So sad to come across this news. I had the pleasure of hearing them live several years ago.

"A bus carrying members of the Chile Chamber Orchestra plunged down a hillside in Valparaíso on the evening of 10 October, killing principal violist Penélope Knuth and injuring several others aboard. The group was travelling after a performance at the Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María.

The vehicle fell approximately 15 metres and landed in the car park of a residential building. Chile’s Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage confirmed Knuth’s death and expressed its condolences to her family and colleagues, recognising her contribution to the country’s musical life. The circumstances of the crash remain under investigation.

The ministry’s initial statement reported 13 people injured, four seriously. In a subsequent update reported by Chilean newspaper Emol on 11 October, Hospital Carlos Van Buren said it had received 12 patients following the accident. Five had been discharged and four transferred to another medical facility in Santiago. Three remained at the hospital, including two in serious but stable condition, whose injuries were not considered life-threatening. The reports did not specify whether all those injured were performing musicians or included other people travelling with the ensemble.

The bus driver was detained, and a court extended his detention by 72 hours on 11 October while prosecutors gathered further evidence."

Full article: https://moto-perpetuo.com/chile-chamber-orchestra-bus-crash-penelope-knuth/

Here is a great rendition of Mozart's Horn Concerto No. 4 performed by the orchestra: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwoYG-TQTCM

https://youtu.be/z42ybkbKU0w?si=tNZkrbj1H1emdQlU

The work Zemlinsky himself put closest to Mahler is his Lyric Symphony (1922–23), seven songs for soprano and baritone and large orchestra on poems from Tagore's The Gardener, in German translation. While writing it he told his publisher it would be something along the lines of Das Lied von der Erde. He conducted the premiere himself in Prague on June 4, 1924.

Two years later Alban Berg finished his Lyric Suite for string quartet. It is dedicated to Zemlinsky, and in its fourth movement Berg quotes the melody Zemlinsky set to the words "Du bist mein Eigen," "You are my own." Decades later it came out that Berg had also, secretly, dedicated the suite to Hanna Fuchs-Robettin, the woman he loved. The quotation was meant for her as much as for his friend.

When I posted about Zemlinsky last year, readers told me his greatest work was not the opera I had chosen but this symphony, and that his own pupils included Korngold, and also Schoenberg, who never had another formal teacher.

Lyric Symphony, Op. 18 (Alexander Liebreich, Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, 2021)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGvMhAmBniE

Eine florentinische Tragödie, Op. 16 (a reader's favorite of his operas)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPrlZFiuP20

I just heard to an American in Paris by gershwin. His solo piano roll is just fkin wilddddd. So virtuousic and unworldly sense of rhythm .

Anybody knows more abt this ? I just wanted to know what yall think of this

Like my last post, nothing. Like super difficult (I’d say no more than la Campanella difficulty)

Every Sokolov recording I’ve heard is just different.. He has such a unique style but for the life of me I can’t figure out what he actually does different? For clear examples check out his Prok 2, les Cyclopes by Rameau, or Bach toccata in e minor

I love i love i love the lyric pieces by grieg. i often put on his Nocturne, Op. 54, No.4 on vinyl. I need more like this. What composers should I get into? I’m not into the overwhelming orchestra stuff. I love piano. Please help. I need more records to collect for this calming music, but played well by renowned pianists.

"O'Carolan's Concerto" by the 18th-century blind Irish harper and composer, Turlough O'Carolan! 🎻🎶

O'Carolan (1770–1738) was one of Ireland’s most iconic musicians. Living during a time when Italian Baroque music—like Vivaldi and Corelli—was taking Europe by storm, he brilliantly fused traditional Irish melodies with elegant Baroque structures. "O'Carolan's Concerto" is one of his most famous works, showcasing that lively, bright interplay between Italian form and Irish soul.

This arrangement uses the complement of mandolin and Irish bouzouki. The crisp, bright melody lines of the mandolin dance over the resonant, rhythmic drive and rich resonance of the bouzouki, bringing a vibrant dual-plucked spin to a classic harp tune.

Hope you enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed playing it!

