Alan Menken: Overture from Beauty and the Beast Context When originally released in 1991, Alan Menken’s score for Beauty and the Beast was regarded as one of his best. The Oscar-winning score, with lyrics by Howard Ashman, was then recreated in the 2017 live-action version of the film. This new Read more…
Ruth Crawford Seeger: Rissolty, Rossolty Context Ruth Crawford Seeger’s unique and academic style of writing stood her music apart from many of her contemporaries. After a bumpy time after the Depression in the 1930s, Crawford Seeger took a new path to link her family name to folk music. After transcribing Read more…
George Gershwin: I Got Rhythm Variations Context Composed largely during a three-week holiday in Palm Beach, George Gershwin’s I Got Rhythm Variations was premiered in January 1934. As the title suggests, the basis of this piece comes from Gershwin’s hit song I Got Rhythm, which featured in the musical Girl Read more…
Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No. 10 Context Dmitri Shostakovich was born in St. Petersburg on September 25th 1906, and by the age of nine he began to play the piano. By the age of thirteen, Shostakovich was admitted into the prestigious Petrograd Conservatory, where he learnt piano under Leonid Nikolayev. At Read more…
Colin McPhee: Tabuh-Tabuhan Context Composed whilst Colin McPhee was visiting Mexico in 1936, Tabuh-Tabuhan is an orchestral toccata that features two solo pianos. Straight after McPhee had finished penning the work, Carlos Chavez and the National Orchestra of Mexico City had given it its first performance. The unusual name and Read more…
Alan Menken: Main Titles from The Little Mermaid Context Alan Menken teamed up with Howard Ashman to work on the score for the 1989 Disney film, The Little Mermaid. It remains one of the most decorated albums in Menken’s wheelhouse, with it receiving multi-platinum sales and two Grammys, two Academy Read more…
Johannes Brahms: Symphony No.3 Context Johannes Brahms’ Symphony No. 3 was composed in the summer of 1883 in Wiesbaden, which was about 6-7 years after he had completed his Symphony No. 2. It was premiered on December 2nd, 1883 by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, directed by Hans Richter. At the time of the premiere, Read more…
Endre Szervánszky: Wind Quintet No.1 Context Hungarian composer Endre Szervánszky composed his popular first Wind Quintet in 1953. Around the same time as composing this work, Szervánszky began experimenting writing works for larger ensembles, which led him to dip into the practises of serialism by the late 1950s. Wind Quintet Read more…
David Del Tredici: Farewell Context American composer David Del Tredici has composed a number of works in a range of different genres, from symphonic to chamber and solo. Farewell for solo violin was commissioned by virtuoso Hilary Hahn, which she often uses as her encore work. This serene work is Read more…
Interview with Genevieve Arkle Genevieve Arkle is currently a final-year PhD researcher at The University of Surrey, where she is writing her thesis on the musical allusions to Richard Wagner’s Parsifal in Gustav Mahler’s songs and symphonies. She has worked as an Associate Lecturer at the UoS and as a Visiting Lecturer Read more…