Category Archives: Music
Michael Tilson Thomas Dies
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 28th April 2026Conductor, composer, and educator Michael Tilson Thomas (MTT) passed away on April 22, 2026, at age 81 at his San Francisco home, following a battle with glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive brain cancer. As the San Francisco Symphony’s music director laureate, he was celebrated for his transformative 25-year tenure (1995–2020), which established the orchestra as a…
› Read the full entry
Finale 45: Beethoven Symphony No. 7
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 24th April 2026Composed between 1811 and 1812, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 emerged during a turbulent yet creatively fertile period in the life of the composer. Europe was in the throes of the Napoleonic Wars, and Vienna itself was marked by political uncertainty and shifting alliances. Beethoven, increasingly isolated by his advancing deafness, retreated during the summer of…
› Read the full entry
The Melding of Science and Art
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 21st April 2026If one believes that the great artist ranks higher in the cultural scale or possesses a unique skill or insight into the human condition superior to that of the great scientist, the reason for such a view is likely as follows: The work produced by a great artist is unique to that artist. If Beethoven…
› Read the full entry
LSO Master Works 4 – Program Notes
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 8th March 2026The following are the program notes I wrote for the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra’s March 28 concert. Tickets can be purchased here. Price Symphony No. 1 Florence Price (1887–1953) was an important American composer and pianist. She was born Florence Beatrice Smith to Florence (Gulliver) and James H. Smith on April 9, 1887, in Little Rock,…
› Read the full entry
LCO Program Notes – Revised
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 2nd March 2026The program of the Lubbock Chamber Orchestra on March 14 has expanded and the performance order has been altered. Accordingly, I have updated the notes for the performance. The only new information is the Handel section. Tickets can be purchased here. Copland Appalachian Spring Appalachian Spring was commissioned in 1943 by Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge as a…
› Read the full entry
LCO Program Notes – March 14, 2026
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 17th February 2026The following are the program notes I wrote for the Lubbock Chamber Orchestra’s March 14 concert. Tickets can be purchased here. Copland Appalachian Spring Appalachian Spring was commissioned in 1943 by Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge as a ballet for choreographer Martha Graham. The scenario portrays a young pioneer couple beginning their married life in rural Pennsylvania,…
› Read the full entry
Death and Rebirth
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 30th January 2026In writing about Brahms Ein deutsches Requiem, I mentioned how that inevitable event (death) had occasioned so much beautiful music. Hence, facing the depth of winter, I decided to assemble some of the most profound examples of macabre music. Henry Purcell (1659-1695) remains Britain’s greatest composer. His Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary is…
› Read the full entry
What the Bad Weather Stopped the LSO From Playing
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 26th January 2026The Lubbock Symphony Orchestra’s scheduled concert on Saturday, January 24, was cancelled by the frigid storm that originated not too far from town. It then proceeded to spread east, paralyzing a good part of the country. I can’t recall an LSO concert being cancelled for any reason. The program notes for the annulled performance are…
› Read the full entry
Program Notes for Schumann and Brahms
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 20th January 2026The program notes I wrote for the February 28, 2026 performance of Schumann’s Overture, Scherzo, and Finale and Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem are below. Tickets can be purchased here. Schumann: Overture, Scherzo and Finale Robert Schumann’s Overture, Scherzo, and Finale was composed in 1841 and heavily revised in 1845 after a lukewarm reception at its…
› Read the full entry
Beethoven’s Birthday
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 17th December 2025The epochal composer was born today or perhaps yesterday in 1770. He was baptized on Dec 17 and by inference born the previous day. Regardless, his appearance during the brief span allotted to him by nature or nature’s god (56 years) changed the world for the better like few other humans since our species emerged…
› Read the full entry
