Rautavaara, Credo (from Missa a Cappella) I ran across this piece yesterday while looking for an assortment of Credos. Professor Carol is teaching our Early Sacred Music course online for Memoria this semester and, as always, she wants to bring in new materials and find … Read more
Schubert, Fantasy in F Minor Piano duets and music for piano four hands (the difference being whether there are two pianos or only one) became popular in the late 18th and early 19th century. Numerous improvements had been made to the first pianofortes invented by … Read more
Today, waking up in Zagreb, Croatia, I thought about the people arriving tomorrow for a tour through Croatia and Slovenia. Most of them are embarking on the same trek I made yesterday, gathering last-minute items, tugging suitcases closed, and getting to the airport to fly … Read more
Lyadov, Kikimora In last week’s post on Glazunov, we briefly mentioned Anatoly Lyadov [Liadov] (1855-1914) as another member of the Belyayev circle. Lyadov also studied composition with Rimsky-Korsakov, but he was expelled from the conservatory for failure to attend class. He was later readmitted and … Read more
Piddling about online, I came across this announcement: The Roanoke County Public Schools is currently seeking applicants for a Latin Teacher for the 2023-24 school year. In my day, Roanoke, Virginia boasted a half-dozen middle and high school Latin teachers spread across the school system. The two who touched my life had … Read more
Glazunov, Symphony No. 4 The composer and conductor Alexander Glazunov (1865-1936) was a stabilizing influence on Russian music during the turbulent transition from late 19th-century Romanticism to the early Soviet period. Balakirev recognized Glazunov’s talent in 1879 and introduced him to Rimsky-Korsakov, with whom Glazunov … Read more
Reger, Gloria in excelsis Many historians recognize Max Reger (1873-1916) as the most important German composer for organ after Bach. My familiarity with Reger’s music comes mostly from hearing them at organ recitals. I never really studied Reger or made a concerted effort to learn … Read more
Last week’s story of Swiss lettuce apparently hit a chord. Not only the comments, but individual emails to me stated lovely things, including your own adventures in international grocery stores. Someone asked, did I intend to write about tomatoes next? Alas, my only tomato story … Read more
Wassenaer, Concerto Armonico No. 6 Unico Wilhelm van Wassenaer (1692-1766) published his collection of concertos titled “Concerti Armonici” anonymously in 1740. The Concerti Armonici consist of six sets of concertos, with each set containing six individual concertos. These were until recently falsely attributed to the … Read more
