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THE LAST DAYS OF FRYDERYK CHOPIN THE SLOW END AT PLACE VENDOME, WHO ACCOMPANIED HIM, AND HOW HE DIED ON 17 OCTOBER 1849 The final months of 𝐅𝐫𝐲𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐤 𝐂𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐧 were not marked by a…

𝐏𝐀𝐔𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄 𝐕𝐈𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐎𝐓 — 𝐀 𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄 𝐀𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐂 𝐄𝐔𝐑𝐎𝐏𝐄 Few personalities of the nineteenth century allow us to trace the cultural history of Romantic Europe as fully as 𝐏𝐚𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐕𝐢𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐨𝐭 (𝟏𝟖𝟐𝟏–𝟏𝟗𝟏𝟎). Her…

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…

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…

𝐌𝐀𝐇𝐋𝐄𝐑 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐄𝐃 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐒𝐘𝐌𝐏𝐇𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐄𝐒 𝐃𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐑 𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐈𝐃𝐀𝐘𝐒 Gustav Mahler (1860–1911) spent each concert season conducting some of Europe's greatest opera houses, leaving very little time to compose. His solution was remarkable: every…

𝐇𝐎𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐒𝐎𝐍 — 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐄𝐑 𝐖𝐇𝐎 𝐊𝐄𝐏𝐓 𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐈𝐒𝐌 𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝟐𝟎𝐓𝐇 𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐘 Howard Hanson (1896–1981) occupies a unique place in American music. At a time when many 𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐡-𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐬 embraced 𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐦, 𝐚𝐧𝐝…

𝐉𝐄𝐀𝐍-𝐏𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐏𝐏𝐄 𝐑𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐀𝐔 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐎𝐋𝐔𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐙𝐄𝐃 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐘... 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐑𝐄𝐃𝐄𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐃 𝐁𝐀𝐑𝐎𝐐𝐔𝐄 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐂 One of the greatest musical thinkers in history transformed both music theory and French opera forever. When 𝐉𝐞𝐚𝐧-𝐏𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐞 𝐑𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐮 (𝟏𝟔𝟖𝟑–𝟏𝟕𝟔𝟒) was approaching 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐲, he was respected…

𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐋𝐎 𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐈 𝐖𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐄 𝐅𝐄𝐖 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐊𝐒... 𝐁𝐔𝐓 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐎𝐅 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐂 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 One of the greatest violinists of all time proved that quality matters far more than quantity. When 𝐀𝐫𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐨 𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢 (𝟏𝟔𝟓𝟑–𝟏𝟕𝟏𝟑) died, his…

𝐁𝐄𝐍𝐉𝐀𝐌𝐈𝐍 𝐁𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐍 𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐄𝐍𝐆𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐇 𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐀... 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐃 𝐈𝐓 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐁𝐄𝐍𝐉𝐀𝐌𝐈𝐍 𝐁𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐍 𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐄𝐍𝐆𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐇 𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐀... 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐃 𝐈𝐓 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 One of the greatest composers of the twentieth century transformed British music through genius, courage, and…

𝐄𝐃𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐄𝐋𝐆𝐀𝐑 — 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐕𝐎𝐈𝐂𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐄𝐍𝐆𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐃... 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐋𝐃 𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘 𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐎𝐆𝐍𝐈𝐙𝐄𝐃 One of Britain's greatest composers spent years believing he would never be truly accepted. When 𝐄𝐝𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐄𝐥𝐠𝐚𝐫 (𝟏𝟖𝟓𝟕–𝟏𝟗𝟑𝟒) was in his…

𝟭𝟬 𝗙𝗮𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗟𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗿-𝗞𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗔𝗹𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗕𝗼𝗿𝗼𝗱𝗶𝗻 𝟭. 𝗛𝗲 𝗪𝗮𝘀 𝗕𝗼𝗿𝗻 𝗔𝘀 𝗔𝗻 𝗜𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱 Borodin was born in 1833 as the illegitimate son of Prince Luka Gedevanishvili, a Georgian nobleman. To…

𝟭𝟬 𝗙𝗮𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗟𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗿-𝗞𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗖𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲 𝗦𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁-𝗦𝗮𝗲̈𝗻𝘀 𝟭. 𝗛𝗲 𝗪𝗮𝘀 𝗔 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝗶𝗴𝘆 𝗢𝗳 𝗘𝘅𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗶𝘂𝘀 By the age of 2, Saint-Saëns could already play melodies on the piano. At 10, he…

