April 2016

The music of Belgian composer Joseph Jongen is often overlooked outside of his works for organ (we looked at a work for viola & piano a few months ago). Jongen’s dramatic style and lush harmonies, however, sound wonderful in his works for other instruments, like his rarely hear Trio for Piano, Violin & Viola ('Prélude, Variations and Finale’), Op. 30 that we look at today, written in 1906-1907. Continue reading →

This week we move to a 20th century composer of Finnish descent. While most would immediately think of Sibelius, we instead are looking at music by Uuno Klami, who was 15 years Sibelius' junior. Klami was most known for his orchestral works, but often preferred a smaller scale work (even in his orchestral music, he wrote many short works rather than working exclusively in large form symphonic forms). Today we look at an early work for piano, his Barcarole, Op. 5. Continue reading →