All posts in this series tell the stories behind some of the most memorable classical music compositions of all time. I am no expert in this genre of music and am learning as I go. Having said that, I find these posts fascinating. I hope that you do as well.
If there is one lesson that I can take after 30 years of being an elementary school teacher it is the fact that there is no one carved-in-stone method of… Read More »Keepin’ It Classy: Composition #35/50…Glenn Gould: The Goldberg Variations
I have many reasons for being happy to live in Canada, but one of the most important to me is our climate. Even though our climate is changing and we… Read More »Keepin’ It Classy: Composition #34/50…Voices of Spring Waltz by Johann Strauss II
The stories behind the most memorable classical music compositions in history. I am willing to place a rather sizeable bet, that if I were to survey a crowd of one… Read More »Keepin’ It Classy: Composition #33/50: Symphony No.3 in E Major, Op. 56 (or, as it is also known, “Eroica”) by Ludwig van Beethoven
As mentioned in the two previous posts (which you can read here and here), the period from the very late 1800s up through the 1920s was a time of great… Read More »Keepin’ It Classy: Composition #32/50: Appalachian Spring by Aaron Copland
The city of Venice, Italy is divided into six districts or sestieri. The northernmost of these is called Cannaregio. This district got its name because it contained the main canal… Read More »Keepin’ It Classy: Composition #31/50: The Rite of Spring by Igor Stravinsky
Most weekday mornings I pour myself a hot cup of tea, fire up my laptop and begin to write the words that you read each day. I do so with… Read More »Keeping’ It Classy: Composition #30/50: Dance of the Knights by Sergei Prokofiev
In order to appreciate the magnitude of what The Well-Tempered Clavier represents, we must first spend a few moments discussing the concept of language. Whether we are examining the minute… Read More »Keepin’ It Classy: Composition #29/50: The Well-Tempered Clavier by Johann Sebastian Bach
“O Mio Babbino Caro” is one of the most famous arias in opera history. It was written by Italian composer Giacomo Puccini for his one-act opera called Gianni Schicchi in… Read More »Keepin’ It Classy: Composition #28/50: O Mio Babbino Caro by Giacomo Puccini from the Opera, Gianni Schicchi
For a short while during the 1700s, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart lived in Paris, France. Like many who had come to live there before him, Mozart was inspired by the culture… Read More »Keepin’ It Classy: Composition #27/50: The Twelve Variations by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Over the past few years I have spent much time writing about music and the stories behind the most famous songs and genres throughout history. Much of that writing has… Read More »Keepin’ It Classy: Composition #26/50: Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin