September 2020
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Obscure Music Monday: Zemlinsky's Lyric Symphony
Alexander von Zemlinsky (Oct. 14, 1871 - March 15, 1942) was born in Vienna, Austria, and played the piano from a young age. Admitted to the Vienna Conservatory in 1884, and won the school's piano prize in 1890. He began writing in1892, when he started studying theory with Robert Fuchs, and composition with Johann Nepomuk Fuchs and Anton Bruckner. Continue reading → -
Obscure Music Monday: Maier's Piano Quartet in E minor
Amanda Maier (February 19, 1853 - July 15, 1894) was born in the Swedish town of Landskrona, and was quite an accomplished violinist, cellist, organist, and composer. Her initial studies in piano and violin were with her father, and later studied at the Royal School of Music at Stockholm, and was their first female music graduate. While she was there, she won... -
Obscure Music Monday: Sancho's Twelve Country Dances
Charles Ignatius Sancho (c. 1729 - Dec. 14, 1780) was a composer, writer, and actor born on a slave ship in the Middle Passage. Not long after he was born, his mother passed away, and his father took his own life rather than live as an enslaved person. Sancho's owner took him to England when he was two years old... -
Obscure Music Monday: Galos' Souvenir des Champs
Giselle Galos (commonly known as C. Galos) was an obscure 19th century pianist and composer, born in France. Very little is known about her; she didn't perform in public, and mainly published her works under the name "C. Galos" and no one knew if they were a woman or man. Some earlier works were found however, with the name "Madmoiselle Giselle...