By 1837, Giacomo Meyerbeer was the star composer of the Paris Opéra. He had premiered his opera Robert le diable there in 1831. It was a sensational success, but Meyerbeer outdid himself with his next opera, Les Huguenot, which had premiered at Paris in the spring of 1836. […] Continue reading
Podcasts
1837, vol. 3: Sor, Glinka, Liszt
Spanish guitarist and composer Fernando Sor was born in 1778. He grew up at Montserrat, which is just outside Valencia, halfway up the east coast of Spain on the Mediterranean. In 1808, when Sor was 30 […] Continue reading
1837, vol. 2: Hummel, Lortzing, Chopin
If I could have seen the world from the perspective of any one classical musician, if it were for the sake of being able to meet as many of Europe's legendary musicians as possible, I think I'd choose Johann Nepomuk Hummel. […] Continue reading
1837, vol. 1: Cherubini, Mercadante, Donizetti
There was not a state of Italy in 1837, but the Italian unification movement was well underway. The Italian peninsula at the time was a collection of city-states and duchies and kingdoms, which had been reconstituted by the Congress of Vienna in 1815, after the Napoleonic wars. […] Continue reading
1926, vol. 14: Webern, Milhaud, Poulenc
Of all early Modernism, it’s Anton Webern’s music that’s most abstract and challenging. Introducing this music in the foreword to his six-CD set of the composer’s complete works, Pierre Boulez speaks of the “purity” of Webern’s “asceticism.” […] Continue reading
1926, vol. 13: Stravinsky, Antheil, Gotovac, Schmidt
Most music historians recognize Igor Stravinsky to be the most influential composer of classical music in the 20th century. They talk about three kinds of “liberation” involved in the Modernist revolution in music […] Continue reading
1926, vol. 12: Ives, Holst, Rachmaninoff
Just as Mark Twain had been the first writer to create a indigenous American style in literature — the first American author who wasn’t just a transplanted European — Charles Ives was the first composer to create an indigenous American style in classical music. His music is experimental and aggressively Modernist, so it’s not as immediately agreeable as Duke Ellington or Aaron Copland, but it evokes the American experience with an eloquence and candor that few other classical composers have matched, and none have exceeded. […] Continue reading
1926, vol. 11: Dohnányi, Atterberg, Finzi, Bax
Especially if you're an American afficianado of classical music, the name Dohnányi might first call to mind Christoph von Dohnányi, the conductor who led the Cleveland Orchestra as music director from 1984 to 2002. But even more important a musician than Christoph was his grandfather, the Hungarian composer, pianist, and conductor Ernő Dohnányi. […] Continue reading
1926, vol. 10: Fuchs, Sæverud, Turina, Korngold
We’ll begin this episode with a Viennese composer and end it with a Viennese composer. Robert Fuchs was eighty-nine years old in 1926 — the last full calendar year of his life. […] Continue reading
1926, vol. 9: Madetoja, Seeger, Casella
Like his teacher Jean Sibelius, the Finnish composer Leevi Madetoja was amongst those artists who had continued to uphold the Romantic style after the Modernist revolution. In 1924, Madetoja had premiered his opera Pohjalaisia at Helsinki. […] Continue reading
Archive
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1837, vol. 4: Meyerbeer, Hensel, Heinrich
By 1837, Giacomo Meyerbeer was the star composer of the Paris Opéra. He had premiered his opera Robert le diable … Continue reading
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1837, vol. 3: Sor, Glinka, Liszt
Spanish guitarist and composer Fernando Sor was born in 1778. He grew up at Montserrat, which is just outside Valencia, … Continue reading
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1837, vol. 2: Hummel, Lortzing, Chopin
If I could have seen the world from the perspective of any one classical musician, if it were for the … Continue reading
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1837, vol. 1: Cherubini, Mercadante, Donizetti
There was not a state of Italy in 1837, but the Italian unification movement was well underway. The Italian peninsula … Continue reading
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1926, vol. 14: Webern, Milhaud, Poulenc
Of all early Modernism, it’s Anton Webern’s music that’s most abstract and challenging. Introducing this music in the foreword to … Continue reading
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1926, vol. 13: Stravinsky, Antheil, Gotovac, Schmidt
Most music historians recognize Igor Stravinsky to be the most influential composer of classical music in the 20th century. They … Continue reading
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1926, vol. 12: Ives, Holst, Rachmaninoff
Just as Mark Twain had been the first writer to create a indigenous American style in literature — the first … Continue reading
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1926, vol. 11: Dohnányi, Atterberg, Finzi, Bax
Especially if you're an American afficianado of classical music, the name Dohnányi might first call to mind Christoph von Dohnányi, … Continue reading
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1926, vol. 10: Fuchs, Sæverud, Turina, Korngold
We’ll begin this episode with a Viennese composer and end it with a Viennese composer. Robert Fuchs was eighty-nine years … Continue reading
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1926, vol. 9: Madetoja, Seeger, Casella
Like his teacher Jean Sibelius, the Finnish composer Leevi Madetoja was amongst those artists who had continued to uphold the … Continue reading
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1926, vol. 8: Glazunov, Villa-Lobos, Janáček
In 1926 Alexander Glazunov, who turned 61 years old that year, composed the last two works he would write for … Continue reading
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1926, vol. 7: de Falla, Berg, Kodály
What did Spanish composer Manuel de Falla have in common with the Finnish Jean Sibelius and the American Charles Ives … Continue reading
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1926, vol. 6: Jongen, Schoeck, Cassadó
Of all the music composed in 1926, I’d name Leos Janáček’s Sinfonietta as the best piece. (We’ll get to Janáček in vol. … Continue reading
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1926, vol. 5: Bridge, Sibelius, Bartók
The First World War had weighed heavily on the mind and heart of English composer Frank Bridge, as with so … Continue reading
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1926, vol. 4: Enescu, Szymanowski, Hindemith
One of the many, many important artists working in Paris during the ’20s was the great Romanian musician George Enescu. … Continue reading
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1926, vol. 3: Prokofiev, Mosolov, Schoenberg, Toch
Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev, like so many other great artists at the time, called Paris home in 1926. The previous … Continue reading
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1926, vol. 2: Ravel, Hanson, Copland
In 1926, Hanson completed an Organ Concerto, a solo piano piece called Vermeland, and a tone poem for orchestra entitled … Continue reading
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1926, vol. 1: Piston, Shostakovich, Vaughan Williams, Bloch
In the United States in 1926, Calvin Coolidge was president. In the midst of the great economic boom he advanced … Continue reading
