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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The Napoleon Complex November 1st, 2014 Emperor Napoleon I of France was small in stature, reaching a mere 157 centimeters in height. It is commonly assumed that he compensated for his lack of height by aggressively seeking out power, war and conquest. “Short man syndrome,” which -
The Luthéal Attachment October 31st, 2014 I am almost certain you have never heard of the Belgian inventor George Cloetens (1871-1949). In the category of quirky inventions, he is known for patenting a special dual-chamber syringe, and claiming a patent for printing advertisements on toilet paper! -
Mendelssohn and the String Quartet October 30th, 2014 Felix Mendelssohn (1809 — 1847) started writing string quartets at a very early age – always precocious, he composed his String Quartet in E flat major in 1823, when he was just 14 (although it was not published until 50 -
Musicality is nature; musical ability is nurture October 29th, 2014 An article published in The Economist (‘Musical ability is in the DNA’) suggested that one’s musical ability is determined by genetics, and that despite Malcolm Gladwell’s bold statement that 10,000 hours of practice will guarantee expertise in almost any field, -
Berkeley Symphony Orchestra Opening Night Concert October 28th, 2014 I had the pleasure of attending the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra opening concert for the 2014/15 season—my first classical music concert since moving to the U.S.A. The concert took place at UC Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall. The building has a surprisingly small -
Franz Tunder October 27th, 2014 Free Concerts for Advent In many Western Christian churches, the season of Advent prepares believers for the celebration of the nativity of Jesus at Christmas. Traditionally, Advent marks the beginning of the Church Year, and symbolizes the spiritual journey towards -
The Speed of Poetry October 27th, 2014 When we hear Renaissance madrigals sung, we often hear these lovely, long-drawn out pieces of pure counterpoint and then forget why they were written. The Italian madrigal came out of what we might think of as the upper-class men’s clubs -
Devotional Simplicity
Mozart: Ave verum corpus October 26th, 2014Mozart’s relationship to church music has been compared to a child’s attitude towards eating sprouts and spinach. That attitude was clearly conditioned by his troubled interaction with Count Hieronymus von Colloredo, who was appointed Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg in 1771. This