The love story between Robert and Clara Schumann is often regarded as one of the most romantic in classical music history. Happily for historians, many of their love letters survive. They document their inner thoughts and emotions, as well as
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In touch with Cédric Tiberghien:
An artist, not just a musician August 10th, 2013‘If one day my passion for music fades, I would have done something else!’ the French pianist Cédric Tiberghien told me a few years ago when we first met in a practice room in Hong Kong. Time flies, but the -
Alina Ibragimova August 10th, 2013 An intelligent violinist Beethoven Violin Sonata No. 5 in F major, Op. 24, “Spring” With Cédric Tiberghien Bach Concerto for Oboe and Violin in C minor, BWV 1060 With Alexei Ogrintchouk and the Swedish Chamber Orchestra Once shared the stage -
Buried Treasures:
Felix Mendelssohn: Concerto for Piano, Violin and Strings in D Minor (1822) August 9th, 2013When Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) died at the incredibly young age of thirty-eight, he simply had not yet made arrangements for literally hundreds of unpublished musical manuscripts and artworks, alongside thousands of personal letters to and from the composer. During his -
Music and Religion:
Glory to God August 7th, 2013According to the apostle Luke, when the angels announced the birth of Christ to the Shepherds, they sang a hymn beginning with the words “Gloria in excelsis Deo” (Glory to God in the highest.) In time, additional verses were added -
All work and no play? Studying music academically August 6th, 2013 ‘Writing about music is like dancing about architecture’. These were the words of Miles Davis. Or was it Elvis Costello? Perhaps it was Thelonius Monk… Or Frank Zappa? Regardless of who said these words (maybe they all uttered it at -
Shooting the Messenger
Hindemith and the Folk Tradition August 5th, 2013During a 1928 lecture for choral conductors in Berlin, Paul Hindemith addressed the widening gap between contemporary composers — and here he particularly emphasized Arnold Schoenberg — and the general musical public. “The tenuous connection in music today between producers -
Sign of the Lion!
Paul Hindemith and Gertrud Rottenberg IV August 3rd, 2013Paul Hindemith: Die Serenaden, Op. 35 “Duett for Viola and Violoncello” At the beginning of 1940, Gertrude was still stuck in Switzerland and desperately looking for a way to join her husband, who had secured lectureships at the University of -
The Riot of Spring! July 31st, 2013 On 29 May 1913, the city of Paris witnessed the premiere performance of a musical work that exerted a tremendously powerful influence on the music of the 20th century. The Rite of Spring catapulted Stravinsky to international stardom and defined