Peter Tregear

If this is to be believed, maybe we don't.

When I think of the 'problem' of Carmina Burana I am reminded, among other things, of the quotation from Schopenhauer that Orff's countryman and contemporary, Hans Pfitzner used in the preface to the score of his opera 'Palestrina':

"Alongside world history there goes, guiltless and unstained by blood, the history of philosophy, science and the arts."

One mi… Continue

I've been reflecting on Frank's discussion post, above, and its broader subject matter, nationalist music. But just what is a 'musical nationalism'? Music that uses folk tunes? But that seems neither necessary nor sufficient. Think, for instance, of Sibelius' Finlandia--tell me if I am wrong, but I don't think there is much authentically ethnic Finnish music therein....

If you allow me to paint with a broad (if not downright crude) historical brush for a bit, I guess I start by noting that 'nat… Continue

The composer Richard Strauss once self-mockingly described himself as a kleinbürgerliche (i.e. petite bourgeois) composer, no doubt aware of the suspicion held by some of his contemporaries that his popular success as a composer reflected an underlying superficiality. Lucky for us, however, it seems Strauss nevertheless had both the ability and temperament to reflect deeply on the wider philosophical implications of his art, and this ensured that he was never to be content with just being… Continue

Tis' the season to be performing 'Messiah' again (notwithstanding it was originally intended, and indeed IS better suited, for Easter). While I (almost) never tire of performing it (though sometimes I tire of listening to it!), I did think for a long time I was the only one to be perplexed by the placement of the 'Hallelujah' chorus.

Then I read this. It is a chastening thought--whether the thesis here is 'true' or not, it s… Continue

Follow this link for something quite extraordinary, I think--the disembodied voice of Dame Nellie Melba, in a recording from 1904, just rediscovered.

For the first time, I think, we have a recording of Melba that gives a genuine sense (rather than a muffled, disappointing, crackle) of what she must have actually sounded like. For the first time, I find myself being actually moved by… Continue