John Ireland: Decorations Context John Ireland was born in Bowdon, Cheshire in 1879, and was the youngest of five children. It has been widely documented that Ireland had a rough childhood. His mother and father died within a year of each other in 1893 and 1894, when he was just 14/15 Read more…
Dana Suesse: Concerto in 3 Rhythms Context Dana Suesse was born in 1909 in Kansas City. There is not much information on Suesse’s earlier life, but we know that whilst she was still young she travelled around the Midwest Vaudeville circuit, performing both on the piano and as a dancer. 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…
Alban Berg: Vier Stücke Context Vier Stücke was composed in 1913 and are perhaps Berg’s only true miniatures. His wife Helene writes that he composed them in June, which means it was in the same month as his fateful visit to his tutor, Schoenberg. It is recorded that this meeting Read more…
Cécile Chaminade: Concertino for Flute Context Cécile Chaminade was born in Paris, 1857. At a young age she started playing the piano, with her mother being her first teacher. She then learnt with Félix Le Couppey. As well as learning the piano, Chaminade also took an interest in learning the Read more…
Alma Mahler: Five Songs for Voice and Piano Context Composed between 1899-1910 and published around the year 1911, Alma Mahler’s Five Songs for Voice and Piano have stood the test of time. Each of the five songs are based on a poem that Mahler liked: Die stille Stadt (The Read more…
Clara Schumann: Three Romances for Violin & Piano Context Clara Josephine Wieck was born on 13th September 1819 in Leipzig. Her mother was a famous singer in the city at the time. When Clara was five, her parents divorced and she stayed with her father. Friedrich Wieck saw the potential Read more…
Joan Trimble: The Green Bough Context Joan Trimble was born in 1915 in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh. She, from a young age, learnt to play the piano, read music and then compose her own music. She studied piano with Annie Lord at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, Dublin. She continued Read more…
Sheila Silver: Nocturne Context Sheila Silver is an American-born composer who grew up in Seattle. She began receiving piano lessons from the age of 5 and her love and passion for music grew and grew until she earned her place at the University of California, Berkeley. She graduated with a Bachelor Read more…
Steve Reich: Piano Phase Context Steve Reich is known for his contributions to the minimalist movement of the twentieth century. As the title suggests, minimalism is a form of art music that uses minimal musical material to achieve maximum effects. Reich, with other composers such as Philip Glass and John Adams, Read more…