This month, the Houston Symphony presents a two-week Schumann Festival featuring the great Romantic composer’s symphonies, concertos, chamber music, songs, and more. In this post, discover Schumann’s sunny Symphony No. 3. Nicknamed the “Rhenish” Symphony, it was composed while Schumann was living near the scenic Rhine River. Composed in just over a month in November … Continued
This month, the Houston Symphony presents a two-week Schumann Festival featuring the great Romantic composer’s symphonies, concertos, chamber music, songs, and more. In this post, discover Schumann’s masterful Cello Concerto, a work that was only recognized long after Schumann’s death. One of the first compositions Schumann completed after his arrival in Düsseldorf was his Cello Concerto. Curiously, … Continued
This month, the Houston Symphony presents a two-week Schumann Festival featuring the great Romantic composer’s symphonies, concertos, chamber music, songs, and more. In this post, discover how Schumann may have secretly encoded his wife’s name into his passionate Piano Concerto. Composed in a mere two weeks in May 1841 (between the premiere of the First Symphony and … Continued
This month, the Houston Symphony presents a two-week Schumann Festival featuring the great Romantic composer’s symphonies, concertos, chamber music, songs, and more. In this post, discover Schumann’s enchanting Piano Quartet, a work that marries Romantic lyricism with baroque counterpoint. Schumann’s Piano Quartet dates from the autumn of 1842, known as “the year of chamber music.” In this … Continued
On February 8 and 9, the Houston Symphony welcomes renowned pianist Benjamin Grosvenor for the first weekend of the Schumann Festival, the signature event of our 2019–20 season. Grosvenor performs Robert Schumann’s Piano Concerto at Jones Hall, as well as a one-night-only recital featuring the piano composition Kreisleriana. Read on for Benjamin Grosvenor’s thoughts about … Continued
On January 30 and February 1 and 2, the Houston Symphony presents Beethoven 7, a program featuring world-renowned pianist Kirill Gerstein in not one, but two virtuoso works by Franz Liszt. In this post, discover how Renaissance art inspired Liszt’s macabre masterwork, Totentanz. Much like Leopold Mozart, Adam Liszt served as his son’s agent and manager … Continued