Xenakis, Rebonds B Iannis Xenakis (1922-2001) was born to Greek parents in a Greek community in Romania. In 1932, he began attending a boarding school in Greece where he studied music while also excelling in mathematics. He entered the National Technical School in Athens in … Read more
Schumann, Piano Quartet The chamber music of Robert Schumann (1810-1856) makes up a relative small portion of his large corpus of works. An extremely accomplished pianist, his compositions focus heavily on that instrument: works for solo piano, a piano concerto, and an enormous body of … Read more
What things shape our understanding of the things we ardently pursue in life? In Episode #2 of Encounters, Hank and I talk about specific events that changed our approach to music (and, in some respects, life itself). In my case, the key incident involved a … Read more
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Wolf, Verborgenheit Hugo Wolf (1860-1903) is known primarily as a late-Romantic composer of German Lieder, a successor to Schubert and Schumann. He drew his texts from numerous sources, including some poets favored by Schubert and Schumann such as Goethe, Heine, and Rückert. He was born … Read more
I landed in San Luis Obispo, bumping in plenty of turbulence on the last leg from Phoenix through remnants of the torrential “Pineapple Express” that hit California. Peering at slivers of dazzling Western geography through the barely breaking clouds, I was reminded of the spectacular … Read more
Scriabin, Poem of Ecstasy The Poem of Ecstasy by Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915) often goes by its French title Le poème de l’extase. It is one of only five symphonic works written by Scriabin, along with Prometheus: Poem of Fire and three numbered symphonies. He tended … Read more
We have inaugurated a podcast series called Encounters. Approached about doing podcasts for a long time, we finally took the leap! This first episode features Hank and me, sifting through the riches of Western Classical repertoire in an effort to come up with our lists … Read more
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
It’s time to take down our Moravian Star. This wonderful object, with its 32 points sending light in all directions at night, has been gracing our porch since December 3rd (the beginning of Advent 2023). But its reign will end Friday the 2nd, on Candlemas. … Read more
Morales, Lux aeterna The renowned early music scholar Gustav Reese called Cristóbal de Morales (1500-1553) the “first great Spanish master of the Late Renaissance.” Where does that fit with our discussion a few weeks back about Juan de Anchieta (1462-1523)? Morales belonged to the generation … Read more
