Allegro Largo Scherzo Finale

I managed to mix up the programmes for the final NZSO tour, which meant that I missed the concert with the premiere of Leif Segerstam’s Symphony No. 191 Presumably it will turn up on RNZ Concert sometime, but right now I can only comment on the attention that the concert has received in the Dominion [...]

Part three of a series examining the curious lack of new symphonies. Part Two is here.
Culprit #5: Musical Directors
Throughout much of the early 20th Century, European audiences knew American composers as specialists in short orchestral works full of charming folk tunes; it was widely believed that there was no such thing as an American symphonist. [...]

7. Schoenberg: Verklaerte Nacht; Schumann: Cello Concerto; Brahms arr. Schoenberg: Piano Quintet
It will certainly be interesting to see how the combination of Schoenberg and Schumann succeeds here. Although it might seem as if the NZSO is moving somewhat out of the repertoire comfort zone with the one-and-a-half doses of Schoenberg, this is somewhat misleading. Verklaerte [...]

Take a look at the brochure
I’m actually quite flabbergasted by the dullness of the NZSO’s subscription programme for next year. There is very little New Zealand music on display – and less that I really want to hear. Of course, if you’re the kind of person looking out exclusively for repertoire symphonies, then you’re in [...]

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Culprit #3: Feminism (I’ll try to explain myself)
An article I saw  on Gloria Coates’ website noted that, throughout the course of Western art music, symphonies by female composers have been few and far between. In large part this is due to the general lack of female composers until the beginning of [...]