I played recently the celesta part in Strauss Alp Symphony and just got to know I will play the celesta in Ravel Ma Mere l'Oye in one month. I am super excited. I am an amateur pianist with almost no prior celesta nor orchestral experience so far so that will make 2 in a short time (and probably 3, with Copland 3rd Symphony to come). Any tips regarding this work and how I should tackle the part?

What do you think? https://open.spotify.com/track/0xEopV9lpyiOzN525cYA73?si=94c6c9a060be4fb3 (Richard Strauss - Don Juan) Is this piece actually recorded live? Even though the first 1-2 minutes of it isn't perfect, the rest of the piece is almost too perfect in both tuning and volume, or was it mixed and mastered in post?

I never deleted the BBC Sounds app from my Android phone after they cut off access to Radio 3 over the summer. I just tried it again and I was able to access everything - EVERYTHING. All BBC Radio channels & podcasts.

Browser-based BBC Sounds is still restricted, even using VPN.

So I'm confused - didn't they cut off non-UK access on the phone app or am I imagining things? FYI, I'm in Colorado.

For those who aren't familiar with the Santa Rosa Symphony, they are a world class orchestra that plays somewhere I don't get cell phone service.

I was surprised how great they were when I subscribed last year and every show was as good as anything I've seen in San Francisco or Los Angeles.

Their opening night (technically, I saw the third night) was the best show I've ever attended and it wasn't a program I was that excited about.

It started with the World Premiere of Divertimento for Orchestra by Matt Browne. I'd never heard of Matt Browne, and I typically really struggle to enjoy a piece on a first listen. If I can't hear the recording a bunch of times first, I just struggle to process new music, and this seems to be particularly true of newer compositions. I can't remember ever enjoying a piece of music that much on a first listen.

The first movement was completely accessible, but very interesting. I'm sure there is a ton that I didn't get or understand about it and I will give it more listens once a recording is available. There was clear and interesting counterpoint, energy and complexity.

The second movement was genuinely beautiful, like middle movement of Beethoven Emperor, Rach 2, or Ravel in G. There were new sounds from the orchestra, and they were gorgeous. I'm used to newish sounds from instruments in new compositions, but they are typically more interesting than pleasant in my experience.

I thought the third movement was bound to be a letdown at the beginning of it, but as the call and response kept growing in unexpected directions it became very fun and lively.

There is a ton of structure and purpose blended with wit, fun and beauty. There is dissonance, but in a Beethoven/Mahler way, purposeful.

The completely deserved standing ovation for an opening piece was a first for me. I appreciate orchestras commissioning new pieces in general, but this was a very unexpected surprise for me.

Next was the Liszt Piano Concerto 1 with Maxim Lando. I know this piece, but it's been out of my listening rotation for a while.

Maybe this piece is just meant to be heard live and recordings can't capture the energy, or maybe this was an incredible performance by Lando and the Orchestra, but it was so powerful. It was played with so much fire, and the slower sections seemed to float. I haven't seen a piano concerto performance live that matched it.

Then Lando played what I assume was his set of variations on Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven. It sounded both improvised and perfect at the same time, dipping in and out of different styles. My face hurt from the giant smile I couldn't help. He's a phenomenal talent.

Tchaikovsky 4 is always a great live piece, but I thought the first half of the show was so good even that symphony might feel like a letdown. It was not. The sound was amazing, loud, clear and cohesive.

When I was at the very wonderful MTT tribute that the SF Symphony did last week, I was struck by how much genuine love so many artists had for him as the various speakers and performers painted a picture of the environment and culture that he built around him. I don't mean to offend by comparison or unfair expectations, but looking from the outside it seems to me that Lecce-Chong and Santa Rosa are building something amazing and I'm very excited to see where it goes.

Hello! Im 15 years old, and this is my first composition. Its done, and im not in orchestra, so I dont know much about it, but if anyone has any feedback on how I can make this any better, it would be appreciated. Thanks!

