In this article, we highlight nineteen powerful voices in our musical community. Their voices and stories are essential parts of the tapestry of our musical lives. We invite you to carry their music and stories with you, today and every day.
Photo courtesy of Chari Glogovac-Smith’s website
In this article, we highlight three trans women of color who are turning the classical music world on its ear. May we learn from their stories and lift up their voices.
Photo courtesy of the GLAAD website.
Some of classical music’s most charming repertoire has been music for, or about, children. Some classics, like Schumann’s Kinderszenen and Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, are familiar favorites with audiences of all ages. In this list, we’ll explore a few familiar children’s pieces, as well as some lesser-known gems inspired by young people.
This piece is dedicated to the unsung champions of classical music: the friends and encouragers who have come together to help the arts thrive. In this list, we’ll meet arts patrons, composers’ roommates, community leaders, aunts, teachers, choir directors, and letter writers. Each, in their own way, gave the support that was needed for music to flourish.
Many people are at home right now – working from home, studying at home, isolating at home. Have you wondered what self-isolation would have looked like for classical composers? Let’s explore some historical images and meet some Composers at Home.
Today we call them art songs, but when this specific genre first appeared in the late 18th century, they were simply “songs,” nearly always scored for what is now a classic combination: piano and voice. At the time, the Industrial Revolution was helping to create a new class of music lovers. The new Middle Class was wealthy enough to want access to musical entertainment at home, but not wealthy enough to hire live-in court musicians like the aristocratic classes. What they could afford was the perfect new domestic instrument: the piano.
The ability to play the piano and sing became a status symbol for middle and upper middle class families, especially among women (as you might know from the novels of Jane Austen or the Brontë sisters). This made home music a lucrative market for composers. The earliest Lieder [pronounced “leader”], or German art songs, were written for voice and simple piano accompaniment, so that home musicians could accompany themselves or their friends at the piano.
Throughout the 19th century, the genre of art song developed into a sophisticated art form for the concert stage as well as for the home. However, in one sense, it’s never abandoned its domestic beginnings: most art songs are still scored for voice and piano. In this post, we’ll take a lightning tour of art song history, featuring a few of the countless great works in this genre. In addition to the videos, click on the text links to listen to a few more art songs.
Classical music has stood the test of time for many reasons, its beauty, complexity, and the vastness of repertoire have inspired audiences for hundreds of years. Within classical music, there are several pieces that have become iconic through use in special events such as graduations, weddings, classic films, and even cartoons! In this list, we’ll take a closer look at just a handful of the many iconic pieces of classical music.
This piece by Bach might not have the catchiest title, but we guarantee you’ll know the famous opening. It has become associated with intense or even scary moments in film and popular culture, perhaps because it famously made an appearance in the opening credits of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931). Bach’s extraordinary talent and powerful compositional voice are on full display in his Toccata and Fugue in D minor, the first on our list of some of the most iconic classical music compositions ever written.
Video Performance by Xaver Varnus.
This piece was never published during Beethoven’s lifetime. In fact, “Für Elise” wasn’t even discovered until forty years after his death in 1827. As a result, no one’s quite sure who the Elise of the title was. Some musicologists even think the title might have been copied incorrectly and it was originally called ”Für Therese.” But no matter the identity of the fortunate beneficiary of this work’s dedication, we can all agree that it’s one of the most charming compositions for piano ever written. With its simple yet catchy melody and timeless beauty, Beethoven’s Bagatelle No. 25 in A minor has inspired countless reinterpretations.
Video Performance by Georgii Cherkin.
In contrast to “Für Elise,” the Moonlight Sonata became a popular favorite during Beethoven’s lifetime and remains one of the most beloved compositions of his life’s work to this day. Beethoven wrote his Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp Minor in his early thirties and dedicated it to Countess Giulietta Guicciardi, who studied piano with the composer. If you’ve ever taken piano lessons, been with someone taking piano lessons, or even just tried your hand at the keys to make some familiar music, you probably know the opening to the Moonlight Sonata very well.
Video Performance by Andrea Romano.
This symphony by Beethoven opens with perhaps the four most famous notes of all time – known to many simply as: da da da duuum!. Some critics have suggested that this opening represents the sound of Fate knocking at the door. We can’t know for sure what Beethoven had in mind when he wrote this timeless opening to his Symphony No. 5 in C minor – but what’s beyond a shadow of a doubt is that this piece easily ranks in the top 10 most iconic, reaching beyond its genre and making an appearance in films, advertising, and even pop songs.
Video Performance by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.
