Antonio Bertali’s Chaconne: Fiddling Around in a Baroque Jam Session

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The Italian Baroque composer and violinist Antonio Bertali (1605-1669)  is now little more than a footnote in music history. But during his lifetime, Bertali was a celebrated virtuoso and composer of operas, oratorios, liturgical works, and chamber music. Half of his output has been lost. Born in Verona, Bertali migrated north to Vienna where he was employed by the court of Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II. He is credited with establishing the …

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Brahms’ Variations on a Theme of Paganini: Musical Athleticism

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Niccolò Paganini’s 24th Caprice for solo violin has provided an irresistible blueprint for numerous composers. Most famously, its jaunty, infectious melody inspired the 24 variations of Sergei Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43. Nearly seventy years before Rachmaninov, in 1863, Johannes Brahms composed his own Variations on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 35. The work is organized in two books, each made up of fourteen blazingly athletic variations, and …

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Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini: Virtuosity with a Twinkle in the Eye

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As a musical form, the “theme and variations” is pure fun. For the composer and performer, it can represent the ultimate display of cleverness—as if to say, “listen to what I can do!” We can imagine Mozart, Beethoven, or Schubert showing off at a party with a series of increasingly intricate keyboard variations on a given theme. Sergei Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43 is filled with this kind …

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Janáček’s “Mládi” (Suite for Wind Sextet): A Memory of Youth

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Czech composer Leoš Janáček had just turned 70 when, in July of 1924, he composed the wind sextet, Mládi, JW 7/10 (“Youth”). In a letter to Kamila Stösslová, Janáček described the work as “a kind of memory of youth.” The four movement suite formed a musical reminiscence of his student days at the Augustinian monastery of St Thomas in the old Moravian city of Brno. For Janáček, these formative years were marked …

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Theodore Shapiro’s “Severance” Theme: Haunting and Hypnotic

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In a recent post at his Youtube channel, Everything Music, Rick Beato analyzes the title theme from the hit television series, Severance, composed by Theodore Shapiro. Built on modal harmony, the theme is at once haunting, hypnotic, satisfying, and unsettling. Developing from a small fragment, its tension-filled melodic line is filled with wrenching, exotic intervals. Shapiro drew subtle inspiration from David Shire’s theme for the 1974 film noir thriller, The Conversation, which similarly features …

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Jocelyn Morlock’s “Solace”: Echoes of Josquin

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Born in the St. Boniface ward of Winnipeg, Jocelyn Morlock (1969-2023) was one of Canada’s most prominent composers. Based in Vancouver, she was the inaugural composer-in-residence for the city’s Music on Main Society (2012–14), and later for the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (2014-2019). She described much of her music as being  “inspired by birds, insomnia, or a peculiar combination thereof.” In the 2001 string orchestra work, Solace, the solo violin erupts in exuberant birdsong …

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Haydn’s Symphony No. 83 in G Minor: “The Hen” (La Poule)

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In 1784, Franz Joseph Haydn received a commission to write six symphonies (Nos. 82-87) from the board of directors of the Parisian concert society, the Concert de la Loge Olympique. The orchestra at Haydn’s disposal, which included 40 violins and 10 double basses, was far larger than the chamber ensemble of 25 players at the Esterházy Palace where Haydn was employed. According to musicologist Robbins Landon, “The musicians wore splendid ‘sky-blue’ dress …

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