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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Instruments of the Orchestra II: The Viola February 22nd, 2015 Ah, the poor viola, butt of a thousand jokes (What’s the difference between a violin and a viola? The viola burns longer), but, in the end, provides the warm sound that counteracts the often brittle violin sound. In a string -
Amadeus Makeover February 22nd, 2015 When it comes to transcriptions and arrangements, the music of Johann Sebastian Bach has beautifully served the aesthetic and practical musical needs of subsequent generations. As we have heard in a number of episodes, Bach’s music was variously aligned with -
Weapons of War February 21st, 2015 Music is powerful. It can make us smile, laugh and cry. It gives us something to enjoy or think about while we wait for the bus. It makes us want to dance. It gives us food for thought. It can -
Sergei Ivanovich Taneyev February 19th, 2015 Pianist, Scholar and Composer When Sergei Ivanovich Taneyev (1856-1915) attended the funeral of his student Alexander Scriabin in 1915, he caught a rather severe flu. Instead of taking proper medicine and rest, he continued to resist the virus and persisted -
In an Italian Garden February 18th, 2015 Madrigals in elevated style formed the basis of various musical entertainments during the late Italian Renaissance. Before the advent of opera, composers habitually turned to the dramatic madrigal in an effort to create new musico-dramatic forms. Among the most popular -
Sergei Ivanovich Taneyev
The Russian Bach February 17th, 2015His teacher Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky called Sergei Ivanovich Taneyev “the greatest master of counterpoint in Russia; I am not even sure there is his equal in the West.” And his student Sergei Rachmaninoff, described Taneyev as “a master composer, the -
Imagined Intimacy
Sergei Ivanovich Taneyev and Sophia Andreevna Tolstoy February 16th, 2015Sergei Ivanovich Taneyev (1856-1915) was a rather unusual character! Well into adulthood, he lived with his beloved nanny Pelageya Vassilievna Ivanovna. He abhorred alcohol and was a militant non-smoker; making his friends smoke at the open kitchen window in clear -
Musical Form in Architecture
August Endell (1871-1925) February 15th, 2015Believe it or not, the dictionaries and most prominent reference books of 1878 did not have a word to identify what we now think of as abstract art. The best anybody could do at the time was to compare paintings