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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I Want to Be in America March 29th, 2014 One of the most interesting songs about the United States comes in the voice of embattled immigrants, the Puerto Ricans who inhabit Leonard Bernstein’s 1957 musical West Side Story. The song ‘America,’ in the original Broadway production, contrasts an idealized -
In touch with Melody Eötvös March 28th, 2014 Hailed as “the city’s most innovative music experience” by the Financial Times, the Intimacy of Creativity, founded by Chinese-American composer Bright Sheng, begins its fourth cycle this April, to bring together internationally acclaimed performers and composers for creative dialogue and -
What If You Had 12 Trumpets?
Leoš Janáček Sinfonietta March 27th, 2014What if you had not 2 or 3 trumpets, the normal complement for an orchestra, but 12 trumpets? Well, then you’d write the Sinfonietta. The Sinfonietta, completed in 1926, was the last orchestral work by Czech composer Leoš Janáček. Now -
Sinking into the Pasture
Concertgebouw Amsterdam March 26th, 2014The Royal Concertgebouw concert hall in Amsterdam is one of the finest performing venues in the world. At the time of construction, which started in 1883 in a pasture outside the city limits, the science of acoustics was not yet -
The Piano Has the Last Word March 25th, 2014 Before Schubert and Schumann, the role of the piano in lied performances was just as a general support – the vocal line was the star and the piano the nearly invisible support. With Schubert, the ultimate lieder composer, and Schumann, -
Don’t pop that zit!
Alexander Scriabin’s undoing March 24th, 2014Alexander Scriabin: Mysterium Acne is an annoying and often embarrassing skin disease that frequently plunges the teenage world into turmoil. If we can trust medical advice, one should never pick, gouge, pop, scratch or squeeze the infected skin as this -
Johann Friedrich Reichardt March 23rd, 2014 The joys of Civil Service! If you really think that being a composer in the 18th and 19th centuries was an easy way to make a living, just ask Johann Friedrich Reichardt (1752-1814). Born into a highly musical family in -
The Supernatural in Music
II. Medieval Occultism: Defeating the Devil March 23rd, 2014One of the famous stories of demonic possession cured by music was David playing his harp to sooth King Saul (I Samuel). Although this is taken in modern times as the first instance of music therapy for the treatment of