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.
Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini Contemporary young composers of classical music are frequently taken to task for placing marketability and profit orientation above artistic integrity and compositional skill. In reality, however, placing the emphasis on the profitability of
Although Jean-Philippe Rameau had established a solid reputation as a teacher, organist and theorists, his musical fortune rested squarely on the shoulders of Alexandre-Jean-Joseph Le Riche de la Pouplinière. A leading patron of music in France, La Pouplinière was fabulously
What if you had not 2 or 3 trumpets, the normal complement for an orchestra, but 12 trumpets? Well, then you’d write the Sinfonietta. The Sinfonietta, completed in 1926, was the last orchestral work by Czech composer Leoš Janáček. Now
Voltaire rightfully called Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764) “le premier musicien de France.” Simultaneously looking backward and forward over French musical history, Rameau’s compositions uniquely capture the spirit of the Enlightenment. In all, Rameau published four books of keyboard music. The collections
Franz Liszt famously proclaimed that instrumental music attempting to communicate or carry meanings, messages or concepts that originate from outside music itself, do need to carry a narrative or descriptive program in order to be understood. This program, essentially a
Richard Wagner was never shy to freely give his advice and opinions on god, himself and the world, no matter if you wanted them or not. On occasion, he personally swung into action and physically defended his convictions. In 1848,
Parlour music became hugely popular in the 19th century. As the name implies, it was frequently performed by amateur singers and pianists in the parlours of middle-class homes. The music itself was disseminated as sheet music, and the text commonly
The run-up to the United States presidential election of 1844 was dominated by the controversial issue of slavery expansion through the annexation of the Republic of Texas. The Democratic Party was looking to expand America’s territory by any means. In
