From fulfilling funerary functions, to eulogising friends and fellow artists, or lamenting the waste of war: here are some of the finest examples of music written in mourning.
Award-winning pianist Junyan Chen talks about curating this year’s Leeds International Chamber Series, making new arrangements of repertoire, and the importance of chamber music for pianists.
The work most frequently performed in concert in 2023, Rachmaninov’s masterpiece owes its popularity to specific circumstances, but also to much deeper reasons.
Ahead of his concert at 92NY this December, Conrad Tao discusses Rachmaninov’s lush harmony, and the parallels between his music and classic songwriting of Billy Strayhorn and Harold Arlen.
Many of Rachmaninov's works were written for himself to play at the piano, but he was also a considerable composer for the voice, covering everything from intimate songs to operas and liturgical choral music.
“Years ago, I composed for the great Chaliapin. Now he is dead, and so I compose for a new kind of artist, the Philadelphia Orchestra.” Cameron Kelsall explores the relationship between Sergei Rachmaninov and the orchestra he composed for in exile.
Mark has been a Bachtrack editor since 2014. He is also an experienced critic, writing hundreds of reviews for the site, as well as a freelancer writing for other magazines and newspapers. He also writes programme notes and blogs on Substack. Mark has a particular passion for the operas of Verdi as well as Russian and French repertoire. Outside the concert hall and opera house, Mark enjoys cooking and travel and is probably at his happiest let loose in a French patisserie or a Viennese coffee house.
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