Piano
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Sofia Gubaidulina *X 24 1931 — The Life You Give
Sofia Gubaidulina, born October 24, 1931, Chistopol, Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic [now Tatarstan, Russia]), is the composer whose works fuse Russian and Central Asian regional styles with the Western classical tradition. During her youth, Gubaidulina studied music in the city of Kazan, the capital of her home republic. She had lessons at the Kazan…
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Franz Liszt *X 22 1811 / The Life You Give
Franz Liszt, Hungarian form Liszt Ferenc, born October 22, 1811, Doborján, kingdom of Hungary, Austrian Empire [now Raiding, Austria], is the piano virtuoso and composer who composed many notable compositions — 12 symphonic poems, two (completed) piano concerti, several sacred choral works, and a great variety of solo piano pieces. Youth and early training Liszt’s…
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Edwin Fischer *X 6 1886 — The Life You Give
Edwin Fischer was a Swiss pianist, conductor, and educator during the first half of the 20th century. He was known for his expressive interpretations of the piano music of J.S. Bach and Mozart. Fischer was born in 1886 in Basle, Switzerland, and started playing the piano when he was four years old. Both of his…
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Vladimir Horowitz *IX 18 1903 / The Life You Give
Vladimir Horowitz, born September 18 [Old Style], 1903, in Berdichev, Russia [now in Ukraine], is the virtuoso pianist in the Romantic tradition who was celebrated for his flawless technique and an almost orchestral quality of tone. Horowitz’s performances of works by Franz Liszt, Sergey Rachmaninoff, Frédéric Chopin, Aleksandr Scriabin, Domenico Scarlatti, and Sergey Prokofiev were…
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Arnold Schönberg *IX 13 1874 — The Life You Give
Arnold Schoenberg, born Arnold Franz Walter Schönberg, September 13, 1874 in Vienna, Austria, is the composer who created new methods of musical composition involving atonality, namely serialism and the 12-tone row. He was also one of the most-influential teachers of the 20th century; among his most-significant pupils were Alban Berg and Anton Webern. Schoenberg’s father,…
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Leonard Bernstein *VIII 25 1918 / The Life You Give
Leonard Bernstein, born August 25, 1918, in Lawrence, Massachusetts, is the conductor, composer, and pianist noted for his accomplishments in both classical and popular music, for his flamboyant conducting style, and for his pedagogic flair, especially in concerts for young people. Bernstein played piano from age 10. He attended Boston Latin School; Harvard University (A.B.,…
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Karlheinz Stockhausen *VIII 22 1928 / The Life You Give
Karlheinz Stockhausen, born Aug. 22, 1928, in Mödrath, near Cologne, Germany, is the composer, and important creator and theoretician of electronic and serial music who strongly influenced avant-garde composers from the 1950s through the ’80s. Stockhausen studied at the State Academy for Music in Cologne and the University of Cologne from 1947 to 1951. In…
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Claude Debussy *VIII 22 1862 / The Life You Give
Claude Debussy, born Achille-Claude Debussy, on August 22, 1862, in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France, is the composer whose works were a seminal force in the music of the 20th century. He developed a highly original system of harmony and musical structure that expressed in many respects the ideals to which the Impressionist and Symbolist painters and writers…
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Kaikhosru Sorabji: Concerto per suonare da me solo & Symphonia Brevis
Concerto Per Suonare Da Me Solo / Jonathan Powell Concerto per suonare da me solo, KSS 69 (Concert to play by myself)Piece detailsWritten for: PianoDate composed: 1946Dedicatee: Norman PeterkinApproximate duration (minutes): 50Manuscript pages: 70Manuscript location: Paul Sacher Foundation, Basel Structure:I Incomincia l’orchestra arrogante e pomposa / Brioso FocosamenteII AdagioIII Scherzo diabolico Symphonia Brevis / Donna…
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Kaikhosru Sorabji: Gulistān & Opus Clavicembalisticum MCMXXX
Gulistān, KSS 63 Piece detailsWritten for: PianoDate composed: 1940Dedicatee: Harold MorlandApproximate duration (minutes): 35Manuscript pages: 28Manuscript location: Paul Sacher Foundation, Basel Sorabji wrote a number of nocturnes, from the earliest stages in his development until his final years. These include some of his better-known works such as Le jardin parfumé and Djâmi. Several works —…
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Bake your blueberry basil cornbread, and eat it, too!
That is what one may do when listening to the piano marathon by Kaikhosru Sorabji, “Sequentia cyclica super Dies Iræ ex missa pro defunctis”. We are listening to it right now — just entered the third hour — on Clubhouse.
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Kaikhosru Sorabji: Sequentia Cyclica super Dies Iræ Missa pro defunctis
This week we celebrate the achievements of Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji, born on the 14th of August of 1892. He is one of the most enigmatic and controversial 20th century composers. Largely self-taught he chose his own way, never fitting into any school or movement. His style is highly idiosyncratic, inspired by late-romantics like Busoni and…
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Kaikhosru Sorabji: Toccata Seconda per Pianoforte & Songs for Soprano
Toccata Seconda per Pianoforte KSS57 Written for: PianoDate composed: 1933–34Dedicatee: Norman PeterkinApproximate duration (minutes): 150 (2h25)Manuscript pages: 111Manuscript location: Mills Memorial Library, McMaster University Structure/Movements:I Preludio-ToccataII Preludio-CoraleIII ScherzoIV AriaV Ostinato (theme with 49 variations)VI NotturnoVII InterludioVIII CadenzaIX Fuga libera a cinque voci Toccata Seconda per Pianoforte KSS57 Sorabji wrote four piano works entitled toccatas –…
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Days with Kaikhosru Sorabji
During the second week of July, leading up to the 14th of the month, we celebrated the work of Ingmar Bergman, watching six of his films, and discussing them daily on Clubhouse. Before embarking again in the world of cinema, though from a very different space and time to celebrate the offerings of Pedro Almodovar…
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Enrique Granados *VII 27 1867 / La Vida Que Das
See the biography in English below Enrique o Enric Granados y Campiña nacido en Lérida, 1867, en el canal de la Mancha, fue pianista y compositor español, hijo de padre cubano y de madre gallega. Su disposición para la música se reveló ya en su niñez; estudió los primeros elementos de solfeo y teoría, en…
Sila Blume 