opera

Scott Joplin (c. 1867/68 - April 1, 1917) was an African-American composer and pianist, who came to be known as the "King of Ragtime Writers". Joplin was born in to a family of railroad laborers in Texas, but got as much musical knowledge as he could from local teachers, and ended up  forming a vocal quartet, and teaching mandolin and guitar. He later left for the south to work as a itinerant musician, and eventually found his way up  to Chicago for the World's Fair of 1893, which contributed towards the ragtime craze. Continue reading →

Ignaz Brüll (Nov. 7, 1846 - Sept. 17, 1907) was born in Moravia, but lived and worked in Vienna. Born to wealthy merchants, Brüll had a musical upbringing; his mother played piano, and his father was a baritone. Though Brüll was to inherit the family business, he was encouraged to pursue music after he started taking lessons at eight years old, and showed clear talent. By this time, the family had already moved to work in Vienna, and not long after, Brüll began studying with Julius Epstein at the Vienna Conservatory, and he studied composition and instrumentation with Johann Rufinatscha and Felix Otto Dessoff. His abilities as a pianist were such that Brahms requested that he play alongside him for his four-hand compositions. Continue reading →

In American music, the name Sousa is synonymous with John Philip Sousa’s marches that fill the air every summer. Sousa, though, desired to become a theatrical composer to rival Gilbert and Sullivan. El Capitan and Chris and the Wonderful Lamp are probably his most known stage works, but today we take a look at one of the lesser known works, The American Maid, also known as The Glass Blowers. Continue reading →

While for many, the summer months mean outdoor concerts with pops music, for some the summer months bring opera festivals. One of the best known of these, of course, is the Bayreuther Festspiele, with a theater built specifically for performances of Wagner's Ring Cycle. Today we take a look at much lesser known opera - Ernest Reyer's Sigurd, sometimes referred to as the "French Ring." Continue reading →