“Art is not an end in itself, but a means of addressing humanity.”
Modest Mussorgsky
As philosopher Richard Wollheim says, art is “one of the most elusive of the traditional problems of human culture.” In its simplest manifestation, art is a form of communication that serves as a vehicle for the expression of emotions and ideas. As ideas and beliefs are culturally specific and constantly changing over time, there really is no generally agreed definition of what constitutes art. That being said, the classical branches of the visual arts are identified as painting, sculpture and architecture. Literature and poetry are considered part of the humanities or as one of the arts, while music, alongside theatre, film and dance belong to the performing arts. In this section you will discover not only specific explorations of individual art forms, but also a more detailed probing of the relationship between the visual arts and music, including painting and music, sculpture and music and architecture and music. Originally, poetry and music were treated as a unity, but gradually they have become more independent. Nevertheless, the two art forms have never forgotten their shared genetic makeup, and been intertwined for millennia. Art and music have engaged in a dynamic relationship that reveals a diverse range of human activity intended to be appreciated for their beauty.
Sephardic Romances: Traditional Jewish Music from Spain – Avrix mi galanica (Let Me in, My Love) Ya viene el cativo (Now Comes the Prisoner) With the invasion of the Moors in the 8th century, medieval Spain saw a blossoming of
Liszt : Prélude and Fugue on the Name of B.A.C.H Schumann : Six Fugues B-A-C-H, op. 60 During the Classical period of the 18th century, organ music was seldom written, since most composers started to write for the newly invented
The Reformation and Counterreformation of the 16th and 17th centuries had a decisive impact not only on the architecture of the time, moving from the harmony and balance of the Renaissance to the painted heavens, extreme ornamentation and disturbance captured
On my recent European lecture tour, I was fortunate to hear several concerts in magnificent Baroque churches on Baroque organs, including one in the church of the former Cistercian monastery of St. Urban, Switzerland and one in the St. Francis
Liszt : Les Jeux d’eau a la Villa d’Este (1882) Ravel : Jeux d’Eau (1901) Tan Dun : Memories in Watercolor (2003) Debussy : Preludes (1910-1913) – Des pas sur la neige Debussy : Preludes (1910-1913) – Brouillards Debussy :
Eric Satie Parade (1917) Gymnopédies (1893) In their respective fields, Paul Cézanne and Claude Debussy influenced the artists of the early 20th century, which found their counterparts in intellectual circles formed around writers and poets such as Stéphane Mallarmé, Guillaume
Debussy La Mer (1905) Estampes (1903) Prélude à l’après midi d’un faune (1894) The works of the great Romantic musicians, painters and writers contributed not only to Impressionism, one of the most important artistic and cultural evolutions in the mid-
Beethoven Minuet in G Beethoven “Moonlight” Piano Sonata no.14, C sharp Minor Carl Maria von Weber Der Freischutz, J277 Schubert Winterreise, Op. 89, D. 911 The events during and following the French Revolution in 1789 represented not only a complete
