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𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐭: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐲𝐞 𝐎𝐟 𝐋𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐓𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞, 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞, 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐀 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐖𝐚𝐲 𝐎𝐟 𝐒𝐞𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 - 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗘𝗻𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘀 There are painters who refine inherited forms, and there are…

𝗗𝗘𝗕𝗨𝗦𝗦𝗬: 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗦𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗞 𝗢𝗙 𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗚𝗡𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 – 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝗥𝗜𝗫 𝗗𝗘 𝗥𝗢𝗠𝗘 (𝟭𝟴𝟴𝟰) 𝗔 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗚 𝗠𝗔𝗡 𝗔𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗧𝗛𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗛𝗢𝗟𝗗 𝗢𝗙 𝗙𝗔𝗠𝗘 By 1884, Claude Debussy was no longer merely a gifted Conservatoire student showing flashes of…

𝗖𝗟𝗔𝗨𝗗𝗘 𝗗𝗘𝗕𝗨𝗦𝗦𝗬 𝗖𝗛𝗜𝗟𝗗 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗗𝗜𝗚𝗬 𝗔𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗦𝗘𝗥𝗩𝗔𝗧𝗢𝗜𝗥𝗘 𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗟𝗬 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗟 𝗙𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦 Claude Debussy was born on 𝗔𝘂𝗴𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝟮𝟮, 𝟭𝟴𝟲𝟮, in 𝗦𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁-𝗚𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻-𝗲𝗻-𝗟𝗮𝘆𝗲, near Paris. Nothing in his earliest surroundings clearly foretold that he would become one…

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐆𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐨𝐝: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐎𝐟 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐥, 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞, 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐡 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐆𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚 𝐈𝐭𝐬 𝐅𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐈𝐭𝐬 𝐉𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐭 There are composers who astonish by formal innovation, others by orchestral daring, and others by the…

𝗔𝗡𝗧𝗢𝗡𝗜𝗡 𝗗𝗩𝗢𝗥𝗔𝗞 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗣𝗜𝗚𝗘𝗢𝗡𝗦: 𝗔 𝗠𝗢𝗡𝗢𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗣𝗛𝗜𝗖 𝗘𝗦𝗦𝗔𝗬 For many listeners, Antonin Dvorak remains above all the composer of the “New World” Symphony, the Cello Concerto, the Slavonic Dances, and Rusalka. Yet one of…

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗛𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗹 - 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝟱: 𝗙𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗣, 𝗥𝗜𝗩𝗔𝗟𝗥𝗬, 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗨𝗘𝗟 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗠𝗔𝗧𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗦𝗢𝗡 (𝟭𝟳𝟬𝟰) Among the decisive encounters of Handel’s youth, few were as fruitful, as tense, or as revealing as his relationship…

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗛𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗹 — 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗡𝗼. 𝟭 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗛𝗜𝗟𝗗 𝗢𝗙 𝗛𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗘 (𝟭𝟲𝟴𝟱–𝟭𝟲𝟵𝟳) Handel’s life begins not in glamour, but in a world of 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲, 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀, 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗼𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿. He was born…

𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗛𝗨𝗥 𝗥𝗨𝗕𝗜𝗡𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗜𝗡: 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗟𝗬 𝗬𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗦 (𝟭𝟴𝟴𝟳–𝟭𝟵𝟯𝟬) 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗜 – 𝗕𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗶𝗻 Łó𝗱ź (𝟭𝟴𝟴𝟳–𝟭𝟴𝟵𝟱) Arthur Rubinstein was born on January 28, 1887, in Łódź, then part of the Russian Empire (now Poland), into a cultured…

𝐄𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐖𝐨𝐥𝐟𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐊𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐠𝐨𝐥𝐝: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐲 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐕𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐲𝐰𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐋𝐲𝐫𝐢𝐜 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐋𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐝 There are composers whose lives unfold within a single world, and there are others whose destiny seems split…

𝐄𝐧𝐫𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐞 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐬: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐨𝐞𝐭 𝐎𝐟 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐨 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐓𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐒𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐄𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐃𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐈𝐧 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝𝐲 There are composers whose music conquers by force, and others whose power lies in 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐦, 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐲,…

**𝗠𝗢𝗭𝗔𝗥𝗧 𝗜𝗡 𝗦𝗪𝗔𝗙𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗗’𝗦 𝗕𝗜𝗢𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗣𝗛𝗬 - 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝟭𝟲 — 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗡𝗼𝘁𝗲𝘀: 𝗠𝗼𝘇𝗮𝗿𝘁, 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗯𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗩𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗧𝗿𝗶𝘂𝗺𝗽𝗵** **𝗜. 𝗔 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁, 𝗔 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗠𝗼𝘇𝗮𝗿𝘁** Swafford begins this chapter with a striking…

