Performers Edition Articles

We continue this week with another work by a female composer of the late 1800's/early 1900's, this time looking at an exceptionally early work by Amy Marcy Beach. Mrs. Beach showed talent at an early age, both as a performer and composer, but had little in the way of formal studies. Despite the limited training she was able to receive, she received her first publication in 1883 (at the age of 16!) with the song "The Rainy Day". Continue reading →

A few weeks ago, we took a look at the Cello Sonata of Ethel Smyth, an English composer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Today we look once again at her writing for strings, this time the String Quartet in E minor, from 1914. Continue reading →

This week we move to a composer well-known to most musicians, but a song not often performed. Originally written for voice and orchestra, Camille Saint-Saëns' Extase is a beautiful setting of text by Victor Hugo that is now only rarely performed as a work for either Mezzo-Soprano or Baritone and Piano. Continue reading →

While we have typically looked at works that are more challenging as part of our exploration of somewhat forgotten music, there is also much music that is easier to perform and ideal for beginner to intermediate skilled performers. Today we take a look into this area with a set of three easier pieces by Edgar Bainton, his 3 Little Sketches for solo piano. Continue reading →

Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg is known to musicians and audiences around the world for famous works in the repertoire like the Piano Concerto, Peer Gynt, and many others. Today, however, we go into his lesser known catalog of works (many of which never had opus numbers assigned) and look at his Intermezzo for Cello & Piano, EG115. Continue reading →

A few weeks ago, we looked at solo piano music by Joachim Raff, his Metamorphosen, this week we revisit the prolific output by Raff. The self-taught composer wrote much chamber music, including the delightful late Piano Trio No. 4, Op. 158. Continue reading →

This week, we move to a composer who's name is more known, Chrales Villiers Stanford, a vanguard of the British musical scene, but one who's compositions have faded away gradually. Stanford's orchestral compositions and operas are well forgotten today (though we'll be sure to feature some of those here in upcoming months!), but his vocal works survived him well. Unfortunately, these two continue to fall out of favor, including his Stabat Mater, which we look at today. Continue reading →

This week we take a look at a work from a composer who's life was tragically cut short during World War I, Ernest Bristow Farrar. Just two days after going to the western front of the war, Farrar's short life ended at the age of 33. His extensive compositional output in the years preceding the war have, unfortunately, fallen into obscurity. Today we look at a work for solo voice, chorus, and orchestra, a setting of Dante Gabriel Rossetti's The Blessed Damozel. Continue reading →

The early 20th Century brought about a wide variety of musical styles - from the overtly romantic stylings of Richard Strauss to the academic stylings of Schoenberg's 12 tone system. What is often overlooked is the theatrical works of composers of the early 20th Century, which often fed the concept of the modern movie score - a genre unto itself for many modern day music lovers. Today we look at Max von Schillings' Violin Concerto No. 1, a dramatic work for violin and orchestra that is rarely performed today. Continue reading →

While many of Johann Sebastian Bach's works were forgotten shortly after his death (until "re-discovery" of the works in the 19th century), his influence on music was carried on through his students and admirers. Amongst those, we can count Johann Kirnberger, a composer and theorist who was a great admirer of Bach's, and rumored to have been a student of Bach. Today we look at his Flute Sonata in G Major. Continue reading →