Dr. Bob Prescribes: Babi Yar: A Document in the Form of a Novel
December
19th,
2023
Babi Yar: A Document in the Form of a Novel; by Anatoly Kuznetsov Picador/ Farrar, Straus and Giroux New York; copyright 1966, 1970, and 2023 Translated by David Floyd Introduction by Masha Gessen According to one review, Kuznetsov’s Babi Yar is: “A disturbing book that screams to be read.” Truer words were never written. Despite…
Music History Monday: Shostakovich Symphony No. 13
December
18th,
2023
On December 18, 1962 - 61 years ago today – Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 13 received its premiere in Moscow. The symphony stirred up a proverbial hornet’s nest of controversy, and we’re not talking here about your everyday hornet, but rather, those gnarly ‘n’ gnasty Asian Giant Hornets! Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich (1906-1975) in 1962 It…
![Bach’s hand-written title page for the manuscript of his “Sei Solo a Violino senza Basso accompagnato,” “Six Solo [works] for violin without accompaniment](https://d3fr1q02b1tb0i.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/11163528/9.jpg)
Dr. Bob Prescribes: Johann Sebastian Bach, Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin
December
12th,
2023
We cannot (and will not!) talk about Sebastian Bach’s landmark Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin without first considering what is, to my mind, one of the most perfect examples of human ingenuity this side of cave painting, and that is the violin. The Violin The violin is a miracle of ingenuity and nature, of…
Music History Monday: The “Amusa”
December
11th,
2023
Friederica Henrietta of Anhalt-Bernburg (1702-1723), the “Amusa” On December 11, 1721 – 302 years ago today – Johann Sebastian Bach’s employer, the 27-year-old Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cöthen (1694-1728), married the 19-year-old Friederica Henrietta of Anhalt-Bernburg (1702-1723). She was the fourth daughter (and youngest child) of Charles Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg (1668-1721) and his first wife,…
Dr. Bob Prescribes Adolf von Henselt – Piano Music
December
5th,
2023
Unplayable? Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) circa 1875 Yesterday’s Music History Monday post observed how two beloved concert staples by our great and good friend Pyotr (Peter) Ilych Tchaikovsky - his Piano Concerto No. 1 (of 1874) and his Violin Concerto in D major (of 1878) – were deemed unplayable by their initial dedicatees. Those “dedicatees”…
Music History Monday: Unplayable
December
4th,
2023
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) in 1888, looking rather older than his 48 years We mark the premiere on December 4, 1881 – 142 years ago today – of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s one-and-only violin concerto, his Violin Concerto in D major. It received its premiere in Vienna, where it was performed by the violinist Adolf Brodsky…
Dr. Bob Prescribes Richard Strauss: “Thus Spoke Zarathustra”, Op. 30 (1896)
November
28th,
2023
Richard Strauss (1864-1949) in 1896 As discussed in yesterday’s Music History Monday post, Richard Strauss’ orchestral tone poem Thus Spoke Zarathustra (in German, Also sprach Zarathustra, composed in 1896) is based on the “philosophical poem” of the same title by the German philologist (a type of linguist who studies the history of languages through their…
Music History Monday: Richard Strauss, Stanley Kubrick, Friedrich Nietzsche, and “Thus Spoke Zarathustra”
November
27th,
2023
Richard Strauss (1864-1949) in 1894 On November 27, 1896 – 127 years ago today – Richard Strauss conducted the premiere performance of his sprawling orchestral tone poem Thus Spoke Zarathustra in the German city of Frankfurt. Requests A momentary and applicable (if gratuitous) diversion. Over the course of the first half of my musical life…
Dr. Bob Prescribes Pianist Ray Bryant
November
21st,
2023
Oops! I’ve been writing these Dr. Bob Prescribes posts since August 6, 2018. I have only now realized that I have not yet featured the pianist Ray Bryant (1931-2011). OMG. It’s time to address and make good on that oversight! What made the light go off in my head regarding Ray Bryant was the act…
Music History Monday: The Great-Grandmother of All Concert Tours: Elton John’s “Farewell Yellow Brick Road: The Final Tour”
November
20th,
2023
Elton Hercules John (born Reggie Kenneth Dwight; March 25, 1947) performing at the Glastonbury Festival in June 2023, during the last leg of his “Farewell Yellow Brick Road: The Final Tour” We mark the conclusion on November 20, 2022 – one year ago today – of the North American leg of Elton John’s “Farewell Yellow…