MusiLLection

Portrait of Domenico Scarlatti, whose groundbreaking keyboard sonatas transformed the expressive possibilities of the harpsichord. To fully realize his extraordinary gifts, Domenico Scarlatti had to free himself from paternal authority and emigrate. Only through distance and independence was his creative imagination able to unfold—ultimately to the great benefit of music itself. In his search for the new, Scarlatti focused almost exclusively on keyboard composition, particularly for the harpsichord, an instrument that was rapidly evolving and gaining an increasingly central place in the musical life of his time. The 555 keyboard sonatas that emerged from his creative mind are far more than technical studies or mere esercizi , as he modestly called them. Rather, they form an imaginative and remarkably varied collection of short works that introduce bold new playing techniques and anticipate the mature tripartite sonata form. These compositions reveal an exceptional reservoir of harm...

  A ballroom scene evoking the glittering waltzes of Johann Strauss II and the musical world of nineteenth-century Vienna. An der schönen blauen Donau (The Blue Danube, Op. 314) by Johann Strauss II did not initially emerge as the iconic orchestral waltz known today. The work was originally conceived as a choral waltz , marking Strauss’s first significant attempt to combine dance music with vocal writing. Commissioned by the Vienna Men’s Choral Society, the piece was intended for performance in February 1867 at the annual Carnival Festivity, a lavish masked musical celebration. This first version failed to achieve immediate success, most likely due to the rather conventional quality of its lyrics. Later that same year, Strauss presented the work in a purely orchestral version, and its fortunes changed dramatically. The melody of The Blue Danube rapidly captivated international audiences, spreading across Europe and beyond, and establishing itself as one of the most famous waltze...

  “Ravel’s Boléro” by Arnold Shore, painted as a tribute to the composer’s iconic orchestral work. When Boléro premiered in Paris in 1928, few could have predicted that a work built on a single repeating idea would become one of the most recognizable orchestral compositions of the twentieth century. Maurice Ravel himself described it with ironic detachment, calling it an “experiment in orchestration” and, at times, “a crescendo without music.” Yet behind this apparent simplicity lies one of the boldest formal gestures of its time. Boléro refuses narrative development. It refuses thematic transformation. It refuses harmonic exploration in the traditional symphonic sense. Instead, it builds tension through accumulation . Paris in the late 1920s was a center of artistic experimentation. Jazz had already entered European musical consciousness. Stravinsky had redefined rhythmic vitality. Impressionism had expanded orchestral color. Ravel—meticulous craftsman of instrumental timbre—...

The River Rhine, whose grandeur inspired Schumann’s Symphony No. 3. Robert Schumann ’s Third Symphony was conceived in 1850, shortly after his appointment in Düsseldorf, during a period of renewed creative energy and relative inner balance. A journey along the Rhine with Clara, together with the overwhelming impression of Cologne Cathedral, left a deep mark on his imagination. Schumann began composing the work in November 1850 and, within just five weeks, completed a large-scale symphony in five movements. The premiere took place on 6 February 1851, with the composer himself conducting, and the success was immediate. The symphony does not “describe” the Rhine in a literal sense; rather, it transforms lived experience into symphonic architecture . The choice of E-flat major—long associated with breadth and ceremonial brilliance—establishes from the outset a tone of grandeur and solidity. Μovements : I. Lebhaft (Allegro vivace) The opening movement follows sonata form . A vigorous princ...

Eighteenth-century engraving depicting the temporary architectural structure erected in Green Park for the 1749 fireworks celebration. Nearly three decades after the Water Music , Handel returned to the genre of ceremonial outdoor composition with a work inseparably linked to Britain’s political stage. Music for the Royal Fireworks was written in 1749 to celebrate the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, which ended the War of the Austrian Succession. King George II envisioned a grand spectacle in London’s Green Park; Handel was entrusted with providing music worthy of royal authority and public display. The choice of D major was anything but incidental. It was the quintessential key for natural trumpets and horns in the eighteenth century, closely associated with brilliance and martial splendour. At the king’s explicit request, the original scoring excluded strings and relied on an expanded wind band—oboes, bassoons, horns, trumpets and timpani. Handel later added strings for concert perform...

  A piano edition of Bedřich Smetana’s polkas, dedicated to his daughters, reflecting the personal and lyrical side of his piano writing. Bedřich Smetana ’s output spans nearly all major musical genres of the nineteenth century and stands at the core of Czech national music. From opera and symphonic poetry to chamber music and piano works, his compositions reflect a conscious effort to unite cultivated musical forms with a distinctly national idiom.  Operas The Brandenburgers in Bohemia The Bartered Bride Dalibor Libuše The Kiss The Secret The Devil’s Wall Orchestral works Triumphal Symphony in E major Richard III Wallenstein’s Camp Hakon Jarl Festive Overture Má vlast (My Homeland) Prague Carnival Chamber music Piano Trio in G minor String Quartet No. 1 in E minor “From My Life” Duos for Violin and Piano “From My Homeland” String Quartet No. 2 in D minor Piano works Six Characteristic Pieces Album Leaves Three Poetic Polkas Memories of Bohemia Dreams 14 Czech Dances Songs and...

Exterior of La Scala in Milan, where several of Rossini’s operas were performed. Gioachino Rossini emerged as one of the most dazzling figures of early 19th-century opera. Gifted with extraordinary melodic fluency and theatrical instinct, he conquered Italy’s major stages before the age of forty. Yet at the height of his fame, he made the unexpected decision to withdraw from operatic composition. His career unfolds as a story of meteoric success, artistic wit, and a late creative retreat that remains one of music history’s most intriguing turns. 1792 Born on February 29 in Pesaro, Italy, into a family of musicians — an environment that shaped his early artistic development. 1804 Composes the Six String Sonatas , a youthful work already revealing his melodic gift. 1806 Enrolls at the Bologna Music School and writes his first opera, Demetrio e Polibio , marking the beginning of his theatrical path. 1810 Produces successful comic operas such as The Marriage Contract and The Stra...