Inner-most feelings can be expressed in music

Taneyev was critical of Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony. Tchaikovsky’s response ended with:
“I can see you laughing as you read all of this, you sceptic and mocking-bird.  In spite of your great love of music it seems you still can’t believe that a man can express his inmost feelings in his compositions.  You just wait!”

Cited in: Hanson, Lawrence and Elisabeth (1965) Tchaikovsky: A New Study of the Man and His Music.  London: Cassell & Company, p.183.


Posted

in

by


Featured Content

A typical recital in England in 1897
John E. Borland described in a paper of June 1897: It was customary to commence with a Bach prelude and fugue (usually perverted from one intended for the organ), a Beethoven sonata (choice limited to four or five), some Chopin pieces (there were about twelve orthodox ones to select from), and a Liszt rhapsody. These […]
Impromptu (Sibelius)
Title: Impromptu (Op. 97, no.5) Composer: Jean Sibelius (arr. Greg Smith) Instrumentation: Trombone and piano Product medium: PDF score and part
Ode I
Title: Ode I Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: Piano Product medium: PDF score SAMPLE: Your browser does not support the audio element.
Creativity between now and Tuesday
“Creativity is a highfalutin word for the work I have to do between now and Tuesday.” – Ray Kroc, founder of McDonald’s corporation  
Julius Asal on pairing Scriabin with Scarlatti
In 2024, Julius Asal released an album that interwove works of Scriabin and Scarlatti. He stated: …in finding a composer from another era who is totally different in style and aesthetics, then finding a new ‘room’ where they meet, I felt that perhaps they share an inner space through their miniature pieces and their quantity […]
Rachmaninoff on music
“What is music? How can one define it?  Music is a calm moonlit night, a rustling of summer foliage.  Music is the distant peal of bells at eventide.  Music is born only of the heart and it appeals to the heart.  It is love.  The sister of music is poetry and the mother – sorrow!” […]
Julius Asal on interpretation
On the one hand, I believe that to connect tradition and innovation is the most important thing to me personally. On the other hand, to explore the score and be close to what the composer wanted is essential. There is a way to find your own language within the details that the composers left. Julius […]
Rachmaninoff scares me
Cyril Smith recounts Rachmaninoff’s stage presence: Those who were fortunate enough to hear him play will almost certainly remember this very tall, melancholy figure, with his graying hair in a crew cut and his deeply-lined face set in a somber expression, walking unwillingly to the piano as though he hated the very sight of  it.  […]
SEARCH
SEARCH SITE: SEARCH WEB:
Be With Me, Lord, When I Am In Trouble (Setting II) – Psalm 90 (91)
Title: Be with me, Lord, when I am in trouble (setting ii) Text: Psalm 90 (91): 1-2, 10-15. R. v.15 Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: SATB and piano Product medium: SATB score and partSAMPLE: