According to Shostakovich: “Rimsky-Korsakov used to say that he refused to acknowledge any complaints from composers about their hard lot in life. He explained his position thus: Talk to a bookkeeper and he’ll start complaining about life and his work. Work has ruined him, it’s so dull and boring. You see, the bookkeeper had planned […]
Rimsky-Korsakov on the “hardship” of the composer’s life Read More »
Reprising this post about the early death of Franz Schubert, the great lyrical composer of the early nineteenth century. He died at age 31. While his music is usually too melancholy for my taste, what a sadness. Franz was lucky to get that many years. Biographer Christoper Gibbs reports that Schubert’s parents had fourteen children
Franz Schubert’s early death Read More »
Reprising this charming anecdote about his commitment to music, as reported by cellist Yulian Poplavsky, who knew Tchaikovsky at the time: The event was a performance of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Spanish Capriccio, which was to be conducted by the composer himself in a concert for the Russian Musical Society. The great Tchaikovsky was in attendance for the
Tchaikovsky’s musical magnanimity Read More »
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born into a highly musical family. His father was was a skilled violinist and his older sister played the clavier excellently, so from his infancy he was surrounded by music. Yet, as he wrote in a letter to a friend, that was supplemented by deep study. “it is a mistake to
How Great Artists become Great: Mozart version Read More »
What a good song — and new to me: Lesley Gore’s “You Don’t Own Me”: You don’t own me I’m not just one of your many toys You don’t own me Don’t say I can’t go with other boys And don’t tell me what to do Don’t tell me what to say And please, when
Lesley Gore’s “You Don’t Own Me” (1964) Read More »
Most movements consistently exhibit a destructive social psychology. The dynamic is this: a movement’s members begin with a huge amount in common — the same high talent, goals, and passions. But any difference, sometimes minor, sets them against each other ferociously and irreparably. The dynamic crops up in many movements across history — political (e.g.,
Movement splits and hatreds — a music example Read More »
When he became an American citizen in 1943, Sergei Rachmaninoff said: “This is the only place on earth where a human being is respected for what he is and what he does, and it does not matter who he is and where he came from.” Related: “How Rachmaninoff’s composing was hurt by the Soviet Union.”
Rachmaninoff upon becoming an American citizen Read More »
From an account of the famous meeting of the two giants in 1812: Beethoven’s manners were described as rough, like “an unlicked bear,” while “Goethe’s social attitudes were shaped in a more formal age. For Beethoven, 21 years his junior, the only true aristocrats were artists. In the mythology, his disillusionment was clinched by Goethe’s
Goethe versus Beethoven on deference to aristocrats Read More »