Tera de Marez Oyens: String Quartet Contrafactus Context Born in August 1932, Tera de Marez Oyens was a talented Dutch pianist composer who studied at the Amsterdam Conservatoire under Jan Odé. Oyens wrote a catalogue of over 200 works which mainly focused on song cycles and chamber music. However, during Read more…
George Frideric Handel: Glory to God in the Highest Messiah Part I 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, with Read more…
Arthur Honegger: Concerto da camera Context Composed in 1948 after a commission from American patron Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge, Concerto da camera is a concerto with the unusual combination of soloists. Using an English Horn (Cor Anglais) and flute as the soloists, and a string orchestra as the accompaniment, Concerto da Read more…
Frédéric Chopin: Rondo à la Krakowiak Context Composed in 1828 whilst Chopin was in Warsaw studying under Józef Elsner, Rondo à la Krakowiak was the composer’s second attempt at composing for an orchestra and piano. Dedicated to Princess Anna Zofia Sapieha, this work for solo piano and orchestra has remained Read more…
Heitor Villa-Lobos: String Quartet No.3 ‘The Popcorn Quartet’ Context Composed whilst Heitor Villa-Lobos visited Rio de Janeiro in 1916, the Third String Quartet was not premiered some years later in 1919. It wasn’t until many years later in 1933 that this quartet premiered in North America, with just one year Read more…
Antonio Vivaldi: Flute Concerto No.1 La Tempesta di Mare (RV 433) Context Subtitled ‘The Storm at Sea’, Antonio Vivaldi’s First Flute Concerto was the start of his collection of six concertos for the instrument. Published c.1720s, the concerto was one of many concertos that Vivaldi wrote that brought the concerto Read more…
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: The Seasons March: Song of the Lark 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…
Bedřich Smetana: String Quartet No.1 “From My Life” Context Due to his decline in health in 1874, Bedřich Smetana began to lose his hearing, with him becoming completely deaf by the end of the year. Smetana thus had to forfeit his job as the Principal Conductor of the Provisional Theater Read more…
Frédéric Chopin: Piano Sonata No.3 Context The last of the three piano sonatas that Frédéric Chopin composed has since been regarded as his most technically complex to perform. Composed in 1844 during his mature years, the sonata explores structures that were made popular by his German contemporaries. This weighty four-movement Read more…
Johannes Brahms: Hungarian Dance No.8 Context Johannes Brahms completed his 21 Hungarian Dances by 1879, and they still remain one his most popular collections of music. All of the dances are based on traditional Hungarian folk tunes and range from c.1 minute to 6 minutes in duration. Some of the Read more…