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.
American composer Victoria Bond (b. 1945) took three cards from a tarot deck and wove a work for small ensemble and dancers around it. Commissioned by Kathryne Pirtle and the Orion Ensemble in collaboration with choreographer Daniel Duell, artistic director
Fans of the Royal Family were once again over the moon in May 2019. Enthusiasts around the world celebrated the birth of the newest Royal Baby named Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor. The son of Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and
Carl Loewe was strongly attracted to poetry reflecting an oriental influence. And he took a particular liking to a collection of books by the German writer Heinrich Wilhelm Stieglitz (1801-1849). The son of a wealthy Jewish merchant, Stieglitz had published
Glenn Gould catapulted to international stardom and iconic fame with his inventive and energetic interpretations of Bach But when he did his Beethoven crossovers, his idiosyncratic and sometimes outlandish interpretations were considered “questionable.” For Gould, “Beethoven always sounded like the
In 1887, Spanish composer Isaac Albéniz brought together a number of works for solo piano that he’d written the previous year and created his Suite Española No. 1, Op. 47. The works take the entire country for their inspiration, with
Composers tend to be a peculiar lot, particularly as it pertains to the best and most conducive circumstances in which they compose their best music. Of course, reports of that nature tend to be highly anecdotal, but more often then
When you think of the music of Aaron Copland, you think of light. Open vistas. Cowboys. Cowgirls. Pure Americanisms. But in the early 1920s, Copland was in Paris, starting to write his first orchestral music. He and his roommate, the
If you are ever looking for a refined and sophisticated synthesis of jazz and classical music born from improvisation one name immediately comes to mind—Jacques Loussier (1934-2019). A conservatoire-trained pianist, Loussier created a veritable sensation in 1959 by establishing a
