Tag Archives: Tone Poem Tuesday

I could also title this post “I listened to it, so now I’m gonna make you listen to it too!” Because it’s a piece whose existence I learned about after I watched a video on YouTube called “Reacting to One of … Continue reading →

Another new composer to me: Canadian-American composer Colin McPhee, who lived 1900 to 1964. I’m not sure what he is “best known” for, because his influence seems to be more behind-the-scenes than anything else, but McPhee did undertake some of … Continue reading →

A new composer to me! And thus, hopefully, to you. One of my favorite eras of “national” classical music is the English music of the 20th century, starting with Holst and Vaughan Williams and continuing on to Britten, William Walton, … Continue reading →

I featured this piece years ago, reflecting on the fact that I performed it in the concert band at a music camp that I attended as a teenager. But in that post I didn’t write much about the piece itself. … Continue reading →

I could write something about Vocalise by Rachmaninoff…or I could just get out of the way and let you listen to Vocalise by Rachmaninoff. So, here’s Vocalise by Rachmaninoff.

This week’s selection is stretching the definition of “tone poem” probably past the breaking point, as this piece is not orchestral at all; it was originally written for harpsichord but we’re going to hear it on piano. It’s by Jean-Philippe … Continue reading →

I suppose it’s something of a cliche: the composer who aspires to serious work and yet finds their greatest success in crafting music for the popular world. Such was the fate of Robert Russell Bennett, whose name will be well … Continue reading →

Dame Judith Weir is a British composer with whose work I am entirely unfamiliar except for the present work, which I just heard for the first time the other day. But my lack of knowledge of Weir’s music shouldn’t be … Continue reading →

Charles Tomlinson Griffes was an American composer whose life forms one of the better What ifs of music history. He was one of those composers who, being born in the late 19th century (1884, to be specific), learned and came of … Continue reading →

First of all, Happy October! October is the best month, and on this topic I will hear no debate. Now, onto some music. This one I came upon by happenstance: I’m on vacation today and tomorrow (I’ve been on vacation … Continue reading →