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.
Ferruccio Busoni (1866-1924) famously claimed that Schiller’s translation of Carlo Gozzi’s dramatic fairy-tale Turandot in conjunction with Carl Maria von Weber’s incidental music “ruined a masterpiece of Italian literature.” With the centennial of Gozzi’s death on the horizon in 1906,
Franz Liszt first met Hector Berlioz a few months after the July Revolution. He attended the first performance of Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique in the company of the composer on 5 December 1830. Almost immediately, Liszt started work on his piano
The Indian mystic poet and saint Kabir is believed to have lived between 1398 and 1448. His writings, according to some scholars, are known “for being critical of both Hinduism and Islam.” He suggested, “True God is with the person
The opening song in Franz Schubert’s song cycle Die schöne Müllerin is the lively and distinctive “Das Wandern” where our hero journey-man miller sings as he walks along a stream, appreciating all that he sees and hears. It’s a simple
We are so familiar with a work such as Vivaldi’s Spring Concerto from The Four Seasons. As a violin concerto, it provides the violin with the opportunity to show off the player’s virtuoso skills. We’ve heard it and, dare I
I am sure you have heard numerous piano students slugging their way through the final movement of George Frideric Handel’s Suite No. 5 in E major. This particular movement has gained notoriety because it carries the imaginative nickname “The Harmonious
Franz Liszt was the greatest piano virtuoso of his time; possibly the greatest of all time! His sensational technique and captivating concert personality turned him into the ultimate rock star of the 19th century. However, this notoriety also created uncertainty,
In his 1912 work for voice and ensemble, Arnold Schoenberg created what has turned out to be one of the most copied small mixed ensemble in 20th century music. The group he put together for Pierrot lunaire, consisted of flute,
