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𝐁𝐄𝐄𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐍 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐈𝐅𝐓𝐇 𝐒𝐘𝐌𝐏𝐇𝐎𝐍𝐘: 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐃𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐓𝐎 𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 The Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67 by 𝐋𝐮𝐝𝐰𝐢𝐠 𝐯𝐚𝐧 𝐁𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐧 occupies an exceptional place not only in the history of music, but…

𝐁𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐨 𝐖𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐫 (1876–1962) was a German-born conductor, pianist and composer, and one of the most distinguished conductors of the 20th century. Born in 𝐁𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧, he began his career as a pianist before turning to…

𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐏𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐒 𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐒, 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒, 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐑𝐈𝐕𝐀𝐋𝐒 𝐁𝐘 𝐏𝐈𝐄𝐑𝐑𝐄 𝐇. 𝐀𝐙𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐘 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐈 — 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐒𝐀𝐖 𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐒, 𝟏𝟖𝟏𝟎–𝟏𝟖𝟑𝟎 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟐 — 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐒 𝐉𝐀𝐍 𝐁𝐈𝐀Ł𝐎𝐁Ł𝐎𝐂𝐊𝐈, 𝐉𝐀𝐍 𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐒𝐙𝐘Ń𝐒𝐊𝐈, 𝐉𝐔𝐋𝐈𝐀𝐍 𝐅𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐀, 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐘𝐓𝐔𝐒…

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…

𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐋 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐄𝐃 𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐀𝐇 𝐈𝐍 𝐉𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝟐𝟒 𝐃𝐀𝐘𝐒 In the summer of 𝟏𝟕𝟒𝟏, George Frideric Handel began composing the work that would become his most famous masterpiece. Working with extraordinary concentration, he completed 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞…

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…

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗟𝗜𝗙𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗛𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗢𝗥 𝗕𝗘𝗥𝗟𝗜𝗢𝗭 𝗔𝗦 𝗪𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗡 𝗕𝗬 𝗛𝗜𝗠𝗦𝗘𝗟𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗟𝗜𝗙𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗛𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗢𝗥 𝗕𝗘𝗥𝗟𝗜𝗢𝗭 𝗔𝗦 𝗪𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗡 𝗕𝗬 𝗛𝗜𝗠𝗦𝗘𝗟𝗙 𝗣𝗢𝗦𝗧 𝟭𝟴 𝗔 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗵𝗲𝘁 𝗔𝗯𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗱: 𝗚𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆, 𝗛𝘂𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗿𝘆, 𝗥𝘂𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗮, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗟𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗻 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗡𝗼 𝗟𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗕𝗲…

𝐇𝐔𝐁𝐄𝐑𝐓 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐘 𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐏𝐄𝐃 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐁𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐒𝐇 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐂... 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐀 𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐇𝐔𝐁𝐄𝐑𝐓 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐘 𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐏𝐄𝐃 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐁𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐒𝐇 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐂... 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐀 𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 One of Britain's greatest musical educators transformed English composition after centuries of…

𝟭𝟬 𝗙𝗮𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗟𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗿-𝗞𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗘𝗱𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗘𝗹𝗴𝗮𝗿 𝟭. 𝗛𝗲 𝗪𝗮𝘀 𝗟𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗦𝗲𝗹𝗳-𝗧𝗮𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁 Unlike many great composers, Elgar never attended a conservatory. He educated himself by studying scores in his father's music shop,…

𝐉𝐎𝐀𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐌 𝐑𝐀𝐅𝐅 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐎𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐅𝐀𝐌𝐎𝐔𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐍 𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐇𝐌𝐒... 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐋𝐃 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐆𝐎𝐓 𝐇𝐈𝐌 One of the nineteenth century's most admired composers almost disappeared from concert halls. When 𝐉𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐑𝐚𝐟𝐟 (𝟏𝟖𝟐𝟐–𝟏𝟖𝟖𝟐) was at the height…

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗟𝗜𝗙𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗛𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗢𝗥 𝗕𝗘𝗥𝗟𝗜𝗢𝗭 𝗔𝗦 𝗪𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗡 𝗕𝗬 𝗛𝗜𝗠𝗦𝗘𝗟𝗙 𝗣𝗢𝗦𝗧 𝟭𝟴 𝗔 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗵𝗲𝘁 𝗔𝗯𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗱: 𝗚𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆, 𝗛𝘂𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗿𝘆, 𝗥𝘂𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗮, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗟𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗻 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗡𝗼 𝗟𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗕𝗲 𝗘𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 — 𝟭𝟴𝟰𝟮 For years, 𝗛𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗕𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗶𝗼𝘇 had struggled…

𝗠𝗔𝗛𝗟𝗘𝗥 𝗝𝗢𝗦𝗘 𝗟𝗨𝗜𝗦 𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗭 𝗗𝗘 𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗚𝗔 𝗣𝗢𝗦𝗧 𝟭𝟲 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗜𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗔𝗹𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗥𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗟𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗮𝗵𝗹𝗲𝗿’𝘀 𝗪𝗮𝗿 𝗔𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁 𝗥𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗲 By the beginning of the twentieth century, 𝗚𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘃 𝗠𝗮𝗵𝗹𝗲𝗿…

