Prokofiev’s Sinfonia Concertante: A Grand Hybrid for Cello and Orchestra

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The Sinfonia Concertante, Op. 125 (or Symphony-Concerto for Cello and Orchestra, as it is also known), was among the last orchestral works composed by Sergei Prokofiev. The dramatic, spirited musical hybrid was conceived at a time when Prokofiev faced declining health and professional adversity. In 1948, he was censured, along with other prominent composers, by the Central Committee of the Communist Party for writing music “marked with formalist perversions…alien to the Soviet …

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Beethoven’s Egmont Overture: The Heroic Struggle for Liberty

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In 1809, Beethoven received a commission to compose incidental music for the belated Vienna premiere of Johann Wolfgang Goethe’s Egmont. The tragic play, set in five acts, freely interpreted the heroic exploits of the sixteenth century Count Egmont, a Dutch politician and soldier who championed the liberation of the Netherlands from the autocratic rule of imperial Spain. As a consequence of his actions, Egmont was imprisoned and beheaded in 1568. Yet, his martyrdom …

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Pavel Karmanov’s “Different…Rains”: Music for Flute, Piano, and Tape

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Steve Reich’s Different Trains for string quartet and tape, composed in 1988, is a seminal work of American minimalism. It is music which is simultaneously in motion and at stasis. On one level, we sense the forward rush of passenger trains connecting New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles during the 1930s. On another level, we can imagine the time-altering hypnotic blur of the incessantly passing countryside from the window. The Russian composer and …

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Remembering Ron Nelson

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The American composer Ron Nelson, who wrote numerous works for wind ensemble, as well as for orchestra and chorus, passed away on December 24, 2023. He was 94. Leonard Slatkin once called Nelson a “quintessential American composer,” and praised his “ability to move between conservative and newer styles with ease,” adding, “The fact that he’s a little hard to categorize is what makes him interesting.” Born in Joliet, Illinois, Nelson studied with …

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“Sorry, Wrong Number”: An Excerpt from Franz Waxman’s Film Noir Score

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Released in the autumn of 1948, Sorry, Wrong Number is a classic film noir thriller, filled with shadowy, atmospheric shots, and gradually building tension. The film’s plot centers around Leona Stevenson (Barbara Stanwyck), a spoiled hypochondriac and heiress who is bedridden in her New York apartment, and who relies on the telephone for all communication with the outside world. Leona’s husband Henry (Burt Lancaster), a businessman employed by Leona’s father’s company, becomes increasingly …

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Remembering Heike Matthiesen

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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 …

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Hanson’s Symphony No. 2, “Romantic”: Gerard Schwarz and the Seattle Symphony (Concert Recording)

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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 …

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