Although George Frideric Handel was born in 1685 in Halle an der Saale, he is now admired above all as an English composer. But he was a cosmopolitan. He travelled with enthusiasm throughout Europe and lived in several different cities. In 1710, he moved to London. Here he devoted himself first and foremost to studying the English language, music, and culture – but he also composed constantly and very successfully. But read for yourself!
Frieder Bernius’ very first radio recording and his second LP recording in the mid-1970s were devoted to Mendelssohn’s works. So he was as enthusiastic about the idea of a complete recording as he is gripped by almost every measure of this composer’s work.
The Slovenian composer Katarina Pustinek Rakar (b. 1979) studied music theory, oboe, singing, and composition in Ljubljana. She is actively involved with the best Slovenian choirs, is a member of the Slovenian Philharmonic Choir, and teaches sol-fa and music theory at the Ljubljana Conservatory. Her compositions comprise mainly vocal music (children’s songs, works for youth, women’s, male voice, and mixed choirs), and she is regularly commissioned to write for these groups.
Curtain up for Saint-Saëns, whose 100th anniversary of death is in December 2021! The composes’ oeuvre encompasses virtually all of the musical genres of his time. The Latin Oratorio de Noël in particular has taken a place among the canon of Christmas oratorios. But his choral output ranges from short choral pieces, often with organ accompaniment, to large-scale liturgical genres and oratorios – and large-scale means really large-scale. Learn more!
Church music was particularly dear to the Liechtenstein composer Josef Gabriel Rheinberger. But he was not a follower of the prevalent Cecilianism movement of his time. He strove instead for emotional warmth and sensuality in his musical language, rather than serene austerity. In his works he found his own individual sound, combining traditional structures with tension-laden harmonic writing in equal measure. Read more!
In 2020, we celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of the composer and organist Louis Vierne whose life was not only marked by artistic success but also by health problems and personal misfortune. Above all, his impaired sight from birth would prove to be a heavy burden throughout his life which he countered through his active career as an organist and composer. Works for the organ predominate in his extensive oeuvre, but also his vocal works are of great appeal.
What do we actually know about the personality of Bach over beyond the idealization of the Cantor of St. Thomas and even deification? It is only possible to compile cautious assumptions about his personal manner with the aid of sparse surviving comments by himself or his contemporaries. Some of his secular cantatas depicting the social life of his time hint at humorous and light-hearted character traits.
Camille Saint-Saëns is one of the outstanding personalities in French musical life – as composer, teacher, and organist. Denis Rouger, one of his successors at the Église de la Madeleine in Paris, with a very personal portrait.
When George Frideric Handel crossed the English Channel the first time in 1710, London was enjoying a huge economic upturn. The building boom altered the cityscape of the second largest city in Europe, with almost 630,000 inhabitants, the financial market grew and experienced the first stockmarket crash, the social contrasts were stark, but a simple musician such as Handel could die a rich man. In the midst of the hustle and bustle of today’s metropolis, we can still set out on a walk in the footsteps of Handel.
Universal is an ambitious adjective, but one which perhaps best describes the musician Karl Albrecht Fischer, alias “Bobbi Fischer”. Beginning with classical music, his musical horizons encompass chansons, Latin music and jazz, and extend to world music.
