A tribute to Beethoven

“The Last Master of resounding song, the tuneful heir of Bach and Handel, Mozart & Haydn’s immortal fame is now no more. The harp is hushed. He was an artist – and who shall arise to stand beside him? He was an artist – thus he was, thus he died, and thus he will live to the end of time.”

– Franz Grillparzer, in a tribute to Beethoven (read as at Beethoven’s funeral, just before the coffin was taken into the cemetery [non-sacred text was forbidden on sacred ground]).

Source: Madaboutbeethoven.com

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Handel on Purcell
An account by R. L. Stevens (1775): When Handel was blind, and attending a performance of the Oratorio Jephtha, Mr [William] Savage, my master, who sat next to him said, “This movement, sir, reminds of me of some of old Purcell’s music.” “G got te teffel”, said Handel, “if Purcell had lived, he would have […]
Baudelaire on inspiration
“Inspiration is merely the reward for working every day!” – Charles Baudelaire (French poet).  According to Roland-Manuel, Ravel would often recite this phrase.  Source: Nichols, Roger (1987) Ravel Remembered.  London: Faber & Faber, p. 143.
Anton Arensky: Trio in D minor for violin, cello, and piano (op. 32)
I. Allegro moderato II. Scherzo: Allegro molto-Meno Mosso-Allegro molto III. Elegia: Adagio IV: Finale: Allegro non troppo Accounts of Arensky are of a juxtaposed nature. On the personal level, he was described by Tchaikovsky as incredibly nervous, and he was never known to have a romantic attachment. He was considered “the most delicate person by […]
Love Came Down At Christmas (piano)
Title: Love came down at Christmas Text: Christina Rossetti Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: Piano solo Product medium: PDF score     Related products:     – Love came down at Christmas – SATB and piano     – Love came down at Christmas – Piano solo (MP3) hase_link id=”1673″ text=”Purchase” style=”button” color=”blue”] Samples:
Air IV
Title: Air IV Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: Piano Duet Level (Piano I): 1.2 – five finger position extended to 6/4 through to octave (left and right hands) Product medium: PDF score & MP3 accompaniment track (Audio sample of accompaniment track only)
Early music discovered on carving
A craftsman replicating large medallions has discovered medieval Scottish notation of instrumental music.  The notation is sequences of 0s, Is and IIs. Barnaby Brown, a specialist in early Scottish music, notated that, “This discovery is potentially of great significance to our understanding of medieval and Renaissance instrumental music – the normally ‘unwritten’ practice of the elite court […]
Art and humanity
“Writing and performing an opera, creating any work of art in a world of violence and ease, hunger and obesity, could seem to be an act of private withdrawal. But art isn’t about itself, it’s about how men relate to the world and each other … Asking artists to keep politics out of art is […]
Blessed Are They Who Dwell In Your House – Psalm 83 (84)
Title: Blessed are they who dwell in your house Text: Psalm 83 (84): 2-3, 5-6, 9-10. R. v.5 Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: SATB and piano (unison verses) Product medium: PDF score and partSAMPLE:
Abstraction XVII
Title: Abstraction XVII Composer: Greg Smith Performer: Greg Smith (April 2020) Instrumentation: Piano Product medium: MP3 recording Related products:– Abstraction XVII (PDF score)
Saint-Saëns defending virtuosity
It is virtuosity itself that I want to defend. It is the source of the picturesque in music, it gives the artist wings with whose help he escapes platitudes and the everyday. The conquered difficulty is in itself a beautiful thing. Theódphile Gautier, in Émaux et camées, considered this issue in immortal verses. . . […]