Klaus Döring's Classical Music/Klaus Döring's Klassische Musik

 by Janet Horvath “What? D-Flat Major?” Most string players wail, “that’s a key signature with  FIVE FLATS! ” I don’t blame them. It’s so much more difficult to play in tune on string instruments without the resonance of the open strings. Pianists, though, will be elated. They get to play on all of the black keys. Numerous composers have used D-flat major to depict lush, dreamy sounds, and to explore the richness and depth of expression imaginable in this key. Perhaps you know that many composers associated specific emotions with certain keys. The key of E-flat major is a case in point, a key that is considered heroic. Think Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 The  Eroica , Strauss’  Ein Heldenleben , a Hero’s Life, and dozens of string quartets and symphonies by Haydn, Sibelius, Elgar, Dvořák, Mozart, Bruckner, Shostakovich, Mahler. Frédéric Chopin © Getty Image One of the most famous piece for piano in D-flat is the Cho...

By Georg Predota , Interlude Composers tend to be a peculiar lot, particularly as it pertains to the best and most conducive circumstances in which they compose their best music. Of course, reports of that nature tend to be highly anecdotal, but more often then not, they do contain at least a kernel of truth. Ludwig van Beethoven Beethoven on a Walk by Berthold Genzmer As the American painter, artist and photographer Chuck Close famously stated, “Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just show up and go to work.”  Beethoven , for example, went for vigorous walks through the forests and hills surrounding Vienna after lunch. He always carried with him a pencil and a small pocket sketchbook, recording any musical ideas that would thus come to his mind. Gustav Mahler Mahler’s Komponierhäuschen Gustav Mahler  not only locked himself in various Komponierhäuschen (Composer’s cottages), he also took 3 to 4-hour walks after lunch, recording his musical impressions in a ...

– and does it really exist? Beethoven, Mahler and Dvořák all died after writing their ninth symphonies. Picture: Getty By Maddy Shaw Roberts, ClassicFM London 0 It’s a superstition that plagued some of the great composers of the 19th and 20th centuries – but is there any truth in it? The ‘Curse of the Ninth’ is a superstition that developed during the late  Romantic  period – some people believed that composers were fated to die during or after writing their ninth symphony. On the surface, the theory seems like it might have some basis in fact:  Beethoven ,  Schubert ,  Dvořák  and  Vaughan Williams all died after completing their Ninths, Anton Bruckner died with his Ninth unfinished – and  Mahler  contracted pneumonia while writing his tenth. But like all good conspiracy theories, the Curse of the Ninth has been debunked and dismissed. Here’s the real story. Gustav Mahler hatched a plan to...