themusicalhistorynerd

[themusicalhistorynerd]

Party rockers in the hou

se tonight

[themusicalhistorynerd]

“I have a new plan: to go mad.”

— Fyodor Dostoevsky, in a letter to his brother Michael

[themusicalhistorynerd]

Another art in new format, now it is Enjolras, gloving in all his glory. He’s just so passionate, I always want do draw him in some epic posture. Can’t resist it. And I think someday I’ll run out of words I can describe his awesomeness with. Maybe I’ll start writing poetry.

[themusicalhistorynerd]

it’s jsut fucked up that we bred pigeons to be our companions and then when we no longer had use of them we just abandoned them and now we treate them like menaces and pests and  people want them dead they are our FRIENDS

[themusicalhistorynerd]

tiktok trend thing i don't know anymore

[themusicalhistorynerd]

A Note on This Blog

I made this blog when I was about about 15 years old, when my hyperfixation was the french revolution and it became so intense that I decided to create a separate blog for it. I’m 20 now, a college student who is not majoring in history like I always thought I was - my life went in several directions since then. During this semester’s finals week I found myself being nostalgic and revisiting this blog.

Scrolling through, looking at my past conversations, remembering the nights I would stay up until 3 AM talking to complete strangers about the French Revolution or foreign languages or classical music, I was truly reminded how much brighter the world could be, regardless of everything that’s happened to me as of late. I remember the History Secret Santa’s all those years ago - how excited I was, because despite my traumatic and uncaring household during the holidays I had something to look forward to. I got bullied in school and all of the people have abandoned me since then, but I still had this community. I have a lot of baggage and trauma since then, which has put me into some very dark places. But revisiting this blog made me remember the good times, the dedication I put into this as well as simply reminding myself about how much is truly out there in the world that makes it worth living in.

That being said, I hope to stay in whatever is left of the history/classical music/classic lit side of tumblr there is because this community has truly been such a positive impact on my life, and a safe haven against the world. So, thank you all. I have an entirely new tumblr account now, and this is only a side blog, but I’m honestly too emotionally attached to it to simply let it go and start anew. I hope to be more active in here, and to remind myself that there is so much more out there than the things that have happened to me thus far.

Much love,

Erin / Blake

[themusicalhistorynerd]

life is about listening to tchaikovsky while showering

[themusicalhistorynerd]

Hot girls break their backs trying to find a pdf of some rare book which had 500 copies published in 1932

[themusicalhistorynerd]

+ 4 the little prince headers; please, like or reblog if you save.

[themusicalhistorynerd]

[themusicalhistorynerd]

Near Bonnieux, Provence, South of France (by howard1916)

[themusicalhistorynerd]

Mozart - Clarinet Concerto in A Major, K.622 (1791)

As with the popular clarinet quintet, Mozart wrote this concerto for his friend and renowned clarinetist Anton Stadler. The two of them had met through the Masonic lodge where they were members and Mozart had written several works featuring the clarinet for him to play. It was among the handful of masterpieces he wrote during his last year, 1791 (others include The Magic Flute, Piano Concerto no.27, and fragments of the infamous Requiem). Because of this, along with the clarinet's deeper timbre, leads people to suggest that the concerto is like a Swan Song, an autumnal sunset piece that's a resignation into and acceptance of one's death. While that's pretty and poetic, I also think it's a bit too Romantic. This theory or attitude is understandable because this concerto is somewhat more restrained than his others. It's more soft and lyrical than it is flashy, it doesn't feature a cadenza (which is very rare for Mozart to do), and the orchestra itself is toned down: 2 flutes, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, and strings. No percussion, no louder brass, and no oboes. For most of it, the music sounds more like a concerto for clarinet and strings, while the few winds and horns add some background color. The lack of a cadenza is understandable though. The clarinet is almost constantly playing, and the difficulty of these passages strung together with very little time to catch one's breath makes for a kind of synthesis between "soloist virtuoso technique" and "musical structure / architecture". The first movement shows the expressive possibilities of the clarinet: it plays with the tutti, it flutters a lot, it sings, it does scales and arpeggios, and there's a cool section (which repeats later) where the clarinet plays a kind of duet with itself; a melody in the higher registers calling and responding with another voice in the lowest register. The effect sounds like two different instruments and for a long time I assumed that part was played by the bassoon. Even with being 200 years old by now, Mozart's music still surprises me. The movement is mainly driven by lyricism, and with surprisingly dense part-writing in the strings. The second movement has one of those trademark Mozartian melodies that is graceful, emotional, and the constant uses of subtle dissonances give it a longing quality. That, plus some passages that others describe as 'haunting', is part of why people assumed this was a 'swan song'. While this slow movement makes me think of Brahms, the rondo finale makes me think 'Schubert'. It's "Allegro" but doesn't come off too fast because of the 'toned-down' writing. Again, unrushed and brings back the lyricism of the first movement. Being sonata-rondo, it also has the opening's 'weightiness'; the 'development' section pulls away from the 'dancing' music back to 'serious academic' music, starting with a thick counterpoint with the strings modulating into the minor. The overall intimacy of the work is similar to the unorthodox 'intimacy' of his equally 'reserved' Piano Concerto no.27, mentioned above as also being written during this final year. While people often compare Mozart and Beethoven, I think this is a quality that starts to predict Schubert more, and I am guessing that had Mozart lived longer he would be writing more and more music in this reserved and heavenly style.

Movements:

1. Allegro

2. Adagio

3. Rondo: Allegro

[themusicalhistorynerd]

Ok but can we talk about that one time Camille Desmoulins wrote an article, in which he quoted his own poem as anonymous and praised this wonderful work of art and the patriot who wrote it

[themusicalhistorynerd]

[themusicalhistorynerd]

it’s 5 am and i’ve spent the night screaming over a movie about the french revolution

live laugh love

[themusicalhistorynerd]

liberal arts professors can't cook... all they know is assign foucault, wear sweaters, have strong opinions on chalk, eat hot chip and lie

[themusicalhistorynerd]

obsessed with this clock. sorry i have to leave i have a meeting at robespierre pm