George Gershwin: Walking the Dog Context George Gershwin’s short ditty Walking the Dog has become a staple work for clarinettists. Composed in 1937, the work was originally used for the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers film score Shall We Dance. Interestingly, most of the score from the film has remained Read more…
Ruth Schönthal: Self-Portrait of the Artist as an Older Woman Context Ruth Schönthal was a Jewish-American pianist and composer who was of German birth. Schönthal was a remarkable pianist, dedicated pedagogue and keen composer throughout her lifetime, with her taking a professorship at several universities in New York. Schönthal’s compositional Read more…
Yann Tiersen: Comptine d’un autre été, l’après midi Context Composed as part of the soundtrack for the 2001 film Amélie, Comptine d’un autre été, l’après midi is one of the most iconic tracks. Composed for solo piano, the title loosely translates into ‘Nursery Rhyme from Another Summer’. Yann Tiersen composed Read more…
Francis Poulenc: Trois mouvements perpétuels Context Composed in 1918 when Poulenc was only 19 years old, Troi mouvements perpétuels is a short three movement suite for solo piano. The suite was premiered in December 1918 by Poulenc’s teacher, Ricardo Viñes and was dedicated to the artist Victor Hugo. The suite Read more…
Peter Maxwell Davies: Farewell to Stromness Context Composed in the late 1970s and premiered in 1980, Peter Maxwell Davies’ solo piano work, Farewell to Stromness, is one of his most accessible works. The piece was written as a protest against a proposed uranium mine near the small village of Stromness, Read more…
Philip Glass: Etude No. 2 Context Philip Glass’ first set of Etudes were composed in the mid 1990s. In a recent interview about this set of works he commented saying: “The point of the etudes, originally, was to strengthen my piano playing and that actually worked. I actually got Read more…
César Franck: Violin Sonata in A Context César Franck’s Violin Sonata in A was composed in 1886, and was offered as a wedding present for the violinist Eugène Ysaÿe. The sonata has become one of the most performed violin works in the repertoire,with it still receiving regular performances. After the Read more…
Camille Saint-Saëns: Danse Macabre Context Camille Saint-Saëns’ tone poem, Danse Macabre was composed in 1874. It started out as an art song for voice and piano, but was soon adapted as an orchestral work. The work is based on a poem by Henri Cazalis, which is based upon French superstition: Read more…
Paul Hindemith: Posaune Sonate Der historische Kontext Während seiner Karriere versuchte Hindemith wenigstens eine Sonate für jedes Instrument zu komponieren. Seine Posaune Sonate wurde 1941 komponiert und hat vier kleine Sätze. Es ist vorgeschlagen worden, dass Hindemith zuerst nur drei Sätze komponierte und dann der vierte Satz wurde später enthalten. Read more…
Ian Clarke: The Great Train Race Context Ian Clarke is known as being a leading figure in the flute world. A composer and performer, Clarke has performed and has had his works performed across the world. His wide-range of published works have established themselves into the core repertoire of flute Read more…