Carl Nielsen: Symphony No.2 ‘The Four Temperaments’ Context Carl Nielsen was born in 1865 on the island of Funen (the third-largest island that is a part of Denmark). The Nielsen family were incredibly poor, however, his parents were keen musicians, with his father playing cornet and his mother, a singer. Read more…
Gioachino Rossini: William Tell Overture Context Born in February 1792 into a family of musicians in Pesaro, Italy, Gioachino Rossini began to learn the piano from age eight. Rossini became a multi-instrumentalist at a young age, being competent at piano, cello and horn by his late teens. Rossini is most Read more…
Carl Ruggles: Men and Mountains Context American composer Carl Ruggles only composed a small selection of works in his lifetime. However, he was one to constantly revise his works, so many of his compositions have various changes as time went on. His orchestral work Men and Mountains was composed in Read more…
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov: Russian Easter Festival Overture Context Completed in the summer of 1888, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov completed his ‘Bright Holiday’ work Russian Easter Festival Overture ready for its premiere in December 1888. It was dedicated to the memory of two of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Russian contemporaries, Modest Mussorgsky and Alexander Borodin, who were Read more…
Dmitri Kabalevsky: The Comedians Context Born in 1904 in Saint Petersburg, Kabalevsky was encouraged at a young age to focus on “important” subjects, such as maths and science (i.e not the arts). However, against his family’s wishes, Kabalevsky accepted an offer to study at Moscow Conservatory, where he studied composition. Read more…
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Romeo & Juliet Overture-Fantasy Context Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy is a symphonic poem-like work that encapsulates the tragic love story between Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. This piece of programme music went through three stages of being re-drafted and manipulated by Tchaikovsky until the version Read more…
Iannis Xenakis: Jonchaies Jonchaies was composed in 1977, alongside another one of Xenakis’ compositions, La Légende D’eer. The latter is a composition which is comprised of 7 tracks of electroacoustic tapes, and Jonchaies is scored for a large orchestra (specifically 109 musicians). The work is loosely based around a single Read more…
Judith Weir: Stars, Night, Music and Light Context Judith Weir was born in 1954 in Cambridge, and at a young age she began learning the oboe. Weir in her youth performed regularly with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. She studied composition whilst at school with none other than John Read more…
Ferde Grofé: Mississippi Suite Context Ferdinand Grofé was born in New York City in 1892, and was lucky enough to be born into a musical family. His father was a classical baritone singer, his mother a professional cellist. As well as this, his mother Elsa also taught Ferde the piano and Read more…
Ralph Vaughan Williams: The Lark Ascending Context Known now as one of the most beloved 20th Century British composers, Ralph Vaughan Williams’ was focused on creating a distinctive ‘English music sound’. This was certainly achieved by the composer, with many of his works being described as ‘quintessentially British’. A distinctive Read more…