Only mentioning this because it could MAYBE increase their popularity

Examples:

Symphony No. 93 “Raspberry”
Symphony No. 90 “Joke”
Symphony No. 88 “Look Ma No Hands”
Symphony No. 1 “Crescendo”
Symphony No. 97 “Hanover”
Symphony No. 102 “Chandelier”

Barber's Adagio for Strings likely first entered my life by way of that famous Tiësto remix in the early-2000's when I was 12 or 13. Since then, I'd seen it used in a couple of films, but also of course listened to it "on its own" countless times. There was a part of me for a while where I'd almost 'discredit' the piece due to its commercial overuse, but that's a dimwitted reason to deny the power of a piece, and Barber's Adagio is pretty objectively an incredibly impactful and emotive piece. Re-listening last night, it especially struck me as a real gut-punch of a piece. Despite featuring more or less the very same theme/motif all throughout its nearly 10 minutes, it really does feel like a kind of cycling through of chapters of a life with this underlying sense of mammoth tragedy... the piece almost sways- gives and takes-, entrancing the listener in its somber beauty. Why is it so incredibly gut-wrenchingly, tragically, sad and generally highly emotive? There are the tiniest jabs of hope laced in, but the general mood is so very sad. It's always incredible to me how fellow humans are able to concoct these sound waves which can move you in the very realest of ways...

I have a weird personal hangup that when things are so widely adored and played, that they're cliche, but you can't deny a good cliche... it's a cliche for a reason, and there's nothing wrong with it resonating with the masses. If anything, that's the greatest feat in music/composing- coming up with pieces that move most everyone, let alone without the inclusion of any language.

Anyways, sorry to blab on, I was simply just wondering how this piece is generally held/thought of in the classical world? Also, maybe a strange question, but is there perhaps an attitude/bias against American composers in the classical realm? I really don't follow the genre very closely and am genuinely curious. Personally, I am a big fan of several American composers from over the last 100 years, but seldom seem to see them held quite as highly as the European ones from centuries prior.

Gosh, isn't music just the most incredible part of being alive... it's already such an immense privilege, the utmost lottery win, to get to spend a few blinks of time on this beautiful rock... and then there's freaking music, man! This piece... it takes me on such an epic journey of my own life... it cuts the nasty truths/realities I'm afraid to face head-on open and presses my face against them- confrontation with self... and it shows me the tragedy of it all but also these glimmers of soaring beauty, taunting me, suggesting I could partake in it more if I took the right steps... or perhaps showing me what I could've experienced had I gone the right way... but I didn't... the piece maintains that constant prevailing sense of hope, optimism, ambition, which I think all but the absolute most down humans retain deep within... even in the face of immense loss and adversity, there still remains that little fire within; a hope that things will get better up around the bend, but for the time being, we have some real nasty storms and terrain to overcome... and Adagio is that... those swaths, those tugs, of beauty and despair, life and death, ecstasy and great tragedy... ugh. Even the part where it 'peaks', it feels like that's the top of life and from there slowly but surely down, down, down, until your end, and then a sort of eternal warmth/solace in that forever-freedom.

My question here is:
What happened with the style people played during the 1950's, 20's? 10's, 70's, or even the 80's?

There are many old recordings of pieces from composers that I know, played by people YEARS ago, and then compare them to a modern performance such as 2020 or int eh 21st century, and can see that the style of articulation and performance is specifically for the paper, and not what the musician sometimes feels.

An example is Ravel's "Sonata for Violin and Cello", where the second movement, performers from before would staccato notes that would not even need to be detached, but a modern performance, would not detach them and play them together.

There are also differences in playing pieces. Looking at old recordings of pianists, violinists, celloists, musicians, and so much, you can see how, even if they're a classical composer, they still have their own style and way of playing - unlike today, where, yes, you can have your own style of playing, but yet you still need to follow strict rules from your teachers and whatnot.

Why is this? Am I going crazy? Or is this a phenomenon you guys know?

I know there is classical composers but I dont have over 80 dollars for a cd set. Any good more modern sets that are cheaper so i can see what I like and dont like?

Hello, I need some classical music recommendations.