𝗗𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗿𝗶 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗵 and his first wife, experimental physicist 𝗡𝗶𝗻𝗮 𝗩𝗮𝗿𝘇𝗮𝗿, shared a turbulent yet profound marriage. They met in 1927, married in 1932, and—despite early divorces and numerous affairs on both sides—remained together until…

𝗙𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗭 𝗥𝗘𝗜𝗡𝗘𝗥 — 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝟭𝟱 𝗚𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗥𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦 Fritz Reiner was one of the supreme orchestral disciplinarians of the twentieth century. His conducting combined extraordinary precision, rhythmic tension, transparent textures and an almost unequalled ability…

# 𝗡𝗜𝗞𝗢𝗟𝗔𝗨𝗦 𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗡𝗢𝗡𝗖𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗧 — “…𝗜𝗧 𝗪𝗔𝗦 𝗔𝗟𝗪𝗔𝗬𝗦 𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗖” ## 𝗔 𝗥𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄𝘀 𝗘𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗝𝗼𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗮 𝗙ü𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘂𝗲𝗿 Few conductors of the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries transformed musical interpretation as radically as…

𝗕𝗥𝗨𝗡𝗢 𝗪𝗔𝗟𝗧𝗘𝗥 — 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝟭𝟱 𝗚𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗥𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦 Bruno Walter occupies a unique position in the history of conducting. He belonged directly to the final world of late Romanticism, worked closely with Gustav Mahler and…

𝗢𝗧𝗧𝗢 𝗞𝗟𝗘𝗠𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗥 — 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝟭𝟱 𝗚𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗥𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦 Otto Klemperer’s recorded legacy is frequently reduced to a convenient stereotype: monumental tempos, massive sonorities and granite-like severity. Those qualities certainly formed part of his mature style,…

𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗦 𝗙𝗨𝗥𝗧𝗪𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗟𝗘𝗥 — 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝗔 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗟 𝗗𝗬𝗡𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗬 𝗧𝗢 𝗖𝗟𝗔𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗟 𝗔𝗥𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗘𝗢𝗟𝗢𝗚𝗬 𝗔𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀 𝗘𝗿𝗻𝘀𝘁 𝗚𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝗙𝘂𝗿𝘁𝘄𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗲𝗿 was born in Zurich on 11 November 1944. He was the only son of the conductor 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗺 𝗙𝘂𝗿𝘁𝘄𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗲𝗿 and his…

𝗧𝗛𝗥𝗘𝗘 𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗘𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗙𝗨𝗥𝗧𝗪𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗟𝗘𝗥 𝗙𝗔𝗠𝗜𝗟𝗬 𝗘𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗯𝗲𝘁𝗵 𝗙𝘂𝗿𝘁𝘄𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗲𝗿 (1910–2013) was a German writer and the second wife of the celebrated conductor 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗺 𝗙𝘂𝗿𝘁𝘄𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗲𝗿. Born 𝗘𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗯𝗲𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝗹𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘁, she had previously been married to 𝗛𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝗔𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗻…

𝗗𝗢𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗘𝗩𝗦𝗞𝗬 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗡𝗦 𝗢𝗙 𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗘 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗮 𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 Strictly speaking, 𝗙𝘆𝗼𝗱𝗼𝗿 𝗗𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗲𝘃𝘀𝗸𝘆 did not collaborate with musicians in the practical sense in which a librettist collaborates with…

𝗦𝗖𝗛𝗨𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗡 — 𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗖 𝗙𝗥𝗘𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗖𝗞 𝗝𝗘𝗡𝗦𝗘𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗡𝗦 — 𝗢𝗫𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗗 𝗨𝗡𝗜𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗜𝗧𝗬 𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗦 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝟰 — 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗠𝗜𝗧𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗧𝗢 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗖 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗢𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗪𝗛𝗘𝗡 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗖 𝗖𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗘𝗗 𝗧𝗢 𝗕𝗘 𝗔 𝗗𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗠 Robert Schumann’s commitment to music was not…

𝗙𝗘𝗥𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗛𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗘𝗥 𝗕𝗼𝗿𝗻: 𝟮𝟰 𝗢𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟭𝟴𝟭𝟭, 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗸𝗳𝘂𝗿𝘁 𝗮𝗺 𝗠𝗮𝗶𝗻, 𝗚𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗗𝗶𝗲𝗱: 𝟭𝟭 𝗠𝗮𝘆 𝟭𝟴𝟴𝟱, 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗻𝗲, 𝗚𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗿𝘆: 𝗚𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗙𝗲𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗛𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿 was one of the most cultivated and versatile musical figures of the nineteenth century:…

𝗦𝗖𝗛𝗨𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗡 — 𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗖 𝗙𝗥𝗘𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗖𝗞 𝗝𝗘𝗡𝗦𝗘𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗡𝗦 — 𝗢𝗫𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗗 𝗨𝗡𝗜𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗜𝗧𝗬 𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗦 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝟯 — 𝗦𝗖𝗛𝗨𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗡 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗘 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗢𝗢𝗞 𝗔𝗦 𝗔 𝗦𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗗 𝗜𝗡𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧 To understand Robert Schumann, one must begin with a simple…