Unconscious bursts of creativity that engender significant artistic endeavors are not necessarily inspired by passionate romantic love alone. Greek mythology believed that this kind of stimulus came from nine muses, the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. Muses were long considered the source of knowledge embodied in poetry, lyric songs and ancient myths. Throughout the history of Western art, artists, writers and musicians have prayed to the muses, or alternately, drawn inspiration from personified muses that conceptually reside beyond the borders of earthly love. True to life, however, composer inspiration has emerged from the entire spectrums of existence and being. Nature has always played a decidedly important role in the inspiration of various classical composers, as did exotic cities, landscapes or rituals. Composer inspiration is also found in poetry, the visual arts, and mythological stories and tales. Artistic, historical or cultural expressions of the past are just as inspirational as is the everyday: the third Punic War or the contrapuntal mastery of Bach is inspirationally just as relevant as are the virulent bat and camel. Composer inspiration is delightfully drawn from heroes and villains, scientific advances, a pet, or something as mundane as a hangover. Discover what fires the imagination of people who never stop asking questions.
The next Covid-19 mutation is starting to rear its ugly spike. Depressingly, Omicron comes at a time when we thought that things were finally starting to look up. Every time I am looking forward to a little holiday under a
Johannes Brahms was well connected. He befriended and collaborated with hundreds of people during his career, including fellow musicians and composers, publishers and artists, poets whose texts he set to music, and even rulers of certain German states with whom
If you’re not a cat person, perhaps dogs are your home animal of choice. Known for their love and faithfulness to their owners, dogs are also work animals for some people. In this survey of dog music, where does your
For the 7th birthday of his daughter Marie, Robert Schumann compiled a short album of “Little Piano Pieces.” Once he had gotten that process started, Schumann kept adding miniatures to the collection. His wife Clara Schumann wrote in her diary,
Zeus sent out two eagles and where their paths crossed was the center of the world. At that center, Delphi the Oracle, made her pronouncements. You could seek guidance from her, but the interpretation of what she said was up
Gerard Schurmann: The Gambler Suite The Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist, and journalist Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821-1881) had a serious gambling addiction. Like a good many gamblers, he believed that he had found the secret to winning at the tables.
Ralph Vaughan Williams’ quintessential work for violin and for the summer is The Lark Ascending. We are so familiar with its trilling and rising skylark, personified by the violin, who takes flight above a quiet chamber orchestra. Vaughan was inspired
The American composer and pianist John Woods Duke (1899-1984) might not be a household name, but he was certainly one of the most talented composers of art song in the 20th century. Duke was fascinated by the “strange and marvelous
