Clef Notes

Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Ned Rorem passed away on November 18, just a few weeks after his 99th birthday. The prolific American composer was especially renowned for his vocal works, writing over 500 art songs—more than any other American composer to date. Read on to learn more about the composer's life, compositions, and writings and to listen to select recordings.

This year marks the bicentenary of composer César Franck. Born on December 10, 1822, in Liège, Belgium, Franck was well known in his lifetime as a pianist, composer, organist, and teacher. However, it wasn’t until after his death in 1890 that his compositions began to truly gain the recognition they deserved. Read on to learn more about this composer.

Over the last year and a half, we have gotten to know Illinois Public Media’s first-ever John Frayne Classical Music Fellow, Julia Escobar, through her special episodes of Prairie Performances and Classics of the Phonograph. As the semester draws to a close, we thought we’d check in with her to find out more about her upcoming studio recital on December 4.

For millions around the world, Christmas isn’t Christmas until they’ve heard the lone treble voice sing the opening verse of “Once in Royal David’s City” broadcast from King’s College Chapel in Cambridge. Every Christmas Eve since 1918, King's College has held a service called A Festival of Nine Lesson and Carols. Though it is now inextricably linked with King's and its renowned choir, you may be surprised to learn that the first service of this kind was actually held in Cornwall, not Cambridge.

Perhaps mice dancing to Tchaikovsky is not so far-fetched after all. Researchers from the University of Tokyo recently published a study in which they found that rats could keep the beat while listening to Mozart. Accurately moving to a musical beat was thought to be a unique innate human ability, but the findings of this study suggest that this ability may be more widespread among the animal kingdom than previously thought.

On November 17, the University of Illinois Symphony Orchestra will present William Grant Still's Darker America alongside Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms and other works. Not yet familiar with William Grant Still? Read on to learn more about this composer before attending the concert.

By now, you will have undoubtedly heard how pop superstar Lizzo played a crystal flute that once belonged to President James Madison. The singer, rapper, and classically trained flutist played the 200-year-old piece of American history under the watchful eye of security personnel from the Library of Congress, where the flute is held as part of the Library’s extensive musical instrument collection. But what is the history behind this rare instrument?

The Baroque Artists of Champaign-Urbana (BACH) return Sunday, November 6, with a concert featuring Dietrich Buxtehude's 1680 Passion-meditation, Membra Jesu Nostri. This is paired with To the Hands, Caroline Shaw's response to one of the movements of the Buxtehude. We sat down with BACH's music director, Dr. Sarah Riskind, to discuss both works and how this program came to be.