Obscure Music Mondays

Italo Caimmi (July 26, 1871 - May 21, 1964) was an Italian double bassist and pedagogue. Thought not a great deal is known about Caimmi, we do know that he studied at The Conservatory of Pesaro, with the great double bass pedagogue Isaiah Bille. He was also an accomplished pianist, and was moderately successful as a soloist in both instruments, playing in several countries. As an orchestral musician, he played at La Scala, and taught in conservatories. He wrote a method book that was important in the Italian school of double bass playing. Continue reading →

Giovanni Bottesini (Dec. 22, 1821 - July 7, 1889) was an Italian conductor, composer, and double bass virtuoso, born in to a musical family. Continue reading →

Robert Fuchs (Feb. 15, 1847 - Feb. 19, 1927) was an Austrian composer and music professor who taught many famous composers.   Continue reading →

Józef Wieniawski (May 23, 1837 - Nov. 11, 1912) was a Polish pianist, composer, teacher, and conductor, and younger brother of Henryk Wieniawski, a famous violinist and composer. Continue reading →

Paul Marie Theodore Vincent d'Indy (March 27, 1851 - Dec. 2, 1931) was a composer and teacher born in Paris, France. His first piano lessons were at a young age, given by his grandmother. Continue reading →

Frank Bridge (Feb. 26, 1879 - Jan. 10, 1941) was an English composer, conductor and violist. Born in Brighton, Bridge attended the Royal College of Music in London from 1899 to 1903, and spent much time playing in quartets, along with conducting as well. He decided to devote himself to composition, with one of his most famous students being Benjamin Britten, who respected and admired his teacher deeply. Continue reading →

Edward Alexander MaDowell (Dec. 18, 1860 - Jan. 23, 1908) was an American composer and pianist, born in New York City. He was a part of the Second New England School, known more commonly as the Boston Six. Continue reading →

Arthur William Foote (March 5, 1853 - April 8, 1937) was an organist, pianist, and composer born in Salem, Massachusetts. Foote was part of the Second New England School, more commonly known as the Boston Six, along with Amy Beach, George Whitefield Chadwick, Edward MacDowell, John Knowles Paine, and Horatio Parker. Foote, unlike the others in the Boston Six, was trained entirely in America, and his main teacher was Paine. Continue reading →

John Knowles Paine (Jan. 9, 1839 - April 25, 1906) was an organist and composer born in Maine, to a musical family. HIs grandfather built pipe organs, and his father and uncles were all music teachers. In the 1850s, Paine took organ and compositions with Hermann Kotzschmar, and completed his first composition (a string quartet) in 1855. He was appointed organist of Portland's Haydn Society, and gave recitals to help fund a trip to Europe. Continue reading →

George Whitefield Chadwick (Nov. 13, 1854 - April 4, 1931) was an American composer, teacher, conductor, and organist. Along with composers Amy Beach, Arthur Foote, Edward MacDowell, John Knowles Paine and Horatio Parker, he was a part of the Second New England School, more commonly known as the Boston Six. Continue reading →