Alexander von Zemlinsky: Symphony No. 1 Context Born in Vienna in 1871, Alexander von Zemlinsky was tutored by some of the ‘great’ composers of the Romantic period – Gustav Mahler and Johannes Brahms. After the premiere of Zemlinsky’s First Symphony, Brahms supported the young composer until his own death in 1897. Read more…
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…
Jean Sibelius: Scene with Cranes Context Jean Sibelius was born on 8th December 1865 in Hämeenlinna Finland. When he was ten years old, Sibelius was given a violin by his musical uncle, who soon became his musical tutor. Before studying music at university, Sibelius studied at the Imperial Alexander University, Read more…
Ralph Vaughan Williams: Five Variants of Dives & Lazarus Context As an avid collector of English folksong, Vaughan Williams used a lot of throughout his career. As can be seen from a menagerie of his works from Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis and In the Fen Country, Vaughan Read more…
Lera Auerbach: Icarus Context Lera Auerbach was born in 1973 in Chelyabinsk – a city that borders Siberia. Her mother was a piano teacher, so she received lessons from her at a young age. The Auerbach family have a history of being musical, so Lera was naturally a fast learner. Read more…
Samuel Barber: Adagio for Strings Context Adagio for Strings (1936), was originally the second movement of Samuel Barber’s String Quartet in B minor (Op.11). However, at the end of the year Barber had rearranged the movement for a full string orchestra. The work was composed in a musical fruitful time for Barber, with his Read more…
Tania León: Batá Context Born in Havana, Cuba in 1943, Tania León began learning the piano at the young age of four years old. Twenty years on, she had earned her bachelors and master degrees in music from the Carlos Alfredo Peyrellade Conservatory. After this, she made the move to New Read more…
Maurice Ravel: Le Tombeau de Couperin Context Originally a six-movement solo composition for piano, Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin was composed between 1914 and 1917. ‘Tombeau’ is a musical term from the Baroque era meaning ‘a piece written as a memorial.’ Every movement of Le Tombeau de Couperin is dedicated to the memory of 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…
Elizabeth Maconchy: Nocturne for Orchestra Context Elizabeth Maconchy was born to Irish parents in Hertfordshire, 1907. After her birth, the family moved back to rural Ireland, where Maconchy began taking piano lessons. She started to compose her own music by age six and when she was in her late teens Read more…