Know Your Composer
The Romantic era in music, spanning from the late 18th century to the early 20th century, marked a profound shift in the artistic landscape. This period emphasized emotion, individualism, and expressive depth, breaking away from the structured forms of the Classical era. Among the luminaries of this era, Frédéric Chopin
Know Your Composer
This month marked the 150th anniversary of the first performance of Giuseppe Verdi’s Requiem. The premiere, led by the composer, took place on May 22, 1874 at the Church of San Marco in Milan, and was followed by subsequent performances at La Scala and in Paris. Powerfully dramatic, Verdi’
Know Your Composer
Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony premiered in Vienna in May 1824. Two centuries later, it remains a powerful and enduring work. “Sing that song from Germany,” my cousins would say to me over the phone when I was a little boy of four, just arrived in Goa with my family from
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The bond between Johannes Brahms and Clara Schumann is a fascinating story of music, collaboration, and enduring friendship. Despite living in a time when close relationships between male and female composers were not always looked upon favourably, Brahms and Clara Schumann forged a unique and lasting connection. This article explores
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The first single from Unseen, the newest work by American composer, Michael Torke, was released earlier this month. (The full album will be available on May 10). The excerpt, No. 7 from a piece which unfolds in nine brief movements, delivers a visceral and ecstatic sense of groove. Scored for
Know Your Composer
The story, recounted by the Russian musicologist, Leonid Sabaneyev, is so incredible that it may have been apocryphal. One day, while in Alexander Scriabin’s Moscow flat, Sabaneyev sat down at the piano and began to play a theme from Scriabin’s Fantasie in B minor, Op. 28. The composer
Know Your Composer
In the vast landscape of 19th-century German music, two towering figures emerge, each commanding attention and adulation in their own right: Johannes Brahms and Richard Wagner. Their names evoke distinct musical worlds, yet their paths intersected in a clash of artistic philosophies and egos, creating one of the most compelling
Know Your Composer
George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue was premiered one hundred years ago, on the snowy afternoon of February 12, 1924, at Aeolian Hall on Manhattan’s West 43rd Street. The 25-year-old composer was at the piano, joined by the dance band of Paul Whiteman, the noted bandleader who commissioned the
Know Your Composer
The works of the composer Gustav Mahler (1860–1911) are among the most often played in many orchestras’ repertoire. This was not the case during his lifetime, however, when he was much more popular as a conductor than a composer – his critics finding his compositions too different, too complex and,
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Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was born on September 25, 1906, in St. Petersburg, Russia, a city immersed in the cultural and intellectual fervor of the time. Growing up in a family with a deep appreciation for music, young Dmitri showed an early proclivity for the art form. His mother, a pianist,
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As dean of the Second Viennese School, Arnold Schoenberg was one of the twentieth century’s greatest exponents of atonal music. Yet, Schoenberg resisted dogma. Long after developing his twelve-tone system, he asserted that “there is still much good music to be written in C major.” Weihnachtsmusik (“Christmas Music”) is
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The Symphony Orchestra of India, resident at the NCPA in Mumbai, is blessed with the harmony in diversity of many nationalities among its musicians. The unique sound of this young-in-years, musically maturing ensemble reflects not only the virtuosity of the players but also their international cultural contexts and training pedigrees.