This piece is Beethoven’s final complete symphony. It was first performed in Vienna in 1824 and continues to be performed all over the world. The 9th Symphony marked the first time a major composer added voices to a symphony, opening a new door for creative expression and giving the human voice new power and placement as an instrument that belongs among the finest orchestra members, in the grandest compositions. Lots of listeners feel Beethoven “saved the best for last”, with the symphony’s final movement based on the Ode to Joy. Whatever your favorite moment is, it’s clear that Beethoven’s Choral Symphony is groundbreaking, powerful, and truly iconic.
Video Performance by London Symphony Orchestra.
When a thirty-something Charles Gounod decided to improvise a melody for the “Ave Maria” text, he designed it to be superimposed over a well-established keyboard piece: Prelude No. 1 in C major, BWV 846, from Book I of J.S. Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier. Written for solo voice and piano, Gounod’s “Ave Maria” is also frequently performed in a wide array of instrumental arrangements. We think this composition is a stunning example of how borrowing from one of the best, and repurposing with great talent and thoughtfulness, can result in something both new and familiar, and altogether extraordinary.
Video Performance by Maria Callas.
It is difficult to put into words just what makes Handel’s Messiah iconic. This Baroque oratorio, originally composed to be performed in celebration of the Christian Easter holiday, is now a near-permanent fixture during the Christmas season as well, and its artistic power expands well beyond any specific holiday or faith. From its memorable melodies to its celebrated choruses, Messiah is a grand and radiant display of the power of classical music to move humanity, and share stories as no other art form can.
Video performance by Choir of King’s College, Cambridge.
The incandescently brilliant Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed music for 30 of his 35 years, and today his name is known by nearly everyone in the world. Eine kleine Nachtmusik (A Little Night Music) is arguably his most recognizable work, especially its first movement. Outside of the concert hall and classical recordings, you’re likely to hear it pacifying phone users on hold and to sell a dizzying array of products. With his infamous sense of humor, the composer may have had quite a laugh at this!
Video performance by Slovak Chamber Orchestra.
Known even in his day as “The Waltz King”, Johann Strauss is a somewhat example of a classical composer who attained the equivalent of modern rock-star acclaim in his lifetime. The Blue Danube* is the best-known of his works—a significant ranking as Strauss’ written repertoire includes 500+ pieces of dance music (waltzes, polkas, quadrilles, etc.) plus several operettas and a ballet. But even casual listeners unfamiliar with the composer will recognize this piece as the epitome of a waltz—and so we also rank it among the top ten most iconic pieces.
* aka An der schönen, blauen Donau (On the Beautiful Blue Danube), Op. 314
Video performance by Zubin Mehta & the Vienna Philharmonic.
Richard and Johann Strauss were not related, but they share a posthumous debt to Stanley Kubrick, who included Johann’s most famous piece (see above) and Richard Strauss’ Einleitung (Introduction) in the soundtrack of his now-iconic 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey. Since the film, The Einleitung* has been widely used in pop culture and advertising. It can’t be denied that this is some of the most compelling and engaging music ever written—but it is only the beginning of an astounding musical experience.
* aka Einleitung, oder Sonnenaufgang
Video performance by the New York Philharmonic.
Elgar: Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1
Pachelbel: Canon in D
Tchaikovsky: Nutcracker Suite
Vivaldi: The Four Seasons
Wagner: “Ride of the Valkyries”
Countless musicians have been inspired by nature, and many have left us quotations describing their feelings for the natural world. Here is a collection of seven quotes about nature from classical composers, paired with compositions that reflect their love of the natural world.
“Music and poetry have ever been acknowledg’d Sisters, which walking hand in hand, support each other; As Poetry is the harmony of Words, so Musick is that of Notes; and as Poetry is a Rise above Prose and Oratory, so is Musick the exaltation of Poetry. Both of them may excel apart, but sure they are most excellent when they are join’d…”
Henry Purcell wrote that in 1650, reflecting on vocal music. But poetry has often been a supporting sister for purely instrumental music as well, especially in the Romantic era, when instrumental composers were fascinated with extra-musical inspiration. Here are seven compositions for instruments which were inspired by poetry.
The Miró Quartet, who visited Portland in February hosted by Chamber Music NW, is celebrating the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth with the release of the complete string quartets. They began around 2005 with the Opus 18 (Beethoven’s first published set), recording them at the same age the composer was when he wrote them, in other words, their late twenties.
While they realized it might not be practical to wait until they were in their 50s and 60s to finish the Opus 135, violinist Daniel Ching and violist John Largess do share the story of how they went about recording the complete set, as well as shedding light on America’s early encounters with the string quartet repertoire through several trailblazing groups of the early 20th century.
Beethoven: Complete String Quartets / Miro Quartet: BUY NOW
