Jealousy is one of the most destructive human emotions, so it is no surprise that composers have returned to it again and again. This playlist explores how different artists transformed this green-eyed monster into music. From family tensions in the classical era to violent confrontations on the opera stage, these…
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Motherhood appears surprisingly often in classical music — just rarely in direct form. Composers often approach the subject through lullabies, prayers, childhood memories, or music connected to comfort and protection. Brahms, for example, added the most personal movement of his German Requiem shortly after his mother died in 1865. And…
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The relationship between gods and men is one of the oldest themes in human thought. Myths describe gods who rule the world, religion speaks of a single divine presence, and philosophy questions how humans relate to both. Music has found different ways to approach this idea. It can present the…
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Awakening and decline are basic experiences of human life. Myths and religions speak about the beginning of the world, nature wakes up every year when spring returns, and every day begins with the change from night to morning. Moments like these have inspired composers for a long time. Music can…
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What does the Enlightenment sound like? The Enlightenment — or Age of Reason — was a period in the 17th and 18th centuries marked by a profound shift in how people understood the world. Thinkers like Voltaire, Kant, and Hume challenged tradition and authority, promoting reason, science, education, and individual…
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Gardens, with their bright colors, soft shade, and still ponds, have long inspired composers. They appear in music either as social spaces, where children play and adults gather, or as idealized visions, more dream than description. It’s not incidental that many cultures imagine paradise as a garden. Eden is described…
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“In nova fert animus mutatas dicer formas corpora: di, coeptis (nam vos mutastis et illas) adspirate meis primaque ab origine mundi ad mea perpetuum deducite tempora carmen.” “My intention is to tell of bodies changed to different forms; the gods, who made the changes, will inspire my work.” — Ovid,…
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“Der Rosenkavalier” was the first original collaboration between Strauss and the Viennese author Hugo von Hofmannsthal...
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“Don Quixote” is a sort of a mixture between a tone poem, based on Cervantes’ satirical novel “Don Quijote de la Mancha”, and a sinfonia concertante...
Read MoreRichard Strauss’ “An Alpine Symphony“ is a symphonic poem that was first performed in 1915. It is his longest orchestral work...
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Here you can download the full curriculum vitae of Herbert von Karajan!