chorus

César Antonovich Cui (Jan. 18, 1835 - March 13, 1918) was a Russian composer and music critic, and also an army officer, and military academic. He's widely known for being a part of the "The Five" (also known as the Mighty Five, or the New Russian School), along with Mily Balakirev, Modest Mussorgsky, Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov, and Alexander Borodin.  Continue reading →

This week, we move to a composer who's name is more known, Chrales Villiers Stanford, a vanguard of the British musical scene, but one who's compositions have faded away gradually. Stanford's orchestral compositions and operas are well forgotten today (though we'll be sure to feature some of those here in upcoming months!), but his vocal works survived him well. Unfortunately, these two continue to fall out of favor, including his Stabat Mater, which we look at today. Continue reading →

This week we take a look at a work from a composer who's life was tragically cut short during World War I, Ernest Bristow Farrar. Just two days after going to the western front of the war, Farrar's short life ended at the age of 33. His extensive compositional output in the years preceding the war have, unfortunately, fallen into obscurity. Today we look at a work for solo voice, chorus, and orchestra, a setting of Dante Gabriel Rossetti's The Blessed Damozel. Continue reading →