Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: The Seasons July: Song of the Reaper Context Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky composed his twelve character pieces for piano, The Seasons, at the same time that he was writing his popular ballet, Swan Lake. Each piece in The Seasons depicts a different month of the year in Russia. Read more…
Gilbert Vinter: Hunter’s Moon Context Gilbert Vinter (1909-1969) was most known for his work as a conductor and as a composer of brass band music. Vinter was a chorister at Lincoln Cathedral when he was a young boy. He later took up the bassoon. He conducted the BBC Concert Orchestra, Read more…
Romuald Twardowski: Serenade for Strings Context Romuald Twardowski (1931-) is a composer of Polish descent. He studied at the Conservatory of Vilinus and the prestigious Warsaw Academy of Music. Twardowski visited Paris and was tutored by Nadia Boulanger for some time between 1957-60. As well as being a full-time composer, Read more…
Charles Villiers Stanford: String Quartet No.8 Context Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924) remains one of Ireland’s most popular composers. After studying at the University of Cambridge, Stanford went to Leipzig in Germany to pursue his musical studies. In 1882, when Stanford was just 29 years old, he became one of Read more…
Harry Thacker Burleigh: Southland Sketches Context Composed in 1916, Harry Thacker Burleigh’s Southland Sketches is a great example of Burleigh’s quintessential American style. Scored for violin and piano, Southland Sketches takes the listener on a journey through various quirks of the American style that Burleigh pioneered in the early 1900s. Read more…
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Clarinet Quintet in F# Minor Context Born in August 1875 in Holborn, London, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor started learning the violin at a young age. At first it was Coleridge-Taylor’s maternal grandfather that taught him until he saw his obvious abilities and paid for him to have professional lessons. At Read more…
George Frideric Handel: And with His stripes we are healed Messiah Part II Context George Frideric Handel’s Messiah has remained one of the composer’s most beloved works. Incredibly, Handel completed this 260-page oratorio in just 24 days during the summer of 1741. The scriptural text was compiled by Charles Jennens, Read more…
Charles Villiers Stanford: Fantasia and Toccata Context Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924) remains one of Ireland’s most popular composers. After studying at the University of Cambridge, Stanford went to Leipzig in Germany to pursue his musical studies. In 1882, when Stanford was just 29 years old, he became one of Read more…
Michael Torke: Blue Pacific Context Commissioned by the Stecher and Horowitz Foundation for their Third New York Piano Competition back in 2006, Michael Torke’s Blue Pacific is a dazzling work for solo piano. Torke explains the inspiration for the work: “Blue Pacific was written on a cliff side overlooking Read more…
John Williams: The Imperial March Context John Williams was born in 1932 and his career has since spanned over six decades. He was raised in New York by musical parents, who were active jazz musicians. By 1948 the Williams family had moved to LA where Williams later attended the University of Read more…