Aaron Copland: The Red Pony Suite Context Composed for Lewis Milestone’s 1949 film The Red Pony, Aaron Copland’s music for the film was soon made into a concert suite. The suite was originally arranged for the Houston Symphony Orchestra and came about due to the lack of commercial success from Read more…
Giuseppe Verdi: Dies Irae Context Born in October 1813, Giuseppe Verdi grew up in Le Roncole, a small village in Italy. After learning the organ, Verdi showed a real interest in learning music, to which he parents acknowledged and bought him a spinet for the family house (a spinet is a Read more…
Grace Mary Williams: Sea Sketches Context Grace Mary Williams was born in Barry, Wales in 1906, where from a young age was encouraged to take part in musical activities. Both of Williams’ parents were school teachers, who both loved music. Williams took up the piano and violin with her siblings and Read more…
Carl Maria von Weber: Bassoon Concerto Context Carl Maria von Weber’s ever-popular Bassoon Concerto in F Major was originally composed in 1811, but was later revised in 1822. Whilst visiting Munich in 1811, Weber was asked to put a concert on for the Queen. After impressing the court with his Concertino for Clarinet and Read more…
Amy Beach: Piano Concerto in C# Minor Context Amy Beach was born in 1867 in New Hampshire. It has been extensively documented that Beach was a child prodigy when it came to music performance. Records say that she was able to sing forty songs by the time she was one. Read more…
Aaron Copland: Letter from Home Context Aaron Copland (1900-1990), was born in Brooklyn, New York City into a Conservative Jewish family. Whilst growing up he, along with his other siblings, was offered music lessons. Copland became a proficient pianist, but found his interest was within composition. In his early composition career, Read more…
John Williams: Harry’s Wondrous World Context By the year 2001, John Williams was already one of the most sought after film composers in the world. With a wealth of awards and nominations behind him, he had already composed the iconic music to films like Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones and Jaws. Read more…
Arnold Schoenberg: Notturno for Strings and Harp Context Composed in 1895, Arnold Schoenberg’s Notturno for Strings and Harp combines unusual scoring with a side of Schoenberg’s earlier style that people don’t always remember. This single-movement work set in Ab is scored for solo violin, harp and small string orchestra. There Read more…
Keiko Abe: The Wave Impressions Concerto for Marimba Context Keiko Abe’s The Wave Impression Concerto for Marimba was composed in 2002 and it is written for orchestra, marimba. Abe explains in this short paragraph what this concerto is all about: “This piece consists of three contrasting musical elements and the approaches Read more…
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Deep River 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 age 15, Coleridge-Taylor Read more…