Traditionally, #ClassicalChristmas has been the December theme for Classics a Day. This year, it’s changed slightly — #ClassicalHoliday. The idea was always to encourage folks to share works composed for performance in December. The pieces could be either sacred or secular. But the hashtag #ClassicalChristmas suggested music only for one faith tradition. So new hashtag, […]
Arthur Honegger
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#ClassicsaDay #Classical1921 Week 4
What better way to celebrate a new year than with a look back? In this case, the Classics a Day team decided to go back 100 years. For January 2021 the challenge is to post works that were completed in or recordings released in 1921. It turns out there was quite a lot going on […]
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“Buried Alive” unearths Roaring 20s classics
This release presents three works from the late 1920s. It was a time of reinvention. The First World War swept away the conventions of the Edwardian Age. Composers (and other artists) developed new forms of expression, that incorporated various elements of prewar aesthetics. Arthur Honegger, Othmar Schoeck, and Dmitri Mtropoulous were among them — each […]
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Honegger More Than One-Hit Wonder
Swiss composer Arthur Honegger is basically known for two things: being a member of “Les Six,” and writing Pacific 2-3-1. This release goes a long way towards changing that shallow impression for the better. Arthur Honegger was a consummate craftsman, writing music that was impressionistic, lyrical, full of rich harmonies, and sounded like no one […]
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Cello Concertos by Mid-Century Masters
What if classical music had taken a different turn in the mid-Twentieth century. Cellist Johannes Moser gives us a hint with his latest release of concertos. He presents three works by composers who all wrote in a somewhat tonal style. Paul Hindemith wrote music that he believed to be the logical extension of the works […]