Search Results for: brahms
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
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
Filed under Curiosities, 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
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, Theory
One finger too many
The classical music world knows Alfred Brendel as one of the foremost pianists of his time. Far fewer people know him as a poet, with two books of poetry in German and one—One finger too many—in English translation (New York: … Continue reading
Filed under Humor, Literature, Performers
The Music of Black Lives Matter
Following is a timeline of writings on the relationship between music and the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. This timeline is selective–sourced from various scholarly writings and music journalism currently included in RILM Abstracts. We encourage the reader to … Continue reading
Filed under Black studies
Elgar and the gramophone
For 20 years Edward Elgar worked for The Gramophone Company as both an advocate of his music and an advocate of the gramophone. During this period, recording technology changed from the cramped conditions of the acoustic studio of 1914 (above) … Continue reading
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Filed under Romantic era