𝟭𝟬 𝗙𝗮𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗟𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗿-𝗞𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗚𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗼𝗱 𝟭. 𝗛𝗲 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗹𝘆 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗕𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀𝘁 Before devoting himself entirely to music, Gounod studied theology, attended the Seminary of Saint-Sulpice, and even wore clerical…

𝗛𝗢𝗪 𝗚𝗨𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗩 𝗠𝗔𝗛𝗟𝗘𝗥 𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗡𝗘𝗗 𝗧𝗢 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗗𝗨𝗖𝗧 – 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗔 𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗖𝗛𝗘𝗥 𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘄𝗵𝗼𝗺 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝗠𝗮𝗵𝗹𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴? 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝘀: 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗻𝗼 𝗼𝗻𝗲. At the time, conducting was not yet a formal discipline…

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗟𝗜𝗙𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗛𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗢𝗥 𝗕𝗘𝗥𝗟𝗜𝗢𝗭 𝗔𝗦 𝗪𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗡 𝗕𝗬 𝗛𝗜𝗠𝗦𝗘𝗟𝗙 𝗣𝗢𝗦𝗧 𝟮𝟬 𝗘𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲 𝗢𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗴𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗶𝗿 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗪𝗮𝘀 𝗘𝗺𝗽𝘁𝘆 — 𝟭𝟴𝟰𝟴 When 𝗛𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗕𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗶𝗼𝘇 returned to France from…

𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘇 𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘇𝘁 𝗕𝘆 𝗝𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗛𝘂𝗻𝗲𝗸𝗲𝗿 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗩𝗜 — 𝗠𝗶𝗿𝗿𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗛𝗶𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝟮𝟵 — 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗶, 𝗦𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗮, 𝗥𝗶𝗺𝘀𝗸𝘆-𝗞𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗮𝗸𝗼𝗳𝗳: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘇𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 The afterlife of 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘇 𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘇𝘁 did not begin after his death in 𝟭𝟴𝟴𝟲.…

𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘇 𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘇𝘁 𝗕𝘆 𝗝𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗛𝘂𝗻𝗲𝗸𝗲𝗿 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗩𝗜 — 𝗠𝗶𝗿𝗿𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗛𝗶𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝟮𝟯 — 𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘇𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗥𝘂𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗮 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱 - 𝟭𝟴𝟮𝟰–𝟭𝟴𝟰𝟳 Between his early appearances in 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝟭𝟴𝟮𝟰–𝟭𝟴𝟮𝟳, his mature triumphs there…

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗟𝗜𝗙𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗛𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗢𝗥 𝗕𝗘𝗥𝗟𝗜𝗢𝗭 𝗔𝗦 𝗪𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗡 𝗕𝗬 𝗛𝗜𝗠𝗦𝗘𝗟𝗙 𝗣𝗢𝗦𝗧 𝟵 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘁 𝗦𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗵𝘀𝗼𝗻: 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗕𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗟𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗔𝗻 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘀 — 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗺𝗻 𝟭𝟴𝟮𝟳 By the time the English actors arrived in Paris, 𝗛𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿…

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗟𝗜𝗙𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗛𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗢𝗥 𝗕𝗘𝗥𝗟𝗜𝗢𝗭 𝗔𝗦 𝗪𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗡 𝗕𝗬 𝗛𝗜𝗠𝗦𝗘𝗟𝗙 𝗣𝗢𝗦𝗧 𝟱 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗱 𝗛𝗶𝘀 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗔 𝗠𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗔𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝘄𝗼 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱𝘀 — 𝟭𝟴𝟮𝟮 When 𝗛𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗕𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗶𝗼𝘇 arrived in Paris in 𝟭𝟴𝟮𝟮,…

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.…

𝗦𝗖𝗛𝗨𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗡 — 𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗖 𝗙𝗥𝗘𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗖𝗞 𝗝𝗘𝗡𝗦𝗘𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗡𝗦 — 𝗢𝗫𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗗 𝗨𝗡𝗜𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗜𝗧𝗬 𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗦 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝟭𝟰 — 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗣𝗢𝗦𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦, 𝟭𝟴𝟰𝟱–𝟱𝟰 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗟𝗔𝗧𝗘 𝗦𝗖𝗛𝗨𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗡 — 𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗔 𝗥𝗨𝗜𝗡, 𝗕𝗨𝗧 𝗔 𝗗𝗜𝗙𝗙𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗟𝗗 The music Robert Schumann composed…