Classical Music Playlist, July 17, 2024It was 307 years ago today, July 17, 1717, that Handel’s “Water Music” was first performed as entertainment for the King as he floated down the River Thames and back. All three suites of the COMPLETE “Water Music” are today's Midday Masterpiece.
Classical Music Playlist, August 4, 2023Winning high praise from the audience at its premiere, from fellow composers, musicians and even authors, Gabriel Fauré’s early Violin Sonata No. 1 is today’s Midday Masterpiece.
Classical Music Playlist, August 3, 2023Intending "a suggestion of times past, the beautiful gardens of Aranjuez, its fountains, its trees, its birds," as its blind composer Joaquín Rodrigo imagined it, the Concierto de Aranjuez is today’s Midday Masterpiece.
Classical Music Playlist, August 2, 2023"Harmoniemusik" was a genre of light music Serenades for winds typically played in the background at events. But Mozart’s Serenade No. 12 for an octet of winds is in a darker minor key atypical for the genre. It's today's Midday Masterpiece.
Classical Music Playlist, August 1, 2023Johannes Brahms was reluctant to compose his first symphony and be judged against Beethoven, to whom he had been compared. So he started off with music for his own instrument: his Piano Concerto No. 1. It’s today’s Midday Masterpiece.
Classical Music Playlist, July 31, 2023Just as Felix Mendelssohn composed his "Scottish" Symphony #3 after exploring Scotland, after wandering through Italy he wrote his “Italian” Symphony #4 which includes tuneful traditional Italian dances. The "Italian" is today’s Midday Masterpiece.
Classical Music Playlist, July 28, 2023Inspired by an exhibition of his artist-friend’s artworks on display after his sudden death, Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky composed his suite “Pictures at an Exhibition.” It’s today’s Midday Masterpiece.
Classical Music Playlist, July 27, 2023Hungarian composer Ernst von Dohnányi was born on this date in 1877. To mark his birthday, we’ll play his final chamber work, written in 1935 with its spirited and jazzy finale, for today’s Midday Masterpiece.
Classical Music Playlist, July 26, 2023Finnish composer Jean Sibelius’s First symphony from the late 1890s may be his statement against Russian efforts to absorb Finland into its Empire, happening at the time. The Sibelius Symphony #1 is today’s Midday Masterpiece.
Classical Music Playlist, July 25, 2023Composed in the last year of his life when he knew he was facing a fatal illness, the cheerful and spirit-lifting Piano Trio No.1 by Franz Schubert is today’s Midday Masterpiece.
Classical Music Playlist, July 24, 2023Innovator Beethoven opens his Piano Concerto No. 4 with a solo piano; and not even dramatically, but “softly, sweetly” as he noted in the score. It’s today’s Midday Masterpiece.