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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Lyrical Sax
Alexander Glazunov: Concerto for Alto Saxophone June 14th, 2014The saxophone was a relative latecomer to the family of woodwind instruments. Developed in Paris by Adolphe Sax in the 1840’s, the instrument features a single reed mouthpiece like the clarinet, a conical brass body like the ophicleide—the bass member -
Music, art and literature and the Great War: Part I June 14th, 2014 2013 saw the celebrations of Verdi’s and Wagner’s bicentennials, the centennial of Benjamin Britten’s birth and of Stravinsky’s ‘Rite of Spring’. 2014 marks a more somber centennial — of the outbreak of the Great War following the assassination of Archduke -
Composers in the Slammer!
Ethel Smyth June 12th, 2014We all remember that Johann Sebastian Bach was jailed for overstaying his holiday, and that Beethoven, mistaken for a homeless vagrant, spent a couple of days in the slammer as well. Michael Tippet was arrested for conscientiously objecting to WW2, -
In touch with Bright Sheng June 11th, 2014 In four years’ time, the Intimacy of Creativity has grown from a university arts project to a widely sought after chance by emerging young composers to come to Hong Kong and get creative with renowned pianist, composer and founder of -
Schubertiade
In Praise of Franz Peter Schubert June 10th, 2014In the musical world, Moritz von Schwindt is primarily remembered for his famous drawing entitled “Schubertiade.” The term “Schubertiade” was actually coined by friends of Franz Schubert, and described private and informal musical gathering in the composer’s apartment. In addition -
Pomp and Circumstance June 8th, 2014 It’s graduation season and we start to hear music for ceremonies. At my high school graduation, the concert band played a bit of Wagner: ‘Elsa’s Procession to the Cathedral’ from Lohengrin. It was wonderful music, but when you’d repeated it -
Feats of Social Climbing
Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme June 7th, 2014Do you imagine that social climbing is a modern day phenomenon? Think again! Here’s a piece that humorously illustrates this societal failing— Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme Op. 60 by Richard Strauss. It was written between 1911 and 1917 and is a -
Richard Strauss: A Composer for All Seasons June 6th, 2014 Elektra (1909), proved crucial to Strauss’s later development as a composer of opera, since it marked the beginning of his collaboration with the young Viennese poet Hugo von Hofmannsthal. This tale of multiple murder and bitter vengeance is musically and