Tag

JS Bach

LSO Master Works 4 – Program Notes

March 8, 2026

The 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, […]

LCO Program Notes – March 14, 2026

February 17, 2026

The 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, […]

Death and Rebirth

January 30, 2026

In 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 […]

The Greatest Musical Composition Ever – V

January 3, 2022

This one is beyond great. The subject is JS Bach’s Passacaglia and Fugue in C min BWV 582. The autograph manuscript for the piece is lost. The date of its composition is also unknown. Bach was likely in his early to mid 20s when he wrote this colossal masterpiece. No one had previously written a […]

About the Editor

Neil Kurtzman

Physician. Professor. Writer.

Neil A Kurtzman MD is the Grover E Murray Professor Emeritus and University Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Department of Internal Medicine at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock. He has combined careers in clinical medicine, education, basic research, and administration for more than 40 years.