The ‘Rhenish’ was Schumann’s last symphony (the symphony we know as No. 4 was actually written after No. 1), and is general regarded as his brightest and most abandoned: at this stage he had made the decision to move away from academic, keyboard-bound composition to a freer, more spontaneous method of developing musical ideas in … Read more
Mahler was a Bohemian-Austrian composer and conductor, and was best known during his own lifetime as one of the leading orchestral and operatic conductors of the day. He has since come to be acknowledged as among the most important post-romantic composers. Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 was written in 1901 and 1902, mostly during the summer … Read more
Along with Janacek and Smetana, Dvorak is regarded as one of the great nationalist Czech composers of the 19th Century. He has earned worldwide admiration and prestige for Czech music with his 9 symphonies, chamber music, oratorios, songs, piano works and his operas. Although no child prodigy, he showed an early aptitude for music, mastering … Read more
Gustav Mahler was born in July 1860 at Kalischt, Bohemia (now Kaliste, Czechoslovakia). He was the son of a Moravian-Jewish merchant and distiller and his early years were ones of extreme poverty. He began learning the piano at the age of 6 and gave his first public recital in 1870. He studied briefly in Prague … Read more
Yes! It was written there, and was first performed privately on the 12th June 1778 at the residence of the Ambassador of the Palatine (Mannheim), six days before its successful public debut. This was performed, after a nerve-rackingly bad rehearsal, for the Concert Spirituel, the leading music society in Paris. It was responsible for regular … Read more
For the festivities in Salzburg of mayor Sigmund Haffner’s elevation to the nobility, Mozart received a request from his father Leopold for a new symphony. This was in July 1782 and Mozart was already overloaded with work. The serenade resulting from this request (and written mostly at night) was the foundation of his Symphony No. … Read more
Joseph Anton Bruckner was born at Ansfelden, Upper Austria, the son of the village schoolmaster and organist who early taught the boy the violin and spinet. By the age of ten, the young Bruckner was deputising for his father at the village church. Following his father’s death three years later, he was accepted as a … Read more
The name Bonaparte (not a dedication) appeared at the head of the composer’s manuscript score. Beethoven’s political leanings, and attitude toward Napoleon Bonaparte, have sparked off volumes of writings over the ensuing years. It does appear that he had some respect for the First Consul of France as a symbol of liberty etc.etc., and felt … Read more
Beethoven’s first minor-key symphony was initially sketched in 1804, completed in 1808, and had its first performance at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna on December 22nd of that year. This event was a mammoth all-Beethoven concert that also included his 6th Symphony and Fourth Piano Concerto, two movements from his Mass in C … Read more
Although Haydn’s duties as Kappelmeister kept him busy in the employ of the Prince Nikalaus Esterhazy, this did not prevent his reputation spreading beyond the borders of Austria/Hungary. It was probably in 1784 that he received a commission from the newly-formed Concert de la Loge Olympique Paris, an offshoot of the masonic lodge of the … Read more
