Normally the Classics a Day theme for May involved May Day (#SovietaDay). Having a theme centered around social distancing/self-quarantine seemed more appropriate. The challenge for May is post works for unusual solo instruments or works about solitude. Here are my selections for the final week of #ClassicalDistancing 05/25/20 Krzysztof Penderecki (1933-2020) – Cadenza for solo […]
Ludwig van Beethoven
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Early Beethoven cantatas hint at greatness
The Emporer is dead, long live the Emporer. In 1790 a nineteen-year-old Ludwig van Beethoven was commissioned to write two cantatas. The first was an elegy for Emperor Joseph II. The second for Leopold II, who inherited the throne. Maestro Leif Segerstam presents both works. It continues Naxos’s series of Beethoven choral works. Apparently, the […]
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#ClassicsaDay #ClassicalEleven Week 1
Numbers have meaning. But meaning can depend on context. The Classics a Day team made “eleven” the theme for November, the eleventh month. The challenge is to post performances of classical music that involve the number. I chose a mix. Some pieces involve eleven players. Some are the eleventh type of piece by a composer. […]
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Victor Rosenbaum gives mature insights into Beethoven
Victor Rosenbaum performs an engaging program of Beethoven piano music for Bridge Records. This is his third release with the label, and it’s a great partnership. Bridge knows how to record the piano to capture its natural warmth. The recordings are clean, with just enough room ambiance to make the recording sound natural, as if […]
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Beethoven: The Relentless Revolutionary
Ludwig van Beethoven, for some listeners perhaps the greatest of all composers, is an enduringly fascinating subject for biographers. A new biography of the composer, Beethoven: The Relentless Revolutionary by 19th Century cultural historian John Clubbe adds to the pile. His study departs from the musicological approach of Maynard Solomon, whose Beethoven (Schirmer 1977) remains a […]
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#ClassicsaDay #ClassicalSummer Week 5
It was a busy summer for the Classics a Day team. In June, we marked African-American Music Appreciation Month. In July we celebrated national holidays in the U.S. and Canada. So that just left August to have a summer theme. For my part, I chose to choose anything except Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons.” In the process, […]
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#ClassicsaDay #ClassicalSpring Week 1
For January 2019 the #ClassicsaDay team made #ClassicalWinter then theme. It seemed only right to continue the trend and celebrate Spring. So for April 2019, everyone is encouraged to share classical works inspired by the season. Some famous pieces may readily come to mind, such as the “Spring” movement from Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons,” or Copland’s “Appalachian […]
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#ClassicsaDay #FamousLastWorks Week 1
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 #ClassicalNine Week 2
September is the ninth month of the year. And so the #ClassicsaDay team decided to make the number the theme. For September 2018, the challenge is to post classical works that have to do with the number nine. I chose to alternate between nonets, opus nine compositions, and works with a catalog number of nine. […]