🔍 REFLECTIONS

Thoughtful perspectives grounded in musical history and understanding.

This section brings together reflective texts on music—its ideas, processes, and meanings—approached through historical context, musical practice, and thoughtful interpretation.

Moving beyond individual works or composers, these reflections offer insight into how music is created, perceived, and understood.

Berlioz Hector (1803 - 1869)
Beethoven Ludwig van (1770 - 1827)
Bizet Georges (1838 - 1875)

- Unfulfilled ambition

Brahms Johannes (1833 - 1897)

- Forbidden love

Bruckner Αnton (1824 - 1896)

Chopin Frédéric François (1810-1849)

- The Cursed Perfectionist

Debussy Claude-Achille (1862 – 1918)
Dvořák Antonín Leopold (1841 – 1904)

Franck César-Auguste-Jean-Guillaume-Hubert (1822 – 1890)

Gershwin George (1898 - 1937)
Grieg Edvard Hagerup (1843 - 1907)

Handel George Frideric (1685 – 1759)
Haydn Franz Joseph (1732 – 1809)

- A self-made genius

Liszt Franz or Ferenc (1811 - 1886)

Mendelssohn Jacob Ludwig Felix Bartholdy (1809 - 1847)

- The landscapist

Monteverdi Claudio Giovanni Antonio (1567 - 1643)
Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus (1756 - 1791)

- The restless genius

Paganini Niccolò (1782 – 1840)

Ravel Joseph-Maurice (1875 - 1937)

- The Swiss Watchmaker

Rimsky-Korsakov Nikolai Andreyevich (1844 - 1908)

- The composer sailor

Rossini Gioacchino Antonio (1792 - 1868)

Saint-Saëns Charles-Camille (1835 – 1921)
Scarlatti Guiseppe Domenico (1685 - 1757)
Schubert Franz Peter, (1797 – 1828)

- A desperate genius

Schumann Robert (1810 - 1856)
Smetana Bedřich (1824 - 1884)
Strauss II Johann (1825 – 1899)

Telemann Georg Philipp (1681 - 1767)
Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich (1840 - 1893)

Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco (1813 - 1901)

- A peasant from Parma

Vivaldi Antonio (1678 - 1743)

Wagner Wilhelm Richard, (1813 - 1883)
Weber Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von (1786 - 1826)

Comments

Johann Strauss II - Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka, Op. 214 in A major

The Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka , Op. 214, was composed in 1858 by Johann Strauss II following a highly successful concert tour in Russia. During the summer season, Strauss performed regularly at Pavlovsk, near Saint Petersburg, a fashionable venue for open-air concerts that played a crucial role in shaping his international reputation. Shortly after his return, the polka was premiered in Vienna on 24 November 1858. The title itself reveals Strauss’s playful wit. In German, “Tratsch” refers to gossip or idle chatter, while “Tritsch” carries no literal meaning. Together, the words form an onomatopoeic pun, imitating the sound of lively conversation—much like the English expression “chit-chat.” Such wordplay was characteristic of Strauss, who delighted in pairing light-hearted music with humorous or evocative titles. True to its name, the Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka bursts with energy and rhythmic vitality. Strauss once remarked that dancers might happily pause their movements, engaging in anima...

Robert Schumann - "Träumerei" or "Dreaming" (from the album Kinderszenen or "Scenes from Childhood"), Op. 15, No. 7

'The Woodman's Child' painting of Arthur Hughes, expresses wonderfully the dreamy quality of "Dreaming" from Schumann's "Scenes from Childhood". For Robert Schumann , music was almost always a personal expression of contemplation, feelings and poetic contemplation and that is exactly what makes him one of the most important romantic composers. The piano was Schumann's first love and his compositions for this instrument are among the most resistant through the passage of time. Schumann composed "Scenes from Childhood" album, the best-known of all his pianistic circles, in 1838. It consists of 13 "peculiarly small works", as described by the composer, each with its own title, which expresses a specific childhood memory. These works are all simple and charming, but Dreaming ( Träumerei) is the most popular and best known of all. It is often included in musical collections for solo piano and often the virtuoso performers includ...

Johann Straus II - Vergnügungszug (Pleasure Train), op. 281

Johann Strauss II , celebrated for his waltzes and lively dance music, followed a distinctive creative approach. He consistently sought contemporary and recognizable themes as the inspiration for his compositions, ensuring that his music remained fresh and closely connected to the everyday experiences of his audiences. A characteristic example of this approach can be found in Vergnügungszug (Pleasure Train), a fast polka ( Polka schnell ) composed in 1864. The work was written for one of the famous summer concerts Strauss conducted in Pavlovsk, near St. Petersburg, where he spent several seasons presenting new compositions. For this particular piece, Strauss drew inspiration from a symbol of modern progress at the time: the steam locomotive. The composition vividly captures the energy and motion of a train in full operation. Its driving rhythm evokes the steady chugging of a steam engine, while short, repeated figures suggest the mechanical movement of the wheels along the tracks. Str...

MusiLLection

Search This Blog