Music History Monday: Why Art Matters
March
20th,
2017
[caption id="attachment_2060" align="alignright" width="300"] Before the One Day University presentation in Austin, Texas.[/caption] March 20 was a quiet – a very quiet! – day in music history. Thus, as I have done on other “quiet” Mondays, I’m using today’s post to tell a story and to editorialize a bit. In 2016, I got involved with…
Music History Monday: A Very Tough Crowd
March
13th,
2017
[caption id="attachment_2049" align="alignright" width="234"] Richard Wagner photographed in Paris in 1861[/caption]156 years ago today – on March 13, 1861 - Richard Wagner's opera Tannhäuser was first performed in Paris at the Théâtre Imperial de l'Opéra. The Paris production of Tannhäuser remains one of the greatest operatic flops of all time: a scheduled ten-performance run that…
Music History Monday: A Magnificent Fiasco!
March
6th,
2017
[caption id="attachment_2026" align="alignright" width="209"] Giuseppe Verdi, circa 1855[/caption] On March 6, 1853 – 164 years ago today – Giuseppe Verdi’s opera La Traviata received its first performance at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice. The two years between March of 1851 and March of 1853 saw the premieres of three operas by Giuseppe Verdi that…
Music History Monday: A Cold War Miracle
February
27th,
2017
Four years ago today, the pianist, cultural icon and “Cold War Musical Envoy” Van Cliburn died at his home in Fort Worth Texas. He was 78. Van Cliburn’s celebrity was shaped not just by his talent but also by what were – and remain – earth-shaking historical events. Joseph Stalin – “the Leader and Teacher;…
Music History Monday: Movers and Shakers
February
20th,
2017
[caption id="attachment_2013" align="alignright" width="248"] Johann Peter Salomon in 1792, at the time of Haydn’s first London residency, painted by Thomas Hardy[/caption] Today we celebrate the birth – on February 20, 1749 – of the violinist, composer, and impresario Johann Peter Salomon. His name is relatively unknown today, yet without him the musical legacy of the…
Music History Monday: Immigrants and Immigration
February
13th,
2017
[caption id="attachment_2008" align="alignright" width="248"] Handel, in a painting attributed to Balthasar Denner, painted circa 1726-1728 (at the time Handel became a British citizen).[/caption] On February 13, 1727 – 290 years ago today – the German-born Georg Friedrich Händel applied for British citizenship. Immigrants and immigration. Hot button topics these days, though I would strongly suggest…
Music History Monday: Can’t We Be Friends?
February
6th,
2017
[caption id="attachment_1988" align="alignright" width="300"] Arnold Schoenberg playing a mean game of Ping-Pong[/caption] On February 6, 1944 – 73 years ago today - Arnold Schoenberg's Piano Concerto received its premiere. It was performed by the pianist Eduard Steuermann and the NBC Symphony conducted by Leopold Stokowski. In his book “Fundamentals of Musical Composition” Schoenberg advised that…
Music History Monday: The Best Gig in the World!
January
30th,
2017
[caption id="attachment_1975" align="alignright" width="300"] Frederick the Great playing a flute concerto in his palace in Sanssouci. C. P. E. Bach is at the piano and J. J. Quantz is leaning against the wall on the far right.[/caption] We wish a spirited and in all ways happy birthday to the composer and flutist Johann Joachim (J.…
Music History Monday: The Mozart/Clementi Duel
January
23rd,
2017
On January 23, 1752 – 265 years ago today – the composer, harpsichordist, pianist, organist, conductor, teacher, music publisher and editor, and piano manufacturer Muzio Filippo Vincenzo Francesco Clementi was born in Rome. Remembered best today for his six delightful Sonatinas for Piano published as Op. 36, he was, in fact a prodigious composer; his…
Music History Monday: Story Telling
January
16th,
2017
Tomorrow, on January 17, I will release for download the first of what I hope will be many “webcourses”: “Mozart in Vienna” (16 lectures) and “The Music of the Twentieth Century” (18 lectures). With your kind indulgence, I will dedicate the bulk of this post to my philosophy of teaching as encapsulated in two words:…