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.
It is somewhat surprising that Prokofiev’s earliest effort in the symphonic genre also became one of his most popular and most frequently programmed works. Composed in 1916/17, Prokofiev subtitled his Symphony No. 1 “Classical.” That nickname was apparently chosen to
The shenanigans of Sir John Falstaff, one of William Shakespeare’s great comic characters, is next in our ten-part series of Shakespeare and music. The portly, vain character appears in Henry IV part 1 and Henry IV part 2 and Merry
The popping of champagne corks on New Year’s Eve is frequently accompanied by the music of Johann Strauss Junior. The undisputed master of the Viennese waltz, he became the most popular musician of his generation. And while many of his
The piano was the prominent vehicle for Sergei Prokofiev’s musical expression. In the tradition of the great piano virtuosos of the 19th century, he was initially looking to impress his audiences with his considerable keyboard skills. Igor Stravinsky attended a
Johannes Brahms considered the poet Johann Mayrhofer “the most serious of all Schubert’s friends.” This complicated man, full of self-hatred and driven by emotions whose violence he could not accept, transferred the conflict-ridden passions of his inner world into powerful
The early career of Ludwig van Beethoven was decisively shaped by the patronage of Count Ferdinand Ernst Gabriel von Waldstein and Prince Joseph František Maximilian Lobkowicz. In fact, without the unquestioning support and friendship from these two individuals, Beethoven’s musical
Although The Tempest, written in 1610, is thought to be one of Shakespeare’s greatest works, it had a lukewarm reception. The subsequent ban on the performance of dramas in the theater in 1642 caused The Tempest to disappear into obscurity.
When Niccolò Jommelli died on 25 August 1774 in Naples, the composer Gennaro Manno organized a magnificent funeral attended by the most prominent musicians and writers in the city. However, since Jommelli was considered one of the most important and
