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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Anatoly Lyadov January 18th, 2014 The Firebird that did not fly Anatoly Lyadov: The Enchanted Lake, Op. 62 Anatoly Lyadov: Kikimora, Op. 63 The Ballets Russes, widely regarded as the most influential ballet company of the 20th century, was the brainchild of the Russian impresario -
Music Classes: the Joys, the Pains and the Gains. January 13th, 2014 ‘Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without.’ ‘To educate somebody, you should start from poems, emphasise on ceremonies, and finish with music.’ Confucius (551 BC – 479 BC) There have recently been a number of -
Beyond the Mask January 12th, 2014 I recently came across an extraordinary image. Many police services combine images of a suspect to create a general photo-fit image. But the federal police in Berlin recently combined a number of portraits of a man who died in the -
Bite me!
Heinrich Marschner and his Vampire January 12th, 2014Many decades before Bram Stoker severely frightened Victorian society with his Gothic horror novel Dracula, the English writer and physician John William Polidori published his short story The Vampyre in 1819. According to literary critics, Polidori wrote “the first story -
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New Year’s Resolutions January 11th, 2014Oscar Wilde sarcastically suggested, “Good resolutions are simply checks that people draw on a bank where they have no account.” Of course it might also be said that making resolutions is a cleansing ritual demanding personal honesty, and that breaking -
Hail to the Flautist!
C.P.E. Bach at the Court of Frederick II of Prussia January 10th, 2014When Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach joined the royal court of Frederick the Great of Prussia as an accompanist in 1740, a stable of some 17 musicians primarily devoted to the performance of chamber music greeted him. The monarch himself was -
CPE Bach, Frederick the Great and the Architecture of the Rococo January 10th, 2014 C.P.E. Bach (1714-1788), second surviving son of Johann Sebastian Bach and Maria Barbara Bach, was the true successor to his father’s legacy. Considered by his contemporaries as one of the most important composers and harpsichordists of their time, his enormous -
A Minimalistic Mountain out of a Molehill? January 10th, 2014 Something out of nothing Processes processes processes Repetition Inspiration Are you confused yet?