Schoenberg, Verklärte Nacht (Transfigured Night) This is Andrew Pudewa‘s challenge. Professor Carol and I were having dinner with Andrew recently when the subject of Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951) came up. Now, not everybody is a fan of Schoenberg. Those of us in classical education who have a … Read more
Chopin, Polonaise in A-Flat, op. 53 The Polonaise is a stately processional dance used in various ceremonial occasions, but particularly in weddings. It has its roots in Polish folk music with melodies consisting of short phrases typically cast in triple meter. In its earliest forms … Read more
Mahler, Symphony No. 7 (Finale) I came to Mahler by an unusual path. At least, I always thought it was unusual until I read that Arnold Schoenberg became a fan of Mahler the same way. That is, by way of his Symphony No. 7. I … Read more
Bruckner, Geistliche Chorwerke I began writing the description for this week’s performance pick not at all sure what I can say that would be useful. Austrian composer Anton Bruckner (1824-1896) is best known for his rather lengthy symphonies. I think of him as a bit … Read more
Schumann, Kinderszenen, Op. 15 Schumann’s Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood) consists of 13 short character pieces. Because they are not especially demanding technically, you might assume they were written for children to play or for young audiences. And actually, they attracted me at a young age … Read more
Chopin, Mazurka in B Minor, Op. 33, No. 4 The mazurka is a Polish folk dance derived from two older dance forms, the Kujawiak and Oberek. In the Kujawiak, dancers walked to a slow tempo making graceful turns. In contrast, the Oberek is much faster, … Read more
Strauss, “Und du wirst mein Gebieter sein” from Arabella Back in college, my conducting professor gave me a small conducting role in the University’s production of Arabella. It was offstage and had something to do with keeping the ensemble together. It lasted about 15 seconds and, … Read more
Fanny Mendelssohn, String Quartet (2nd Movement) A couple of months ago, I featured a work by Clara Wieck Schumann, wife of the famous composer Robert Schumann. Today I’m turning to the sister of Felix Mendelssohn, Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (1805-1847). Like Clara, Fanny’s musical aptitude was recognized early. … Read more
Rachmaninov: Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini While we’re on the subject, let’s go ahead and add one more work to finish out this series on Paganini. We started with Paganini’s Caprice No. 24 and then went to Liszt’s Etude based on the same work. … Read more
Liszt: Grandes études de Paganini (No. 6) Why not? We talked last week about Paganini’s Caprice No. 24 that had inspired other composers, so we might as well see how that works. Franz Liszt had been inspired by Paganini’s successful virtuosity on the violin to do much … Read more