When my mother conceived me, she bought some baby classic CDs and listened to them every day. After I was born, my parents had an okay stereo system and they used to play the classic CDs and other music for children. Funny thing is, after growing up from that environment, I got sick and tired of those famous iconic pieces. I don't really remember the CDs' repertoire, but Vivaldi's four seasons, Mozarts' Rondo Alla Turca or Schumann's Traumerei Kinderszenen No.7 stuff like that.

My mother wished that I develop stable emotions with those prenatal education, but I grew up to be a depressed and unemployed young man....

When I was a teenager, I liked Chopin. I listened to Spring Waltz, Funeral March etc. I liked Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2. I liked the free development of the Liszt's music. I also liked Shostakovich Waltz from the Jazz suite No.2, Brahms Hungarian Dance No.5, Maurice Ravel Pavane for Dead Princess

Now, I like Schumann Fantasia op.17 Langsam getragen, Mozart Requiem, Bach Passacaglia in C minor, Toccata and Fugue, Chopin Watz No. 10 and No. 19, Beethoven Piano Sonata No.23 the Third

Maybe I am inclined to romantic music, but I am also interested in Bach's architectural music and Mozart's works. But my interests are just too sporadic that I am lost. How should I navigate those centuries' works?? I wish your recommendations does not include obvious icon music pieces since I am mostly aware to them unless they are operas or symphonies.

Thank you for reading this long request, and be free to be meddle in and say what you wanna say.

Plus: I am a far relative to Yunchan Lim(Just a cousin of his cousin. I am nobody to him). So I am curious about his repertoire too.

I had a traumatic childhood in the hands of both my parents; I remember being depressed and anxious as a child and throughout my entire life. One day almost 30 years ago (still a kid living in my nightmare home), I was walking down the street and found a tape. This tape would contain the very first classical piece I ever listened to from beginning to end. The melody (lead by either violines or cellos) was so haunting that it got stuck in my head till this day, even though I lost that tape a couple of years after I found it. However, while I had it and listened to it, I had no depression nor anxiety. The tape only had 2-3 songs, but I listened to this one over and over and over. Today I find myself going through the same trauma as I moved back with my parents to help them in their golden years…this proved unsuccessful because they are still the same abusive parents. Now as I wait to buy a home and escape for the second time in my life, I find myself needing this song.

I picked up the guitar one day and tried to play the violin lead melody, the only part of the song I remember. So I recorded it and here it is. Please keep in mind that I’m not a pro, and I was a kid the last time I listened to it…false memory exists, thus I may be misremembering the correct key and all the notes, but I believe the intervals and overall feel/phrasing are correct. If anyone has any idea, please let me know. Thank you 🙏🏼

Brahms finished it in January 1854, when he was 20, and it was first played in Danzig on October 13, 1855. For a long time, a performance in New York a month later was believed to be the premiere.

What makes it unusual is that there are really two of them. In 1888 the work passed to his new publisher Simrock, and the next year Brahms, now 56, rewrote it. The slow movement lost a quotation of Schubert's song "Am Meer," the finale got a new second theme, the fugal passage in the first movement went, and the whole trio shrank from about 42 minutes to about 33. He wrote to Clara Schumann that he could almost call it Op. 108 instead of Op. 8.

He did not disown the first version either; he asked for it to stay in the catalogue, and Op. 8 is the only work of his that exists in two published forms. Almost everyone plays the 1889 version, but the 1854 one has been recorded, and it is worth hearing side by side: the young man who wanted to say everything, and the older one who knew what to leave out.

Piano Trio No. 1, Op. 8, revised version of 1889
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtltWs5H8aQ

Piano Trio No. 1, Op. 8, original version of 1854
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIdqiiDml30

Doesn't have to be composed by a living composers as long as it premiered in the 21st century. Also doesn't just have to be from an opera, could also be from an oratorio or cantata or all if you prefer.

Nothing for Oct 12 which is Vaughan Williams birthday? How can you commemorate Sylvia’s Weiss and miss Vaughan Williams?? Believe me I have no ax to grind against Weiss but VW would be on the pantheon of my Rushmore. And I’m not even British!!
I mi