Code breakers in Music

Alan Turing played an important role in the breaking the the Nazi Enigma codes during World War 2. His life was made into the 2014 film, ‘The Imitation Game.’

It has now also been turned into an opera, ‘The Life and Death(s) of Alan Turing’ by Justine F Chen to a libretto by David Simpatico, which will premiere on 23rd March in Chicago's Harris Theater for Music and Dance.
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Why is there no saxophone in the orchestra?

A question often asked by first-time concert goers is—where were the saxophones? The saxophone is one of the most popular instruments. You see them everywhere. So why aren't they part of the standard orchestral line-up?

A common myth is that it doesn't blend with the other instruments. It's loud, abrasive and honky—it just sticks out too much.

But in fact, nothing could be further from the truth. The true reason the sax isn't a fully-fledged member of the orchestra is a story full of intrigue, politics and prejudice.
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Ten of Chopin's EASIEST Pieces for Piano

The music of Frédéric Chopin is a pillar of the piano repertoire, including some of the most brilliant, and challenging, music ever written for the instrument ranging from showy polonaises through to whirlwind scherzos – not to mention his notoriously demanding collection of virtuoso etudes. Unlike the other great piano composers of the 19th century, however, Chopin also composed a surprisingly large number of works which can be tackled even by intermediate players (roughly equivalent to grades 5–6 according the UK’s ABRSM ranking system) – although bear in mind that even Chopin’s “easiest” pieces require plenty of musicality and interpretative finesse to bring off convincingly. We’ve chosen ten of our favourites below, ranked roughly in order from the easiest to most difficult.

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A Very Quick Guide to . . . The Clarinet

What’s it all about?

The clarinet, the most versatile and perhaps most popular of all wind instruments.

When did it all start?

The modern clarinet is a direct descendant of the old chalumeau, a popular instrument back in the middle ages and Renaissance – basically a type of recorder, but with a reed.

In about 1700 German instrument maker Johann Christoph Denner (or possibly one of his sons – the details are fuzzy) designed a new version of the chalumeau adding a single key to the instrument to expand its range – effectively, the first clarinet.
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A Very Quick Guide To . . . The Viola

What’s it all about?

The viola. The neglected alto of the string family. Always the bridesmaid, hardly ever the bride.

So when did it all start?

Sometime around 1550 – and we won’t go into the long and convoluted pre-history of the modern string instrument family here. Suffice to say that Italian luthier Andrea Amati is generally credited with creating the first modern violas (and violins) sometime in the 1550s, closely followed by Gasparo da Salò. Andrea Amati’s descendants continued to produce magnificent violas, eventually handing their secrets down to Antonio Stradivarius, the most famous of all instrument makers.

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Which classical artist did Beyoncé beat to become the greatest Grammy artist of all time?

On 5th February the music industry’s 65th Grammy Awards were announced in a glitzy ceremony in Los Angeles. Amongst the categories, the most distinguished include best record, which went to Lizzo’s, ‘About Damn Time’; best Album, won by Harry Styles’ ‘Harry’s House’; and best song, which went to to Bonnie Raitt’s ‘Just Like That.’

But it was Beyoncé that made all the post-awards headlines. Her four wins, for Best Dance Recording (‘Break My Soul’), Best Dance/Electronica Album (‘Renaissance’), Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance (‘Plastic off the Sofa’) and Best R&B Song (‘Cuff It’), makes her career Grammy Awards haul, with 32 wins and 88 nominations, the largest of all time.
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A Very Quick Guide To . . . Elizabethan Music

What’s it all about?

The Elizabethan era – or the “golden age” of English history as it’s still often described. An era during which this rainy and slightly insular island off the coast of northern Europe first began to establish itself on the world stage. An era which witnessed the plays of Shakespeare and Marlowe, the great exploratory voyages and naval triumphs of Francis Drake and Walter Raleigh. And of course the iconic queen herself, perhaps the most celebrated of all English monarchs.
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10 Classic Three Tenors Pieces

January 2023 saw two of the original three tenors, Jose Carreras and Placido Domingo, perform together in Tokyo’s Garden Theatre. The concert was to mark 20 years since the last three tenors concert, held in Columbus, U.S. It was dedicated to the memory of Luciano Pavarotti, who died in 2007.

Given the controversy surrounding Domingo’s career and the age of both singers, the concert was slammed by some for its tackiness.

Perhaps then better to remember the heyday of three tenors mania, when Carreras, Domingo and Pavarotti wowed concertgoers with their interpretations of great works from the opera and song literature.
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Gyorgy Ligeti, Stanley Kubrick and 2001. A Story with a Sting in the Tail.

Ok, so you’ve heard of the film ‘2001’? The one set in space with the black monolith and the mad A.I. computer HAL? And its legendary director Stanley Kubrick? You know, the one who was a notorious perfectionist and whose cinematography also includes films such as the ‘Dr. Strangelove’, ‘A Clockwork Orange’ and ‘The Shining.’

So who is György Ligeti and what does he have to do with Kubrick and that movie?
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Ten Pieces Every Oboist Should Know

The most intensely lyrical of all woodwind instruments, the oboe has a long and distinguished history. Undisputed king of the woodwind during the baroque era, the instrument features heavily throughout Bach’s works as well as appearing in myriad sonatas and concertos by other composers of the period. The arrival of the clarinet in the late eighteenth century rather nudged the instrument out of the limelight. Mozart turned to the clarinet for his last and greatest wind pieces, rather setting the tone for subsequent composers (Brahms, for example, who wrote some of his finest chamber music for clarinet but nothing whatsoever for oboe), although the 20th-century saw many notable additions to the repertoire, including concertos by Richard Strauss and Vaughan Williams, along with Poulenc’s melancholy late sonata.
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