Category Archives: The Double

Heine & Schubert’s “Der Doppelgänger”

Franz Schubert’s seminal song “Der Doppelgänger” (1828) is suspended in a unique historical and stylistic moment of classical music, with its ostinato piano part looking back to Bach’s passacaglia and its declamatory vocal part looking forward to Wagner’s Sprechgesang.  It … Continue reading

Posted in Classical Music, Friends, The Double | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Friends making Music together (3)

There are moments when the thought of a friend makes us pause and ponder where they are and what they are doing right now.  It is not because we miss or need them.  We do not worry about their situation, … Continue reading

Posted in Attunement, Friends, Listening, The Double | Leave a comment

The 1912 Friends as “Hermits” in Vienna (Travels in revolutionary Mitteleuropa, from the Rhine to the Danube/9)

If revolutions fail and rebels are damned, what happens to friends like my two favorite comrades conspiring in Caspar Friedrich’s painting in 1819 Dresden?   If they do not plan the next revolt, what do they talk about when they contemplate … Continue reading

Posted in Crisis, Friends, The Arts, The Double | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Composers on the operatic stage

Two recent musical premieres drew my attention to a very special operatic figure, the composer. The first premiere was the release on CD of Dellaira’s tragic The Death of Webern, which explores the mysterious circumstances of Webern’s demise in 1945, … Continue reading

Posted in Classical Music, The Double | Leave a comment

Listening to music as an ascesis of the self

There is no friendship, there are only unique and regular exercises through which particular individuals become and remain friends. Having a conversation by a piano with Pantelis Polychonidis is one of our favorite exercises as friends. A characteristic topic to … Continue reading

Posted in Classical Music, Friends, Listening, Piano, The Double | Leave a comment