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**𝗠𝗢𝗭𝗔𝗥𝗧 𝗜𝗡 𝗦𝗪𝗔𝗙𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗗’𝗦 𝗕𝗜𝗢𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗣𝗛𝗬 - 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝟮𝟬 — 𝗜𝗙 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗪𝗔𝗡𝗧 𝗧𝗢 𝗗𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘, 𝗠𝗬 𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗧𝗟𝗘 𝗖𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗧** ## **𝗜. 𝗠𝗢𝗭𝗔𝗥𝗧, 𝗗𝗔 𝗣𝗢𝗡𝗧𝗘, 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗘𝗥𝗢𝗨𝗦 𝗖𝗛𝗢𝗜𝗖𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗙𝗜𝗚𝗔𝗥𝗢** In the **middle of 1785**, Mozart approached…

**𝗠𝗢𝗭𝗔𝗥𝗧 𝗜𝗡 𝗦𝗪𝗔𝗙𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗗’𝗦 𝗕𝗜𝗢𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗣𝗛𝗬 - **𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝟭𝟵 — 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗚𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗣𝗢𝗦𝗘𝗥 𝗟𝗘𝗢𝗣𝗢𝗟𝗗 𝗜𝗡 𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗡𝗡𝗔: 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗙𝗔𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥 𝗙𝗔𝗖𝗘𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗦𝗢𝗡’𝗦 𝗧𝗥𝗜𝗨𝗠𝗣𝗛 In February 1785, 𝗟𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗠𝗼𝘇𝗮𝗿𝘁 came to Vienna and found, not the impulsive rebel…

𝗝𝗢𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗡 𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗨𝗦𝗦 𝗜𝗜: 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗪𝗔𝗟𝗧𝗭 𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗪𝗛𝗢 𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗡𝗘𝗗 𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗡𝗡𝗔 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗢 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗖 𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗟𝗬 𝗬𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗦 𝗜𝗡 𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗡𝗡𝗔: 𝗔 𝗦𝗢𝗡 𝗕𝗢𝗥𝗡 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗢 𝗥𝗛𝗬𝗧𝗛𝗠 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗙𝗟𝗜𝗖𝗧 Johann Strauss II was born in 𝗩𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗻𝗮 𝗼𝗻 𝗢𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝟱, 𝟭𝟴𝟮𝟱, into…

𝗚𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗧 𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗦 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗥𝗘𝗟𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗣𝗦 𝗕𝗘𝗧𝗪𝗘𝗘𝗡 𝗚𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗧 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗣𝗢𝗦𝗘𝗥𝗦 - 𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗧 𝗜𝗩 — 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝗕𝗥𝗔𝗛𝗠𝗦 𝗧𝗢 𝗠𝗔𝗛𝗟𝗘𝗥 In this fourth section, the musical world becomes even more self-divided, emotionally charged, and historically conscious. The age from…

𝐋𝐞́𝐨 𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐬: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐎𝐟 𝐁𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐓𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐌𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐝𝐲, 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐄𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜 There are composers who change music through force, others through philosophy, and others through sheer theatrical instinct.…

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…

𝗝𝘂𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘁: 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲, 𝗣𝘀𝘆𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆, 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗣𝘂𝗽𝗶𝗹𝘀 𝗜. 𝗘𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗛𝗶𝘀 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿 Jules Massenet was born on 𝗠𝗮𝘆 𝟭𝟮, 𝟭𝟴𝟰𝟮, in Montaud, near Saint-Étienne, into a cultivated but not…

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 𝟮 𝗭𝗔𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗨 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗔𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗢𝗙 𝗔 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗡 (𝟭𝟲𝟵𝟳–𝟭𝟳𝟬𝟮) If the first stage of Handel’s life was the awakening of a vocation, this second one was the period…

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…

𝗚𝗢𝗘𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗕𝗘𝗘𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗡: 𝗥𝗘𝗟𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦, 𝗠𝗘𝗘𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦, 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗙𝗔𝗠𝗢𝗨𝗦 𝗧𝗘𝗣𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗭 𝗘𝗣𝗜𝗦𝗢𝗗𝗘 𝗜. 𝗔 𝗥𝗘𝗟𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗢𝗙 𝗔𝗗𝗠𝗜𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗕𝗘𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗘 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗘𝗘𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚 The relationship between Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Ludwig van Beethoven began not with personal intimacy,…

