Charles Tomlinson Griffes, born 9/17/1884, was an American pianist and composer. Charles Griffes is considered the most famous American representative of musical Impressionism. Griffes traveled to Berlin in 1903 to study music at the Stern Conservatory, where he was briefly mentored by composer Engelbert Humperdinck. When Griffes began writing in Berlin, he utilized musical language… Read More
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Happy birthday, Arnold Franz Walter Schoenberg
Arnold Franz Walter Schoenberg (sometimes spelled Schönberg), born 9/13/1874, was an Austrian composer, music theorist, and painter. He moved to the US in 1934. Because he was Jewish, his music was labeled as degenerate music by the Nazi Party around 1938. Schoenberg’s work is considered very influential on 20th century music. His approach polarized three… Read More
Happy birthday, Clara Wieck Schumann
Clara Wieck Schumann, born on 9/13/1819, was considered one of the most distinguished pianists of the 19th century admired by critics and other virtuosos including Chopin and Liszt. Her performing career spanned her entire life from her debut at eight to her death at seventy-six giving well over 2000 recitals. Although she had a tremendous… Read More
Perfect for voice – 9 arias from Bizet’s Les pêcheurs de perles
Georges Bizet’s three act opera, Les pêcheurs de perles, was first performed at the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris in 1863. Les pêcheurs de perles had 18 performances in its initial run. Here are nine arias from Les pêcheurs de perles, with perfect for voice type indications, links to the full IPA text, as well as recommended listening links.… Read More
Happy birthday, Amy Beach
Amy Beach, born 9/05/1867, was an American composer and pianist. She was the first successful American female composer of large-scale art music. As a pianist, she was acclaimed for concerts she gave in the United States and in Germany. She was most popular, however, for her songs, of which she wrote about 150. The words… Read More
Eight arias from Georges Bizet’s opera, Carmen
Georges Bizet’s four act opera, Carmen, was first performed in Paris in 1875. Carmen, written in the opéra comique genre, was considered unconventional at its initial release. Bizet died after its 33rd performance, never realizing the international acclaim this widely-known opera would have. Here are eight arias from Carmen, with perfect for voice type indications, links to… Read More
34 Art Songs, as set by Georges Bizet
Georges Bizet (25 October 1838 – 3 June 1875) was a French composer and pianist during the Romantic Era. Bizet is best known for his final work, Carmen, which is one of the most popular and frequently performed operas of all time. Listen to the audio archives on Georges Bizet’s work at the Library of Congress here.… Read More
Happy birthday, Engelbert Humperdinck
Engelbert Humperdinck, born 9/01/1854, is known today for his opera Hänsel und Gretel. Portions of the opera were first composed to accompany a puppet show; the opera premiered in 1893 with a libretto by his sister Adelheid Wette and conducted by Richard Strauss. Although much of the music is often quoted as from folk music,… Read More