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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On This Day
13 June: Verdi’s Les vêpres siciliennes Was Premiered June 13th, 2023Giuseppe Verdi’s Les vêpres siciliennes premiered at the Paris Opéra on 13 June 1855. It was well received, and even the notoriously difficult Hector Berlioz found much to admire, praising “the penetrating intensity of the melodic expressiveness, the sumptuous, wise -
Teresa Carreño: Thirteen Facts About the Great Pianist and Composer June 12th, 2023 Teresa Carreño was one of the most famous pianists of her generation. She traveled the world from Europe to America to Africa to Australia and lived a life full of accomplishment and adventure. Franz Liszt: Annees de pelerinage, 2nd year, -
Gershwin’s Forgotten Rhapsody June 11th, 2023 We all know George Gershwin (1898–1937) and his Rhapsody in Blue, his 1924 composition that, beginning with an extended clarinet glissando, firmly issued jazz into the world of classical music. The work was commissioned by bandleader Paul Whiteman and received -
On This Day
11 June: Britten’s Midsummer Night’s Dream Was Premiered June 11th, 2023When a marital disagreement between the king and queen of fairies spills into the human realm, it creates a tangle of misdirected spells and misplaced love affairs. With the fairies spreading accidental chaos far and wide, nothing is what it -
The Shocking Stories of Three Missing Stradivarius June 11th, 2023 Everyone knows that the most famous violins in the world were built by Antonio Stradivari. He was a violin maker from Cremona, Italy, who lived from 1644 to 1737. However, you may not know that although Stradivari’s workshop produced over -
On This Day
10 June: Frederick Delius Died June 10th, 2023By 1928, Frederick Delius was going blind and had lost the use of his limbs due to syphilis. His mental acuity, however, remained unimpaired until his death. But one thing for sure, he could no longer compose. Having learned of -
Les Femmes “Compositeurs”
Mélodies by French Romantic Women Composers June 10th, 2023The romance and its successor the mélodie was one of the main genres cultivated by Les Femmes “Compositeurs.” A mélodie is a form of French art song that is somewhat comparable to the German Lied. Claude Debussy wrote as follows, -
On This Day
9 June: Carl Nielsen Was Born June 9th, 2023“Fyn,” also known as “Funen” is the third-largest island of Denmark. Sometimes known as the “Garden of Denmark,” this predominantly flat island hosts a mainly mild climate. It is also the birthplace of pop singer MØ, a footballer named Christian