“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 […]
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 […]
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
Winter has ended*…Let summer come
Mozart Quintet for Piano and Winds in E-flat major, K. 452** Fauré La Bonne Chanson, Op. 61* Schubert Octet in F major, D. 803 **I myself think it’s the best thing I’ve ever written…I wish […]
Five successful years for the Commissioning Club
Mozart Oboe Quartet in F major, K. 370 Debussy Sonata for Cello and Piano, L. 135 Godfrey Ad Concordiam: Quintet Variations for Oboe, Strings and Piano (BCMS commission) Mendelssohn Piano Trio in C minor, Op. 66 Beethoven’s real teaching…was […]
Early Beethoven, Late Debussy, and Dvořák Decisive
Beethoven String Trio in D major, Op. 9, No. 2 (1797-98) Debussy Sonata for Violin and Piano in G minor, L. 140 (1917) Dvořák Piano Trio in F minor, Op. 65 (1883) Beethoven’s real teaching…was […]