Tag Archives: Tone Poem Tuesday

Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992) was one of the major names in twentieth-century music. HIs work is always brightly modern, but also accessible in a way that much of the avant garde music of that century was not; Messiaen’s work both rewards repeated … Continue reading →

Here’s a suite of Max Steiner’s music from Casablanca, one of the most accidentally-great works of art ever made. The movie went into production without a finished script, the ending was only determined as the need to film it came near, … Continue reading →

Sticking with my new discovery, Russian-Jewish composer Alfred Schnittke, I’ve already learned that he composed music for films…including a version of Kipling’s mongoose story, Rikki-Tikki-Tavi. This prospect initially excited me, because an animated version of that story used to show … Continue reading →

Yup, as promised the other day, busy days in progress! So, here’s Franz von Suppe.  

Sticking with Alfred Schnittke, to whom I introduced myself last week, we have extracts from a film score of his. The Story of an Unknown Actor is a Soviet film from 1977 for which Schnittke provided the music. I have turned … Continue reading →

I know I’ve been doing “autumnal” music this year instead of “spooky” or “scary” music, but this one really does fall into both categories, and it’s one that I post every year this month anyway, so here we are: that … Continue reading →

Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg wrote a concert overture, inspired by the familiar landscapes he knew around this time of year, and he titled it simply, In Autumn. That’s pretty straightforward, isn’t it? The piece is melodic and brooding in precisely the … Continue reading →

Continuing a series of autumnal or autumnally-inspired works, we have quite an avant-garde work today. It’s amazing how new and striking this piece sounds in my ears, given that it is over 55 years old, having been commissioned by the … Continue reading →

I suppose we’ll just go ahead and make “Autumnal Classical Music” the theme of the month here, since I’ve already done “Spooky or Scary Classical Music” in previous years. There will probably be a little overlap, but I’ll try to … Continue reading →