Maurice Ravel wrote the following words about his composition La valse, po̬me chorÌographique pour orchestre: “Through whirling clouds, waltzing couples may be fairly distinguished. The clouds gradually scatter: one sees…
The orchestral version of Pelleas et Melisande is used to illustrate Gabriel Faure’s lilting Sicilienne rhythm – listen for the prominence of the harp and flute in this Chat!
A composer will sometimes create a melody that is so beautiful, so haunting, that it just stands out as one of the best melodies ever. This was the case when…
A few blog posts ago I let some of you in on ‘conductor humor.’ I say ‘some of you’ because there are undoubtedly ‘others of you’ who may have already…
I was thrilled when I finished listening to your second episode of my favorite piece of music. I always got emotional when I ‘heard’ the second movement of Beethoven’s Seventh [Symphony], but this time I was deeply touched as I could do much more than just ‘hearing’, I could finally ‘listen’ to Beethoven!