In the “War of the Romantics, “where do you stand? In Austria and Germany and most of Europe during Beethoven, Brahms, and Wagner’s time, there were no political parties. The American and French Revolutions had not impacted all. Musical conservatives and liberals, however, did take sides. Composer Richard Strauss’s father was a famous musician of
“Maria” from Westside Story by Bernstein, the “Prelude to Tristan and Isolde” by Wagner and Jimi Hendrix’s “Purple Haze” all feature a musical interval that can stir emotions and the catholic church tried to ban. An interval is a distance between any two notes. These two musical notes have become known as the “Devils Interval”. This
Hungarian Dance No. 5 Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) Brahms as young man toured as pianist with a Hungarian violinist. This is where he became acquainted with this style of music. These Hungarian Dances are a mixture of original and borrowed folk melodies. They are originally for Piano 4 hands. Meaning two people at one keyboard. With
The Symphony versus programmatic music. The word symphony has a number of meanings. You can go to the symphony, see and hear a symphony orchestra but not hear a symphony. The Symphony Orchestra is commonly thought as an orchestra with instrumental groups of strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion. We think of the BSO, the Boston
The Westwood Ensemble Piano and String Concert has a varied mix of composers. A baroque masterwork, two great Romantics, a mid-20th-century composer and living composer are featured. Joe Green (Giuseppe Verdi) starts our program with the Prelude to the opera La Traviata. “The Fallen Woman” is the translation of the title and story is based
Gumbo Stew according to Wikipedia “The dish combines ingredients and culinary practices of several cultures, including French, Spanish, German, Filipino, West African, and Choctaw. Gumbo may have been based on traditional West African or native dishes or may be a derivation of the French dish bouillabaisse, or Choctaw stew, but most likely all three dishes contributed
What the audience sees and hears at an orchestra performance is just the final product of what a conductor does. Those arm waving and traffic-cop motions are only a small part of the job. The conductor must select appropriate literature that meets the needs of the ensemble and delights the audience. I often compare the