Antonio Vivaldi: The Four Seasons Context Antonio Vivaldi composed his ever-popular collection of violin concerti The Four Seasons around the year 1721. The conception of what we can now deduce as an early form of programme music was revolutionary in the Baroque period. It has been speculated that the music from each 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…
Leoš Janáček: Sinfonietta Context Born is 1854 in Hukvaldy, Moravia (a large area within the Czech Republic) Janáček was seen as a gifted child within a family that had little means. As a choir boy Janáček sung at the Abbey of St. Thomas in Brno, where he also nurtured and Read more…
Antonín Dvořák: In Nature’s Realm Context In Nature’s Realm was composed between March 31st and July 8th 1891, and the first performance was given the following April in Prague. The trio is connected by themes that represent nature, and to begin with they were going to be published together, until Dvořák changed Read more…
John Adams: The Chairman Dances Context The Chairman Dances by American composer John Adams is a mesmerising display of programmatic mastery in the post-minimalist movement. Written in 1985, the piece is essentially a by-product of his very famous opera Nixon in China which depicts American President Richard Nixon’s historic visit to Read more…
Dorothy Ker: A Gentle Infinity Context Dorothy Ker was born in Caterton, New Zealand in 1965. She completed her BMus and MMus degrees at the University of Auckland, where she studied composition with the likes of John Rimmer and Douglas Mews. In terms of her performance, she is known as a Read more…
John Williams: The Imperial March Context John Williams was born in 1932 and his career has since spanned over six decades. He was raised in New York by musical parents, who were active jazz musicians. By 1948 the Williams family had moved to LA where Williams later attended the University of Read more…
Modest Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition Context Modest Mussorgsky was born in 1839 in Karevo (south of Saint Petersburg). His family owned lots of land, which made them incredibly wealthy. His mother was a self-taught pianist, who began teaching him the piano at age 6. Mussorgsky thrived learning the piano, and he soon 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…
Karl Jenkins: Palladio Context Sir Karl William Pamp Jenkins (CBE), was born on 17th February, 1944, in Penclawdd, Wales. He first received music training from his father, who was a choirmaster and chapel organist. Jenkins began to learn the oboe, and subsequently played in the National Youth Orchestra of Wales. Read more…