𝗠𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗦 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗗𝗜𝗦𝗖𝗜𝗣𝗟𝗘𝗦 𝗢𝗙 𝗟𝗜𝗟𝗜 𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗟𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗘𝗥 To speak of Lili Boulanger in terms of “masters and disciples” is already to enter a poignant paradox. She lived only from 1893 to 1918, and in that…

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗥𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰 𝘁𝗼 𝗕𝗮𝗿𝗼𝗾𝘂𝗲 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘀 The transition from Renaissance music to Baroque music was not a simple replacement of one style by another. It was a deep…

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗕𝗮𝗿𝗼𝗾𝘂𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗺 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝘆 The passage from the Baroque world to the Classical one was not a sudden revolution that happened in a single year, nor…

𝐀𝐥𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐁𝐨𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐧: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐭-𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐫 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐖𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐀𝐬 𝐈𝐟 𝐑𝐮𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐚 𝐖𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐃𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 There are composers whose lives seem wholly given over to music, and there are others whose greatness becomes even more astonishing because…

𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐋 𝐍𝐈𝐄𝐋𝐒𝐄𝐍 (𝟏𝟖𝟔𝟓–𝟏𝟗𝟑𝟏): 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐒𝐓 𝐏𝐎𝐋𝐄𝐌𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐋 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐃𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐒𝐈𝐓𝐔𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 𝐈𝐍 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄 Carl Nielsen (1865–1931) is often presented as one of the strongest and healthiest figures in Scandinavian music: the great Danish symphonist, a…

𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐎𝐍 𝐁𝐑𝐔𝐂𝐊𝐍𝐄𝐑: 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐒𝐓 𝐏𝐎𝐋𝐄𝐌𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐋 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐃𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐒𝐈𝐓𝐔𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 𝐈𝐍 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄 Anton Bruckner is often imagined as one of the most devout, humble, and innocent figures in nineteenth-century music: the provincial Austrian master of…

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐀𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐘 𝐎𝐅 𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐔𝐒𝐒: 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐈𝐀𝐆𝐄, 𝐇𝐎𝐌𝐄, 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐎𝐍𝐋𝐘 𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐑𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐬 is often remembered as the brilliant composer of Salome, Elektra, Der Rosenkavalier, and the great tone poems, but behind the public…

## 𝗠𝗢𝗭𝗔𝗥𝗧 𝗜𝗡 𝗦𝗪𝗔𝗙𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗗’𝗦 𝗕𝗜𝗢𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗣𝗛𝗬 — CHAPTER 2 - 𝗣𝗔𝗣𝗔: 𝗟𝗘𝗢𝗣𝗢𝗟𝗗, 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗜𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗟𝗘, 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗔𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗢𝗙 𝗔 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗗𝗜𝗚𝗬 𝗟𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗱’𝘀 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆: 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗶𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗱, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗯𝘆 In Swafford’s portrait, **the “miracle” in…

𝗪𝗛𝗬 𝗥𝗜𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗗 𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗨𝗦𝗦 𝗖𝗔𝗡 𝗕𝗘 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗢𝗡𝗔𝗕𝗟𝗬 𝗖𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗘𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗢𝗦𝗧 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗣𝗟𝗘𝗧𝗘 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗣𝗢𝗦𝗘𝗥 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝟮𝟬𝗧𝗛 𝗖𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗬 Calling any single composer “the most complete” is always a value judgment, because “completeness” depends on what we choose…

# **ARIA AND SONG (II) - (Book: **Mozart, His Character, His Work by Alfred Einstein**) ** ## Mozart on *Il curioso indiscreto*: Success, Intrigue, and a Printed “Notice” (Letter of **2 July**) On **2…

# **THE CITIZEN AND THE GENIUS (Book: Mozart, His Character, His Work** by Alfred Einstein) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Character, Society, and Destiny Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart began his creative path as a **child prodigy**. As…

# **Haydn: Choirboy at St. Stephen’s Cathedral (1740–1749)** In **1740**, when **Joseph Haydn** was just **eight years old**, his musical abilities brought him to **Vienna**, where he was admitted as a **boy soprano at…