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𝐒𝐂𝐇𝐔𝐁𝐄𝐑𝐓 𝐍𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐃 𝐀 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐓 𝐎𝐑 𝐂𝐇𝐔𝐑𝐂𝐇 𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐓 Franz Schubert (1797–1828) lived a life unlike that of most great composers of his time. While Haydn served the Esterházy family, Mozart worked for the…

𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐀𝐌 𝐖𝐀𝐋𝐓𝐎𝐍 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐉𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝟏𝟕... 𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐄𝐅𝐓 𝐒𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐎𝐋 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐋𝐃 𝐎𝐅 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐂 One of Britain's greatest twentieth-century composers never received a formal conservatory education. When 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐦 𝐖𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐨𝐧 (𝟏𝟗𝟎𝟐–𝟏𝟗𝟖𝟑) was only 𝟏𝟕 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬…

𝗠𝗔𝗛𝗟𝗘𝗥 𝗝𝗢𝗦𝗘 𝗟𝗨𝗜𝗦 𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗭 𝗗𝗘 𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗚𝗔 𝗣𝗢𝗦𝗧 𝟭 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝗻 𝗪𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗔 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗿 𝗕𝗼𝗿𝗻 𝗕𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗛𝗶𝘀 𝗔𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 During his lifetime, 𝗚𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘃 𝗠𝗮𝗵𝗹𝗲𝗿 inhabited one of the great paradoxes of musical history.…

𝗣𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗪𝗼𝗹𝗳𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲𝘂𝘀 𝗠𝗼𝘇𝗮𝗿𝘁, 𝟭𝟳𝟳𝟯 — 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻 𝗞𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿 This small ivory miniature, traditionally attributed to Martin Knoller, portrays Mozart at the age of seventeen. It is thought to date from 1773, when the…

𝗠𝗢𝗭𝗔𝗥𝗧 — 𝗖𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗕𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗗 𝗤𝗨𝗢𝗧𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦 𝗜. 𝗪𝗜𝗗𝗘𝗟𝗬 𝗞𝗡𝗢𝗪𝗡 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗠𝗢𝗡𝗟𝗬 𝗦𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗖𝗘𝗗 𝗠𝗢𝗭𝗔𝗥𝗧 𝗤𝗨𝗢𝗧𝗘𝗦 “𝗡𝗲𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗮 𝗹𝗼𝗳𝘁𝘆 𝗱𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗻𝗼𝗿 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗴𝗼 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗶𝘂𝘀. 𝗟𝗼𝘃𝗲, 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲, 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲, 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀…

𝐉𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐧: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐡 𝐌𝐚𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐓𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐞 There are conductors who conquer through sheer power, and there are others whose greatness lies in 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫, 𝐫𝐡𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, and the ability to…

𝐆𝐄𝐎𝐑𝐆𝐄 𝐒𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐀𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐄-𝐀𝐔𝐑𝐎𝐑𝐄-𝐋𝐔𝐂𝐈𝐋𝐄 𝐃𝐔𝐏𝐈𝐍 — 𝐖𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐄𝐑, 𝐑𝐄𝐁𝐄𝐋, 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑, 𝐌𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐓 𝐕𝐎𝐈𝐂𝐄𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐇 𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐈𝐒𝐌 Few figures in nineteenth-century French culture united so many apparently contradictory identities as 𝐆𝐞𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐝. She…

𝐁𝐄𝐄𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐍 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐓𝐇 𝐒𝐘𝐌𝐏𝐇𝐎𝐍𝐘: 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐔𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐎𝐔𝐒 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐊 𝐁𝐄𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝐓𝐖𝐎 𝐆𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐒 Symphony No. 4 in B-flat major, Op. 60, by 𝐋𝐮𝐝𝐰𝐢𝐠 𝐯𝐚𝐧 𝐁𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐧, occupies one of the most singular places among his nine symphonies.…

𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐏𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐒 𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐒, 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒, 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐑𝐈𝐕𝐀𝐋𝐒 𝐁𝐘 𝐏𝐈𝐄𝐑𝐑𝐄 𝐇. 𝐀𝐙𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐘 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐈𝐈 — 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐒 𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐒, 𝟏𝟖𝟑𝟏–𝟏𝟖𝟒𝟗 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟗 — 𝐀𝐍 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐂 𝐃𝐄𝐕𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐄 𝐏𝐀𝐔𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄 𝐕𝐈𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐎𝐓 Among the many women who entered 𝐅𝐫𝐲𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐤…

𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐏𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐒 𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐒, 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒, 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐑𝐈𝐕𝐀𝐋𝐒 𝐁𝐘 𝐏𝐈𝐄𝐑𝐑𝐄 𝐇. 𝐀𝐙𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐘 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐈𝐈 — 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐒 𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐒, 𝟏𝟖𝟑𝟏–𝟏𝟖𝟒𝟗 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟖 — 𝐅𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐎𝐖 𝐏𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐒𝐓 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐙 𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐙𝐓 Of all the composers of his…

𝐖𝐎𝐉𝐂𝐈𝐄𝐂𝐇 𝐆𝐑𝐙𝐘𝐌𝐀Ł𝐀 — 𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐏𝐈𝐍’𝐒 𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐃, 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐅𝐈𝐃𝐀𝐍𝐓 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐀𝐃𝐕𝐈𝐒𝐄𝐑 𝐈𝐍 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐒 The figure of 𝐖𝐨𝐣𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐜𝐡 𝐆𝐫𝐳𝐲𝐦𝐚ł𝐚 occupies a far more important place in the life of Fryderyk Chopin than his relative absence from popular biographies…

𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐏𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐒 𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐒, 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒, 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐑𝐈𝐕𝐀𝐋𝐒 𝐁𝐘 𝐏𝐈𝐄𝐑𝐑𝐄 𝐇. 𝐀𝐙𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐘 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐈𝐈 — 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐒 𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐒, 𝟏𝟖𝟑𝟏–𝟏𝟖𝟒𝟗 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟕 — 𝐀 𝐌𝐎𝐒𝐓 𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐅𝐈𝐃𝐀𝐍𝐓 𝐖𝐎𝐘𝐂𝐈𝐄𝐂𝐇 𝐆𝐑𝐙𝐘𝐌𝐀Ł𝐀 Among the many people who entered…

𝐀𝐔𝐆𝐔𝐒𝐓𝐄 𝐅𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐌𝐌𝐄 — 𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐏𝐈𝐍’𝐒 𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓, 𝐂𝐎𝐋𝐋𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐎𝐑 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐂𝐋𝐎𝐒𝐄 𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐃 Auguste-Joseph Franchomme (1808–1884) was one of the most distinguished French cellists of the nineteenth century and, above all, one of Frédéric Chopin’s closest musical friends…

𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐏𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐒 𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐒, 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒, 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐑𝐈𝐕𝐀𝐋𝐒 𝐁𝐘 𝐏𝐈𝐄𝐑𝐑𝐄 𝐇. 𝐀𝐙𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐘 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐈𝐈 — 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐒 𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐒, 𝟏𝟖𝟑𝟏–𝟏𝟖𝟒𝟗 The move to Paris changed almost every external circumstance of Fryderyk Chopin’s life. Warsaw had…

𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐏𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐒 𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐒, 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒, 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐑𝐈𝐕𝐀𝐋𝐒 𝐁𝐘 𝐏𝐈𝐄𝐑𝐑𝐄 𝐇. 𝐀𝐙𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐘 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐈 — 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐒𝐀𝐖 𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐒, 𝟏𝟖𝟏𝟎–𝟏𝟖𝟑𝟎 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟒 — 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓 “𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄” 𝐊𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐉𝐀 𝐆Ł𝐀𝐃𝐊𝐎𝐖𝐒𝐊𝐀 In 𝐀𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐥 𝟏𝟖𝟐𝟗, when 𝐅𝐫𝐲𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐤 𝐂𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐧 was…

𝗖𝗛𝗢𝗣𝗜𝗡: 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝗜𝗔𝗡𝗢 𝗔𝗦 𝗔 𝗨𝗡𝗜𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗘, 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗢𝗥𝗖𝗛𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗔 𝗔𝗦 𝗔 𝗙𝗥𝗔𝗠𝗘, 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗢𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗔 𝗔𝗦 𝗔 𝗠𝗢𝗗𝗘𝗟 To say that Frédéric Chopin composed only music for the piano is a useful simplification, but it is…

𝐋𝐮𝐝𝐰𝐢𝐤𝐚 𝐉𝐞𝐝𝐫𝐳𝐞𝐣𝐞𝐰𝐢𝐜𝐳 (Warsaw, April 6, 1807 – October 29, 1855), born 𝐋𝐮𝐝𝐰𝐢𝐤𝐚 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐂𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐧, was a Polish performer, composer, and writer. She was the elder sister of 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜 𝐂𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐧 and of his two younger…

𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐏𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐒 𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐒, 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒, 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐑𝐈𝐕𝐀𝐋𝐒 𝐁𝐘 𝐏𝐈𝐄𝐑𝐑𝐄 𝐇. 𝐀𝐙𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐘 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐈 — 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐒𝐀𝐖 𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐒, 𝟏𝟖𝟏𝟎–𝟏𝟖𝟑𝟎 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟏 — 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐒 𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐏𝐈𝐍’𝐒 𝐅𝐀𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐘 𝐈𝐍 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐒 The first people…

𝐁𝐑𝐔𝐍𝐎 𝐖𝐀𝐋𝐓𝐄𝐑 — 𝐌𝐀𝐇𝐋𝐄𝐑’𝐒 𝐂𝐋𝐎𝐒𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐋 𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐂𝐈𝐏𝐋𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐃𝐔𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐑 𝐖𝐇𝐎 𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐃 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐋𝐄𝐆𝐀𝐂𝐘 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐔𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄 Bruno Walter was much more than one of the leading conductors of the twentieth century. He was…

𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐁𝐄𝐑𝐓 𝐕𝐎𝐍 𝐊𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐉𝐀𝐍 — 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐏𝐔𝐑𝐒𝐔𝐈𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐅𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 Herbert von Karajan approached an orchestral rehearsal not as a routine preparation for a concert, but as the laboratory in which an interpretation had to…

## 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐎 𝐓𝐎𝐒𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐈 — 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐃𝐔𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐑 𝐖𝐇𝐎 𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐈𝐍 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐃 Arturo Toscanini became legendary for stepping onto the podium and conducting vast symphonies, operas and choral works **entirely from memory**. To…

𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐌 𝐅𝐔𝐑𝐓𝐖Ä𝐍𝐆𝐋𝐄𝐑 — 𝐖𝐇𝐘 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐎 𝐁𝐄 𝐔𝐍𝐈𝐐𝐔𝐄 Wilhelm Furtwängler did not believe that a musical masterpiece could be reproduced like a finished object. For him, a score was not a set…