Franz Liszt: Liebestraum No.3 Context Franz Liszt was born in 1811 in Hungary, into an already well-established musical family. His father, Adam Liszt, had been in service for Prince Nikolaus II Esterházy. This meant he was in direct contact with prolific composers such as Haydn, Beethoven and Hummel. Liszt was an Read more…
Ottorino Respighi: Pines of Rome Context Ottorino Respighi was born on July 9th, 1879 in Bologna, Italy. From a young age he was taught piano by his father, as he was working as a local music teacher in the area. Respighi later enrolled at the Liceo, where he studied violin, Read more…
Roger Quilter: A Children’s Overture Context Roger Quilter was born in Hove, Sussex in 1877. In contrast to his older brothers, Roger was the quiet, shy sibling of the group. In the mid-1880s Quilter was sent to a new prep school in Farnborough, where he was able to nurture his love Read more…
Tarik O’Regan: Latent Manifest Context Tarik O’Regan was born in Croydon in 1978, and his mother was Algerian so in his very early life he spent a lot of time abroad. O’Regan claims he was a “late starter” with music, only picking up music when he was 14. However, he Read more…
Morton Feldman: For Aaron Copland Context Morton Feldman was born in 1926 into a Russian-Jewish family. From a young age he began to learn piano where he found his love for music and composition. Feldman learnt with and admired a range of different German-modernist composers such as Anton Webern and 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…
Dobrinka Tabakova: Whispered Lullaby Context Dobrinka Tabakova was born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria to a music-loving family in 1980. At age 11, Tabakova moved to London and has since stayed there. She studied at the Royal Academy of Music Junior Department, specialising in composition, piano and conducting. From there, Tabakova earned Read more…
Francis Poulenc: Concerto for Organ, Timpani and Strings Context Francis Poulenc was born in Paris in 1899 into a wealthy, musical family. His father owned a pharmaceuticals business, and he had very close ties with Roman Catholicism. His mother came from a very artistic family. As his mother was musical, Poulenc Read more…
Paul Dukas: L’apprenti sorcier Context Paul Dukas was born in Paris, 1865. In 1881, Dukas entered the Conservatoire de Paris, studying piano and composition. Whilst studying at the conservatoire Dukas became very close friends with Claude Debussy. Dukas thrived studying composition, however, much of his work within this period was Read more…
Charles Ives: The Unanswered Question Conext Charles Ives was born in Connecticut, USA in 1874, and his father was a USA Army bandleader. Due to this day-to-day influence of music, Ives grew up surrounded by music. Ives undertook music lessons from a young age, and his tutors were encouraging for Ives Read more…