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…
Sergei Rachmaninov: Symphony No. 2 Context Composed between 1906-1907, and premiered in 1908, the symphony was the Russian composer’s second attempt at writing for a full orchestra. Although now Rachmaninov’s Second Symphony is popular in concert halls, it was rather surprising that it was even composed. With how poorly the 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…
Johannes Brahms: Symphony No.3 Context Johannes Brahms’ Symphony No. 3 was composed in the summer of 1883 in Wiesbaden, which was about 6-7 years after he had completed his Symphony No. 2. It was premiered on December 2nd, 1883 by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, directed by Hans Richter. At the time of the premiere, Read more…
Max Bruch: Scottish Fantasy Context Max Bruch was born on January 6th 1838 in Cologne. He received early musical training by pianist and composer, Ferdinand Hiller. Unlike quite a large proportion of classical musicians, Bruch’s family were very supportive of his music studies, and were often pushing him to take it Read more…
Paul Hindemith: Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber Context Born in November 1895 in Hanau, Paul Hindemith engaged with music at a young age. Starting with playing the violin, Hindemith later attended Frankfurt’s Hoch’sche Konservatorium, where he studied violin performance with Adolf Rebner. Further to this, Hindemith Read more…
Joseph Haydn: Symphony No. 103 ‘Drumroll’ Context Joseph Haydn was born in 1732 in Rahrau, Austria, where he was brought up listening to and performing folk-music. As he grew up he showed musical talent, and his parents sent him away to be trained as a professional musician. After struggling as Read more…
Gustav Mahler: Symphony No.9 Movement IV Referring back to Bernstein’s theory that every movement represents a farewell to an aspect of life (read more in the previous blog), this movement is a farewell to life itself. The form of the finale can be read in two different ways, either as a Read more…
Gustav Mahler: Symphony No.9 Movement II The second movement has been said to be a ‘dance of death’ or Todtentanz for the original German translation. Adorno was one of the first to publicly characterize this movement, alongside critic Paul Bekker. This movement resonates a previous symphony by Mahler, the Fourth, which uses Read more…
Gustav Mahler: Symphony No.9 Genesis & Movement I Gustav Mahler (1860-1911), composed his Ninth Symphony in the last few years of his life between 1909 and 1910. This Ninth Symphony was the last work that Mahler completed before his death in 1911 (whilst he was part-way through the Tenth Symphony). The Read more…