Search Results for: brahms
Johannes Brahms, railfan
Brahms’s correspondence reveals that he was very fond of railroad travel; nowadays he might be called a railfan. In an 1881 letter to George Henschel, Brahms noted that he was spending the summer in the Viennese suburb of Pressbaum, observing … Continue reading
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Filed under Curiosities, Romantic era
Brahms and the “cremation cantata”
Mathilde Wesendonck (above) is known to music historians for her romantic entanglement with and artistic influence on Wagner in the 1850s. What is less commonly known is that once her relationship with Wagner had cooled she became an admirer and … Continue reading
Filed under Curiosities, Literature, Romantic era
Brahms was Chilean
To honor Brahms’s 180th birthday, let’s recall the article about his birthplace that ignited a musicological firestorm! In “Brahms era chileno” (Pauta: Cuadernos de teoría y crítica musical, no. 63 [July-Sept 1997] pp. 39–44), the Argentine composer Juan María Solare states … Continue reading
Filed under Curiosities, Humor, Romantic era
Brahms and Breitkopf
Responding to enthusiastic recommendations from Robert and Clara Schumann, Breitkopf & Härtel published several of Brahms’s early works; but after the hostile public reaction to the 1859 premiere of his D-minor piano concerto the publisher became more cautious, accepting some … Continue reading
Filed under Curiosities, Romantic era
Brahms era chileno
In the article “Brahms era chileno” (Pauta: Cuadernos de teoría y crítica musical, no. 63 [July-Sept 1997] pp. 39–44), the Argentine composer Juan María Solare states that Johann Jakob Brahms (1806–72), accompanied by his wife, Johanna Henrika Christiane Nissen (1789–1865), took … Continue reading
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Filed under Curiosities, Humor, Romantic era
Jenő Jandó, prolific pianist and Naxos Records founder
The British newspaper The Independent once described Jenő Jandó as “the most prolific recording pianist alive”. Born in Pécs, southern Hungary in 1952, he founded the Naxos record label in 1987 and became the label’s house pianist over the next … Continue reading
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Filed under 20th- and 21st-century music, Europe, Performers
Anne Brown and “Porgy and Bess”
Anne Brown literally put the Bess in Porgy and Bess by inspiring George Gershwin to expand the character’s part in an opera that was originally to be called Porgy. Brown was the first person Gershwin heard singing the role of … Continue reading
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Filed under 20th- and 21st-century music, Black studies, Opera, Performers
Antonín Dvořák, railfan
Dvořák had tremendous admiration for technical inventions, particularly locomotives—in the U.S. he might be called a railfan. “It consists of many parts, of so many different parts, and each has its own importance, each has its own place,” he wrote. … Continue reading
Filed under Curiosities, Resources, Romantic era, Science
Pauline Viardot’s legacy
Pauline Viardot was one of the most influential women in nineteenth century European classical music. As a singer, her prodigious talent and charisma on the stage inspired dedications, premieres, and roles written specifically for her. Her music salon hosted many … Continue reading
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Filed under Performers, Romantic era
Philip Ewell: Erasing colorasure in American music theory, and confronting demons from our past
Introduction: Dr. Philip Ewell, Associate Professor of Music at Hunter College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, posted a series of daily tweets during Black History Month (February 2021) providing information on some under-researched Black … Continue reading
Filed under Black studies, featured, Theory
