Heike Matthiesen, the German classical guitarist, passed away last Friday (December 22) following a battle with cancer. She was 59. Born into a musical family, Matthiesen began studying the piano at the age of 4, and switched to the guitar at 18. After only one year of study, she entered Frankfurt College of Music and Dramatic Arts. Later, she became a masterclass student of Pepe Romero. Matthiesen went on to an international …
During his 26-year tenure as music director of the Seattle Symphony (between 1983 and 2011), Gerard Schwarz championed a segment of the orchestral repertoire which remains somewhat neglected. It is the mid-twentieth century symphonic music of American composers such as Howard Hanson, David Diamond, Paul Creston, Walter Piston, and Alan Hovhaness. When Schwarz came to Richmond a few seasons ago, I let him know that a handful of his recordings, featuring this …
Rejoice, O Virgin (Ave Maria) forms the sixth movement of Sergei Rachmaninov’s All-Night Vigil, Op. 37 (also known as the “Vespers”). Scored for a cappella chorus, the All-Night Vigil was composed over the course of two weeks in January and February of 1915. It has been called “the greatest musical achievement of the Russian Orthodox Church.” The monumental liturgical work, completed during the First World War, represents the culmination of a sacred musical tradition …
As dean of the Second Viennese School, Arnold Schoenberg was one of the twentieth century’s greatest exponents of atonal music. Yet, Schoenberg resisted dogma. Long after developing his twelve-tone system, he asserted that “there is still much good music to be written in C major.” Weihnachtsmusik (“Christmas Music”) is one of the rare pieces in which Schoenberg embraces the tonal consonance of C major. Composed in 1921, the brief fantasia is scored for …
Charles Ives (1874-1954) led a fascinating duel life as a Yale-educated insurance executive and a maverick composer. By the age of 14, Ives was also a professional church organist. Between 1889 and 1902, he “held a series of six posts as an organist or organist-choir master at Congregational, Baptist, Episcopal, and Presbyterian churches in Danbury, New Haven, Bloomfield (New Jersey), and New York.” (James B. Sinclair) The virtuosity of his organ playing …
In 1915, German armies occupied much of France, and Paris fell under aerial bombardment via Zeppelin airships and mono and biplanes. Throughout Europe, civilians were displaced. In December of 1915, Claude Debussy composed the brief popular song, Noël des enfants qui n’ont plus de maison (“Christmas for Children Who No Longer Have a Home”). The raging words, also written by Debussy, form a prayer for French children, orphans, and the homeless. It …
In Finnish mythology, Luonnotar is the female spirit of nature, and the daughter of the heavens. Also known as Ilmatar, she is at the center of the creation story which is told in Cantos 1 of the Kalevala, the Finnish national epic. Lonely and bored, Luonnotar floats aimlessly for centuries in a vast, celestial void, before dropping into the primal ocean. Following a mighty tempest, the goddess’ boredom is alleviated when a …