This marks the third year running that the Classics a Day team made Christmas music the December theme. I guess that makes it a tradition. When it comes to the music of the season, there’s plenty to choose from. Since the 1100s composers have written sacred music for Advent and Christmas — and plenty of […]
Edward Elgar
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#ClassicsaDay #ArmisticeClassics Week 3
November 19, 2018, is the 100th anniversary of the Armistice that ended the First World War. The #ClassicaDay team asked participants to post classical works related to the conflict. For my part, I tried to find examples from both sides of the war, and from as many different countries as possible. Here are my posts […]
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#ClassicsaDay #FamousLastWorks Week 3
For the month of October, the #ClassicsaDay team (of which I’m a part), decided to go with a Halloween theme. The idea is to share works marked in some way with the composer’s demise. It can be the last piece a composer completed before death, or one left incomplete at death. For my part, I […]
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#ClassicsaDay #Opus1 Annotated List Week 3
I’m a regular contributor to the #ClassicsaDay Twitter feed. For January 2018, I decided to mark the first month of the new year with firsts. Each post features the first published work of a different composer. Emphasis on the word “published,” In some cases, the Opus 1 is the first mature work of the […]
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Raunächte – The Twelve Nights after Christmas Drawn in Pastels
For Americans, the Twelve Days of Christmas means turtledoves, drummers drumming and five golden rings. But for Northern Europeans, that time between Christmas day and Epiphany (January 6) is when winter weather is often harshest. Yet it’s also a time of hope. Raunächte collects twelve works that exemplify that spirit of hope “in the bleak […]
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An operatic Dream of Gerontius
Sir Andrew Davis has performed “The Dream of Gerontius” with these same forces in live performance. And that may be why this recording sounds so organic. Sarah Connolly, Stuart Skelton, and David Soar sound like they’ve all settled into their roles, and the duets seem sometimes almost conversational. Davis’ vision of Elgar’s massive work leans […]