Brucker was invited by Hans Richter to conduct one of his symphonies with the Vienna Society of Friends of Music. At the rehearsal he stood on the conductor’s platform, stick in hand, with a beatific smile on his face. The orchestra were all ready to begin, but he would not lift his stick to give […]

Beethoven once gave a performance of a new piano concerto in which he forgot he was the soloist and began to conduct instead.  At the first sforzando he threw out his arms so vehemently that he knocked both candlesticks off the piano.  The audience burst out laughing, which enraged Beethoven.  He made the orchestra start […]

In writing, habit seems to be a stronger force than either willpower or inspiration. Consequently there must be some little quality of fierceness until the habit pattern of a certain number of words is established. There is no possibility, in me at least, of saying, “I’ll do it if I feel like it.” One never […]

Puccini custom built a villa in the seaside resort of Viareggio. Here, Puccini had a “rain machine that sprinkled water from the trees, beneath which he would stand with an open umbrella, cooling himself from the summer heat. Source: Wilson, Conrad (2008) Giacomo Puccini. London: Phaidon Press, p.205.

Title: Fill us with your love, O Lord Text: Psalm 89 (90): 12-17. R. v.14 Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: SATB and piano Product medium: PDF score and part SAMPLE: .

“We find a world of emotions and ideas created with only the simplest of materials.” – Laurence Lesser, cellist Cited in: Siblin, Eric (2009) The Cello Suites. Crows Nest: Allen & Unwin. p.3.

Title: The Castle Builder Text: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: SATB and piano Product medium: PDF score and part Sample:

In 1720 in Italy, opera was largely dictated by the egos of the singers, rather than considering the text, or the composer: The satirical writer Marcello wrote that the opera composer will hurry or slow down the pace of an aria, according to the caprice of the singers, and will conceal the displeasure which their […]

Rachmaninoff was a great lover of motorboating and used to go out every day.  He always steered himself.  Often he went out alone.  This hobby of his nearly proved fatal during that stay of ours.  About an hour before dinner he said: “I think I shall go for a spin on the lake.” He got […]

“Artur Schnabel is a pianist unlike any other. One is conscious in listening to him of a powerful and original mind revealing unsuspected meanings and complications in music as familiar as Brahm’s Intermezzi and Beethoven’s “Waldstein” Sonata. His tone is as a rule dry in anything above a piano, but a sudden touch of pedal […]