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 […]
In Memoriam: Roger Tapping
Roger Tapping will be remembered by Boston audiences, colleagues, former students and friends as a really nice guy, despite also being widely acknowledged among the sovereigns of the viola. Before taking up residence in the […]
Saturday Night Live, BCMS@Jordan Hall
Bohuslav Martinů Quartet for oboe and piano trio (1947)Johannes Brahms Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 34 (1865) Our third Jordan Hall concert of BCMS Season 39 will also be our first evening in that […]
Musically speaking
“He who does not take a thorough pleasure in a simple chord progression, well constructed, beautiful in its arrangement, does not love music.” –Saint-Saëns Musical Memories, 1919
COVID-19 updates
Updated Friday, April 10, 2020 As news and recommendations related to COVID-19 continue to evolve, it is with great regret that we cancel all remaining Season 2019-2020 concerts at Sanders Theatre through May 10. Consideration of […]