The Disposable Musicologist

Robert and Clara Schumann. Source: Wikimedia Commons Robert Schumann, Clara Schumann, and Johannes Brahms were no strangers to personal tragedy. Clara had lost her husband Robert to depression, a suicide attempt, and eventually death in an asylum. Brahms, who loved and longed for Clara, stepped in to comfort her. But plans for the couple to marry in 1856 were thwarted for reasons that have been lost to history. Each composer continued to hold a candle for the other and crafted music of both exuberance and melancholy, perhaps reflecting the joys of memory and pain of loss. That was the sense pianist Jeremy Denk conveyed in his Celebrity Series recital, streamed live from WGBH Fraser Studio on Sunday night.  Denk remains a thinker’s pianist, and the program explored the Schumann-Brahms love triangle through early and late works by the three composers. Missy Mazzoli’s Bolts of Loving Thunder, also heard Sunday night, refashioned Brahmsian gestures in a bold, twenty-first-century styl...

The New Philharmonia By their very nature, community orchestras are welcoming places where musicians of all levels can come together to play a wide range of repertoire. But the New Philharmonia has maintained a tradition of presenting concerts that consistently meet professional standards. Celebrating its twenty-fifth anniversary this season, the Newton-based orchestra balances high caliber performances with community engagement by continuing to build upon its founding principle—it is, first and foremost, a musicians’ ensemble. “It was the musicians who started the orchestra, and it is the musicians who are actually the soul, the core, of the orchestra,” said conductor Francisco Noya in a recent phone conversation from Argentina. “It’s a very special thing.” Those musicians—many of whom hold degrees in music from prestigious institutions—strive to make every performance gleam with polish and precision. Such a vision stemmed from the orchestra’s first director, Ronald K...

                        Source: Wikimedia Commons                  Every summer, football fields across the United States fill up with young people playing brass and percussion instruments and spinning flags, sabers, rifles, and other equipment. And though it has transformed quite a bit over the past forty years, the drum and bugle corps activity remains a focal point for many music education programs in the country. Musical tastes have changed in the short history of Drum Corps International (DCI), which began sponsoring competitive shows in 1972. Popular music has been a strong source of show material, and corps today find new ways of bringing old standards as well as new songs to life as part of their shows. But classical music continues to be a key to many corps performances. From obscure works to beloved favorites, the 2018 season should offer a little something for ...

There’s no doubt that Serge Koussevitzky left an indelible impression upon music of the twentieth century. In his twenty-five years as conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, he commissioned and led a host of works that have become modern classics. During his tenure with the BSO, he brought Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms and Hindemith’s lesser-known Konzertmusik into the world. And with the Koussevitzky Foundation, which the conductor founded in 1942, he commissioned Samuel Barber’s Prayers of Kierkegaard and Copland’s Symphony No. 3. The Koussevitzky Foundation also brought to life Arnold Schoenberg’s Survivor from Warsaw (though the BSO did not premiere this work) , Arthur Honegger’s Symphony No. 5, Walter Piston’s Symphony No. 3, and Roy Harris’s Symphony No. 7, among others. Some of these works go unheard today. One such Koussevitzky commission that has fallen into the dustbin of history is Arnold Bax’s Symphony No. 2, which the conductor led in its world premiere with...