Timothy Judd, Suzuki Violin Lessons – Suzuki Violin Lessons in Richmond, VA and more…

Latest Listeners’ Club Posts

Handel’s “Un ‘Alma Innamorata”: A Secular Cantata for the Wounded Lover May 26, 2023

Before television, internet, movies, and rock and roll, there was the secular cantata. During the late Baroque period in Italy, these dramatic vocal works were popular entertainment in wealthy, aristocratic circles. Made up of a brief sequence of recitatives and arias, the secular cantata amounted to a kind of highly condensed opera. Betwee […]

Chopin’s Mazurka in A Minor Op. 17, No 4: Evgeny Kissin May 24, 2023

Frédéric Chopin’s Mazurka in A minor, Op. 17, No. 4 inhabits the ephemeral world of dreams. Emerging out of silence, the opening bars are hazy and harmonically ambiguous. They contain a rising three-note cell which searches for the “right” note and soon spins into a melody. It is music which seems to be composing itself in realtime. Traditi […]

Wagner’s “Götterdämmerung”: Siegfried’s Rhine Journey May 22, 2023

Completed in 1874, Götterdämmerung (“Twilight of the Gods”) is the fourth and final opera in Richard Wagner’s epic Ring cycle. Wagner composed the Ring cycle, which is based on Norse mythology, over the course of 25 years. Its themes include the conflict between love and the pursuit of power, the violation of nature, self-sacrifice, annihil […]

Milhaud’s “Le Boeuf sur le Toit”: An Homage to Charlie Chaplin May 19, 2023

Between 1919 and 1920, the French composer Darius Milhaud set out to create “fifteen minutes of music, rapid and gay, as a background to any Charlie Chaplin silent movie.” The result was Le Boeuf sur le toit, a jubilant and colorful work for chamber orchestra. The title translates as “The Ox on the Roof.” It may have been taken from the sig […]

Fauré’s Élégie: Jacqueline du Pré May 17, 2023

In 1880, immediately following the completion of his First Piano Quartet, Gabriel Fauré began work on a sonata for cello and piano. Often, when composing a new chamber work, Fauré began with the slow movement. Ultimately, the sonata failed to materialize, but the intended slow movement was published as a stand-alone piece—the solemn and lam […]

Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G Major: Lighthearted, Brilliant, and Bluesy May 15, 2023

With the slap of a whip, Maurice Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G Major springs to life. Suddenly, a magically intricate machine is propelled into motion. With the solo piano in its twinkling highest register, a toy soldier march in the piccolo, delicate string pizzicati and harmonics, and the almost imperceptible whir of the snare drum, we are […]

Villa-Lobos’ “Ciranda das Sete Notas”: Brazilian Bassoon Bliss May 12, 2023

The Ciranda is a traditional Brazilian children’s dance. In the ultimate expression of community, participants (including adults) join hands and engage in a round dance of moderate tempo. The Brazilian composer, Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959), was serving his country as minister for national music education when, in 1933, he wrote Ciranda d […]