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Life in a Nutshell: Medtner’s Piano Quintet

In 1940, Sergei Rachmaninov completed his Symphonic Dances, a work which was destined to be his last major composition. Replete with quotations from orthodox chants and his own setting of the liturgy All-Night Vigil, the work served as a summary of his fascination with Russian liturgical music, as well as…Continue readingLife in a Nutshell: Medtner’s Piano Quintet

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Schmidt’s Eschatological Vision: Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln

Classical composers have never shied away from dealing with epic subject matter (Haydn’s The Creation, for example, or the numerous Requiems written by various composers). So it’s perhaps interesting to note how few works exclusively deal with the topic of the apocalypse — the destruction of the world and the…Continue readingSchmidt’s Eschatological Vision: Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln