Explorations of orchestration, musical eras, and connections to other arts.
Chopin and George Sand remains one of the most complex and emotionally charged relationships in the history of Romantic music. 1. Chopin and George Sand: The Cross-Dressed Woman and the Frail Pianist Image Source: Portrait of Frédéric Chopin and George Sand – Oil on canvas, 2008, based on Eugène Delacroix’s c.1837 preliminary sketch. Collection of … Read more
1. Introduction – How the Clustered Sound of Horns Expanded In the late 19th century, as the double horn became a standard fixture, orchestrations featuring four or more horns became commonplace. 4 became the standard, and by the Late Romantic period, it expanded to 6 or 8 depending on the work. From this point forward, … Read more
1. Composer MBTI as an Interpretive Lens Have you ever wondered about the Composer MBTI behind famous works? Classical music often feels distant or difficult. But when we begin to see composers not as monuments of history but as individual human beings, their music starts to feel surprisingly intuitive. I find myself emotionally inclined, much … Read more
Some songs are remembered through their stories before they are remembered as music. “Gloomy Sunday” is one of them. When this song is mentioned, phrases like “the cursed song” or “the music that drives people to suicide” tend to surface before the melody itself. Whether those labels are accurate or exaggerated, one thing is certain: … Read more
1. Carlo Gesualdo: A Noble Composer Who Broke the Grammar of His Time When discussing Carlo Gesualdo (1566~1613), his tragic life cannot be avoided as a point of departure. A Neapolitan nobleman, he is recorded in history for the 1590 murder of his wife, Maria d’Avalos, and her lover, Fabrizio Carafa. Even by the standards … Read more
1. The Dark Shadows of Classical Music History: The Curse of the Ninth, and The Red Violin The world of classical music may seem elegant and neatly ordered, but beneath it, strange legends and tragic “curses” that cannot be explained by logic have long been passed down. Perhaps the most famous is “The Curse of … Read more
Hannibal Lecter is a character created by Thomas Harris, first firmly etched into popular memory through the film The Silence of the Lambs. The character was later reinterpreted in the film Hannibal and the television series Hannibal, moving across different media while retaining a striking consistency. What gives these works their lasting impact is not … Read more
The Pleasure of Playing the Piano I am not a classically trained pianist. The piano remains deeply fascinating to me, but I would hesitate to call it an instrument I truly command with confidence. Still, among those who have spent even a short time learning the piano, there are many who recognize that their affection … Read more
A transposing instrument is a key concept that defines the unique character of the clarinet. When you first encounter a clarinet in an orchestra, you might notice something peculiar. Even though a clarinetist is reading a ‘C’ on their sheet music, the sound coming out is actually a ‘Bb’ or an ‘A’. This phenomenon often … Read more
When encountering classical music for the first time, one of the first things that often stands out—sometimes even before the title itself—is the catalogue number. Labels such as Op.23, K.550, or BWV 1043 quickly become familiar, yet the moment we ask why these numbers exist, the subject becomes surprisingly difficult to explain. These combinations of … Read more
