Vaughan Williams, Bredon Hill The collection of 63 poems by A. E. Housman (1859-1936) entitled A Shropshire Lad became a favorite source for song texts in England at the beginning of the 20th century. Major publishers initially turned it down, but Housman himself subsidized its … Read more
Mahler, Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen I had a conversation a few weeks ago with a friend who dismissed Gustav Mahler’s music as too emotional. Or perhaps he said it was too personal. It is both highly emotional and intensely personal, although I think … Read more
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
Loewe, Erlkönig Carl Loewe (1796-1869) began his musical studies as a choirboy in Köthen, a town where J. S. Bach had earlier held a court appointment. He was noted for his excellent singing voice and as a child had sung the famous Queen of the … Read more
Schumann, “Hör’ ich das Liedchen klingen” from Dichterliebe This short song may inspire you to listen to the entire song cycle Dichterliebe (poet’s love) by Robert Schumann. If it doesn’t, go listen to the entire cycle anyway and give it a little more time. A song … Read more
Schubert/Liszt, Auf dem Wasser zu Singen Our listening in the past two weeks has focused on songs without words and how the qualities of a song were incorporated into short character pieces for piano. And in the case of Tchaikovsky last week, we look at a transcription … Read more
Franz Schubert: Der Erlkönig Schubert’s Der Erlkönig has a prominent place in our general course on “Classical music,” Discovering Music. Many people tend to think that the music we call “classical” is all about big orchestras playing symphonies and concertos. Those things are important, of course, but the … Read more
Why do I love singers so much? The memory hit me yesterday as I drove in to deliver the pre-concert talk for Deborah Voigt’s concert for the Van Cliburn Series. It goes back to a Miss Virginia pageant in 1967. No, I wasn’t in it (I wish). … Read more
I first heard the song 32 years ago, sung by a beguiling Slovakian soprano (well past her prime) who stared at me incredulously: “You do not know Dvorak’s bea-uuuu-ti-ful “Songs my Mother Taught Me? Wvat is de matter with you?” With lightning speed, she plopped … Read more