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.
In their late years, Gilbert and Sullivan weren’t as successful as they had been in their early years. Yet, their legacy still lives on and even over a century later, their music keeps reappearing, often with new lyrics.
In 1808 Sébastien Erard registered a patent that fundamentally changed piano construction forever. As hammers had become more massive, they produced a much heavier touch for the performer. As such, the ability to repeat notes was severely impacted and the
The heart of Russia is its capital, Moscow. Home to some of the most important conservatories in the country, Moscow has been a musical inspiration to both orchestral and choral composers through the ages. As a musical center, it has
Gilbert and Sullivan’s next opera made its surprising debut in New York, rather than London, in an attempt to secure American copyright, which at that time was rather a pirate industry of itself. The Pirates of Penzance opened on New
During the first half of the 19th century, Gioachino Rossini was recognized as the greatest Italian composer of his time. No other composer enjoyed his prestige, popular acclaim and artistic influence in the world of opera. And as we all
Shanghai – the beautiful city on the Yangtze River – was one of the first major cities of China opened to the West in 1842 and seems to have always had one foot firmly in China while, at the same
It’s of some tribute to librettist W.S. Gilbert (1836-1911) and composer Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900) that 140 years after their first comic operas hit the stage, we can still find a great deal of humour in their works and many of
When Ludwig, or Louis Spohr (1784-1859) died at the age of 75, Johannes Brahms lamented that the last of the great masters had died. This seems high praise indeed for a composer whose posthumous neglect is shockingly at odds with
