Dr. Bob Prescribes: Moritz Moszkowski, Piano Concerto in E Major, Op. 59 (1898)
August
24th,
2021
Moritz Moszkowski (1854-1925) Near the conclusion of yesterday’s Music History Monday post, we heard from the former chief music critic of The New York Times Harold Schonberg, who wrote apropos of Moritz Moszkowski’s piano music that: “no better salon music has ever been composed, or any so gratefully conceived for the piano.” “Salon Music.” It’s…
Music History Monday: Moritz Moszkowski
August
23rd,
2021
Moritz Moszkowski (1954-1925)” in 1880 We mark the birth on August 23, 1854 – 167 years ago today – of the German-Polish composer, pianist, and teacher Moritz Moszkowski in the Prussian/Silesian city of Breslau, today the Polish city of Wrocław. He died in Paris on March 4, 1925, at the age of 70. Moszkowski was…
Dr. Bob Prescribes: Bill Evans: A Recorded Retrospective
August
17th,
2021
Graduation weekend, June 1976: Rick deSante and yours truly Roommates Freshman year college roommates: talk about a crap shoot. You never know whether the individual in charge of pairing you up was having a good day or a bad day; whether he or she had a decent or a rotten sense of humor. My freshman…
Music History Monday: William John Evans
August
16th,
2021
Bill Evans (1929-1980), performing at San Francisco’s Keystone Korner, just days before his death on September 15, 1980 We mark the birth on August 16, 1929 – 92 years ago today – of the jazz pianist and composer William John “Bill” Evans, in Plainfield, New Jersey. He died, tragically and all-too-young on September 15, 1980…
Dr. Bob Prescribes: Shostakovich Sonata for Viola
August
10th,
2021
Fyodor Serafimovich Druzhinin (1932-2007); Shostakovich’s wife, Irina, sits listening in the upper right Dmitri Shostakovich wrote a lot of chamber music, including fifteen string quartets. From almost the beginning of Shostakovich’s career as a composer of chamber music, the viola, the tenor voice of the string quartet - with its full, warm, restrained, and yet…
Music History Monday: Shostakovich’s Death
August
9th,
2021
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich (1906-1975) in 1973 We mark the death on August 9, 1975 – 46 years ago today – of the composer Dmitri Shostakovich at the age of 68, in Moscow. He was born on September 25, 1906, in St. Petersburg. Does Stress Kill? If stress kills, Dmitri Shostakovich should never have lived past…
Dr. Bob Prescribes Carlos Chávez: Complete Symphonies
August
3rd,
2021
Carlos Chávez in 1937, photographed by Carl von Vechten Chávez’s emergence as a composer in 1920 – at the age of 21 - could not have been better timed. You see, 1920 saw the end of the Mexican Revolution and the inauguration of Álvaro Obregón as a constitutional president. According to musicologist J. Carlos Estenssoro:…
Music History Monday: Carlos Chávez
August
2nd,
2021
Carlos Chávez (1899-1978)”, circa 1950 We mark the death on August 2, 1978 – 43 years ago today – of the Mexican composer, pianist, conductor, music educator, and journalist Carlos Chávez at the age of 79, in Mexico City. What’s the Problem Here? Allow me, por favor, to express a pet peeve framed as a…
Dr. Bob Prescribes Wolfgang Mozart, Among Friends
July
27th,
2021
I tried, honest to gods, I tried. My M.O. in these Dr. Bob Prescribes posts has been consistent: if I feature a lesser-known composer in a Music History Monday post, I will follow up in the next day’s Dr. Bob Prescribes with a work (or works) by that same composer. Franz Xaver Mozart (1791-1844), in…
Music History Monday: Franz Xaver Mozart and the Grandmother of All Shadows
July
26th,
2021
Let us wish a happy birthday to three notable musicians, the third of whom will be the topic of today’s post. John Field (1785-1837) On July 26, 1785 – 236 years ago today – the composer, pianist, and teacher John Field was born in Dublin. His Nocturnes for piano powerfully influenced those of Frédéric Chopin.…