle, -
When a New Music Director is a Call for Celebration
Thomas Søndergård and the Minnesota Orchestra October 27th, 2023Music directors of the major orchestras in the world do not typically come and go. A case in point, Eugene Ormandy was principal conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra from 1938-1980 a total of 42 years. Not to be outdone, Zubin -
Rachmaninoff’s Last Student: 98-Year-Old Pianist Ruth Slenczynska October 26th, 2023 Ruth Slenczysnka must be one of the most interesting pianists alive today. She certainly has a story unlike any other: she studied piano with Rachmaninoff as a little girl – became an international musical sensation – abandoned her performing career -
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25 October: Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 Was Premiered October 25th, 2023Pianist Hans von Bülow was called upon on 25 October 1875 to play the first performance of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 at the Music Hall in Boston. Tchaikovsky wrote to Bülow, “Thank you for the sympathetic attention you have -
Musical Instruments on the Title Pages of 16th- and 17th-Century Music October 25th, 2023 We were looking at some music title pages from a collection in the Bibliothèque Nationale and found some interesting representations of music as part of the title page designs. In this title page for a book of keyboard music from -
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24 October: Franz Lehár Died October 24th, 2023With his operetta The Merry Widow, the Austro-Hungarian composer Franz Lehár crafted one of the most popular and enduring works in the genre. In fact, it was the favourite work of Adolf Hitler, who called it “equal to the best -
10 Fun and Exciting Clarinet Sonatas From the 20th Century October 23rd, 2023 The 20th century really fell in love with the clarinet. I always get goosebumps listening to the opening of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, with the clarinet sounding the delicious penetrating low trill followed by that long glissando. The technical demands -
On This Day
23 October: Kirill Gerstein Was Born October 23rd, 2023Pianist Kirill Gerstein was the youngest student ever to enter the Berklee College of Music in Boston at the age of 14. Several decades later, he is considered one of the most distinguished classical artists of his generation, engaging in