by Barry Lenson | Feb 16, 2025 | Benjamin Britten, British Music
By Barry Lenson The British composer Benjamin Britten wrote a remarkably large and varied body of music. His compositions range from the simply delightful Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra to the ravishingly beautiful Spring Symphony to the emotionally...
by Barry Lenson | Feb 3, 2025 | Dmitri Shostakovich, Soviet Music
By Barry Lenson Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was born on September 25, 1906, in Saint Petersburg, Russia. He entered the Saint Petersburg Conservatory at 13, where he studied composition with Alexander Glazunov. Shostakovich spent his life not only composing music...
by Barry Lenson | Jan 27, 2025 | Robert Schumann
By Barry Lenson Clara Schumann, as you almost certainly know, was the wife of the composer Robert Schumann, who lived from 1810 until 1856. You probably also know that Clara was one of the finest pianists of her era. But you might not know that she was an...
by Barry Lenson | Jan 27, 2025 | Fanny Mendelssohn
By Barry Lenson We recently profiled Clara Schumann, a supremely gifted composer who was married to Robert Schumann. Today, we would like to turn our attention to Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel, another astonishingly talented woman composer who stood in the shadow of...
by Barry Lenson | Jan 24, 2025 | Contemporary American Music, Jennifer Higdon
By Barry Lenson We find it reassuring that young Americans are still deciding to become composers. It is more wonderful still that at least one of these younger Americans, Jennifer Higdon, is composing works that are so well-crafted, beautiful, and often profound. Ms....
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