Though Mozart likely began composing his last piano concerto sometime in 1788, he would not complete it until January 1791; after composing the first two movements and 39 measures of the finale, he likely realized that his other recently written concertos would suffice for his upcoming performances and saved the unfinished work for later. The … Continued
On February 2, 1865, Johannes Brahms received an urgent telegram from his brother Fritz: “If you want to see our mother once again, come immediately.” At age 76 their mother, Christiane Brahms, had had a stroke. Brahms hastened to her from Vienna, but she had already passed away by the time he arrived in Hamburg. … Continued
Above: One of Nicholas Roerich’s original set designs for The Rite of Spring. After the failed revolution of 1905, a cloud of apocalyptic doom seemed to hover over the Russian Empire. With freedom of speech severely curtailed, many artists turned to increasingly subjective, mysterious sources of inspiration. Some, like the composer Alexander Scriabin, were captivated … Continued
Though he published it second, Chopin’s Piano Concerto in F minor was actually the first concerto he composed. After a surprisingly successful impromptu solo debut in Vienna, the nineteen-year-old composer returned home to Warsaw to compose a concerto that he could play on tours in the future. Chopin completed it during the fall of 1829 … Continued
According to his novelist friend Romain Rolland, Richard Strauss once quipped that “In music one can say everything. People won’t understand you.” Strauss’ characteristically humorous remark seems particularly applicable to Also sprach Zarathustra (Thus Spake Zarathustra), one of his best known yet most misunderstood works. Ever since Stanley Kubrick used it to score a cosmic … Continued
“For three hours I lived in a magic dream, intoxicated by fairies and princesses, by splendid palaces, streaming with gold, by the enchantment of fairy-tale…All my being was in cadence with those rhythms, with the radiant and fresh waves of beautiful melodies, already my friends.” Thus wrote the young artist Léon Bakst after attending the … Continued
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