𝗥𝗢𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗡𝗜 𝗔𝗙𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗚𝗟𝗢𝗥𝗬: 𝗚𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗢𝗡𝗢𝗠𝗬, 𝗦𝗜𝗟𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗘, 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗦𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗗 𝗟𝗜𝗙𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗔 𝗚𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗧 𝗢𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗔 𝗠𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥 After the premiere of 𝗚𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗮𝘂𝗺𝗲 𝗧𝗲𝗹𝗹 in Paris in 1829, Gioachino Rossini did something almost without precedent in the history…

𝗛𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗦𝗰𝗵ü𝘁𝘇: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗚𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗮𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗛𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗦𝗰𝗵ü𝘁𝘇 (1585–1672) stands as the most important German composer before Bach and 𝗮 𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗳𝗶𝗴𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗕𝗮𝗿𝗼𝗾𝘂𝗲. He was…

𝗛𝗲𝗻𝗿𝘆 𝗣𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗹: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗩𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗮𝗿𝗼𝗾𝘂𝗲 𝗛𝗲𝗻𝗿𝘆 𝗣𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗹 (1659–1695) was England’s greatest Baroque composer and 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗱. Born in 𝗟𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗻 around 1659…

𝗪𝗜𝗟𝗛𝗘𝗟𝗠 𝗙𝗨𝗥𝗧𝗪Ä𝗡𝗚𝗟𝗘𝗥 — 𝟮𝟬 𝗢𝗙 𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗠𝗢𝗦𝗧 𝗖𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗕𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗗 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗠𝗢𝗦𝗧 𝗥𝗘𝗟𝗜𝗔𝗕𝗟𝗬 𝗗𝗢𝗖𝗨𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗗 𝗤𝗨𝗢𝗧𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦 The list below is built mainly from documented translations of his own essays, colloquia, and Beethoven writings, as cited in a…

𝗝𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗽𝗵 𝗛𝗮𝘆𝗱𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗛𝗶𝘀 𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗛𝗶𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗿 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀: 𝗠𝗼𝘇𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗕𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗛𝗮𝘆𝗱𝗻 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗮 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘀. He was, in many respects, the central musical axis around which…

𝐎𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐌𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐚𝐞𝐧: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐕𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐓𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐅𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐡, 𝐁𝐢𝐫𝐝𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐠, 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐀 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞 There are composers whose greatness lies in craft, and there are others whose greatness seems to come from a…

𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗮 𝗖𝗼𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗮: 𝗟𝗼𝘃𝗲, 𝗘𝘅𝗶𝗹𝗲, 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘆𝗮𝗹, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝘂𝗿𝘃𝗶𝘃𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗱𝗼𝘄 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗶 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗸𝗼𝗳𝗶𝗲𝘃 𝗔 𝗰𝗼𝘀𝗺𝗼𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗻 𝘄𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗲 “𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗸𝗼𝗳𝗶𝗲𝘃’𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝗳𝗲” Lina Codina was far more than a tragic footnote in the life of…

# **𝗠𝗢𝗭𝗔𝗥𝗧 𝗜𝗡 𝗦𝗪𝗔𝗙𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗗’𝗦 𝗕𝗜𝗢𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗣𝗛𝗬 - CHAPTER 12 - Ashes ** ## **I. Arrival in Paris: Promise Beneath Gathering Shadows** When **Mozart** and his mother **Maria Anna Mozart** reached **Paris on 23 March 1778**,…

𝐎𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐫 𝐒𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐊𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐦𝐞𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭 𝐀𝐫𝐭 𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐓𝐰𝐨 𝐆𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐬 There are conductors whose reputations are made by glamour, by controversy, or by a few world-famous recordings. And then there are conductors…

𝐓𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐟𝐢𝐧: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚, 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐋𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐁𝐞𝐥 𝐂𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐀𝐠𝐞 There are opera conductors who serve repertory, and there are opera conductors who seem almost to stand…

𝐉𝐚𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐚 𝐇𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐡𝐥𝐞𝐫: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐲𝐦𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐎𝐧𝐞 Jascha Horenstein is one of the indispensable Mahler conductors, but his Mahler legacy is not a neat studio cycle. It is a constellation of major…

𝐊𝐀𝐑𝐋 𝐁𝐎̈𝐇𝐌 (𝟏𝟖𝟗𝟒–𝟏𝟗𝟖𝟏): 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐒𝐓 𝐏𝐎𝐋𝐄𝐌𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐋 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐃𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐒𝐈𝐓𝐔𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 𝐈𝐍 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄 Karl Böhm (1894–1981) was born in Graz on 28 August 1894 and died in Salzburg on 14 August 1981. He studied law…

𝐉𝐎𝐒𝐄𝐅 𝐊𝐑𝐈𝐏𝐒 (𝟏𝟗𝟎𝟐–𝟏𝟗𝟕𝟒): 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐒𝐓 𝐏𝐎𝐋𝐄𝐌𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐋 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐃𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐒𝐈𝐓𝐔𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 𝐈𝐍 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄 Josef Krips (1902–1974) was born in Vienna on 8 April 1902 and died in Geneva on 13 October 1974. He studied in…