A Belated Valentine
The creation of emotional tension and the release of it is a common aesthetic goal among all composers of wordless, abstract music. The moment of greatest emotional intensity in a…
Symphony
Gentle Goodbyes
The first and final movements of many symphonies and concertos end with a bang! “Send them home on a high note!” But that is not universally the case. George Marriner…
The Joke’s On Us
Have you ever attended a symphony orchestra concert or chamber music recital, when suddenly the person next to you began to chuckle or laugh under their breath. You may have…
3-2-1 Blast Off
The psychological skill of elaboration – the ability to develop an idea or create variations of an idea – is explored in the Finale of Symphony No. 3 by Camille…
Scared ya Didn’t I?
Composer Johannes Brahms knew well the shock effect of sudden dynamic changes. George Marriner Maull exposes this Brahms trait as found in Movement 4 of Brahms’s Symphony No. 2. Inside…
This has been an incredible series. I could take in SO much more than I could at the beginning ones. You have really trained my ears!!! I have been enjoying classical music for more than 60 years (as a child my parents played classical music at dinner and we guessed the composer) but I NEVER knew how to listen before!