Category Archives: Music
Joint Concert by Israel Philharmonic and Munich Philharmonic
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 13th May 2025Last week on May 8, the Israel Philharmonic and Munich Philharmonic performed a concert on the 80th anniversary of “Liberation Day.” In 1945, the day marked the unconditional surrender of Germany and the official end of World War II in Europe. Israel Philharmonic Music Director Lahav Shani led the performance of works by Tzvi Avni…
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A Few Serenades
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 9th May 2025A serenade, as its name implies (‘la sera’ is Italian for the evening), was originally a song in praise of a loved one sung in the evening. It gradually morphed into orchestral versions still retaining a hint to the original praise and its object as well as a vocal piece. Below are 10 plus 1…
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Finale 44 – Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 27th February 2025Beethoven’s C minor Symphony, built around the universally known four-note phrase, transitions quietly from its third movement to its fourth. The brief journey over the orchestra explodes in a burst of C major, unusual for a symphony that began in a minor key. The four-note figure occurs repeatedly in different guises as it does in…
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Grieg String Quartet Op 27
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 10th February 2025Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) had three goes at the string quartet. The first try was a student exercise that is lost. The second is the subject of this article. He abandoned the third after completing the first two movements. The Op 27 is confusingly often listed as his String Quartet No 1. The only extant and…
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New Years Greetings from Franz Shubert
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 2nd January 2025I can think of no better way to start the new year than with some music by Franz Schubert (1797-1928), the most incandescent of composers. They are presented in no particular order and are selected by no criteria save personnel taste. The Boy Wonder began producing masterpieces when he was just 17 and continued to…
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The Greatest Musical Composition Ever – VI
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 16th November 2024Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis is one of art’s mightiest thunderbolts. Written about the same time as the 9th Symphony, it was first performed in Saint Petersburg, Russia on April 7, 1824. The mass is scored for a quartet of vocal soloists, chorus, and orchestra. The first three parts were performed in Vienna a month later. A performance…
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Great American Composers – Irving Berlin
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 24th October 2024Irving Berlin (1888-1989) was the greatest songwriter in American history. Born in Imperial Russia his father, an itinerant cantor, brought his family to America after their house was burned to the ground during a pogrom. Irving was 5 years old when he arrived in New York. Raised in Dickensian poverty he was out on the…
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John Charles Thomas
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 12th October 2024America had a profusion of baritones in the 20th century. One of the most prominent then is much less so today. He’s the subject of this article. John Charles Thomas (1891-1960) was born in Meyersdale, PA. He was interested in singing from an early age. From 1910 to 1912 he studied voice at Baltimore’s Peabody…
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Great American Composers – Charles Ives
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 11th September 2024Charles Ives (1874-1954) was a remarkable American who made his distinctive mark in two unrelated fields. A major force in the US insurance business he is one of the founders of financial planning. At the same time he was making a fortune as a businessman he was also a pioneering composer of genius. It is…
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Music as an Art – Book Review
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 30th August 2024Sir Roger Scruton (1944-2020) was an English philosopher and polymath. His knowledge of music was deep and wide. He wrote two operas and one libretto. He could analyze a musical composition down to its most granular detail. The book discussed here was one of his last (published in 2018) and has an odd title. Writing…
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