Three Trios
“There are three arts which are concerned with all things: one which uses, another which makes, and a third which imitates them.” –Plato On Sunday, March 12 at 3 p.m. we return to Sanders Theatre […]
Betwixt and Between
Welcome to the fifth concert of our Fortieth Season performed on February 26th, 2023 at Boston’s Jordan Hall. Our program includes three works for mixed ensembles comprised of three, four and five players. We begin […]
“What’s past is prologue.”
–The Tempest, William Shakespeare “For Mendelssohn, Beethoven was the new point of departure, and a German composer could not afford to ignore him, as Chopin and Verdi were able to do. Gradually a body of […]
Transfigured, spiritualized, and liberated
“It has become the custom to treat this most sublime of all tonal masters as a “rococo artist,” to represent his work as the epitome of the ornamental and the playful. Though it is correct […]
Now and Then
De la musique avant toute chose,Et pour cela préfère l’ImpairPlus vague et plus soluble dans l’air,Sans rien en lui qui pèse ou qui pose. Paul Verlaine, 1882 Music first and foremost of all!Choose your measure […]
In memoriam: Stephen Friedlaender, 1935-2022
For over 25 years Stephen Friedlaender gave generously of his leadership, energy, and passion for music to BCMS. He served as Vice President of BCMS’s Board of Trustees from 2005 to 2006 and then eleven […]
For Love of Brahms
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Clarinet Quintet in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 10 (1895)Antonín Dvořák String Quintet in G Major, Op. 77 (1875, revised 1888) Under the tutelage of composer Charles Villiers Stanford, [Samuel Coleridge Taylor] enthusiastically turned to […]
Making music from life
My compositions spring from my sorrows. Those that give the world the greatest delights were born of my deepest griefs. Franz Schubert There is so much talk about music, and yet so little is said. […]
Three ways to be a British composer
In spite of wide divergencies of personal style, there is a common factor in the music, say of Schumann and Weber. And this common factor is nationality. Ralph Vaughan Williams, from National Music, Bryn Mawr […]
Codes, Cyphers, and Keys
Johannes Brahms Scherzo in C minor for Violin and Piano from the F-A-E Sonata (1853)Joan Tower Purple Rain for String Quintet (2020) BCMS Commission /PremiereGabriel Fauré Piano Quartet in C minor, Op. 15 (1876-79) People […]