If you go to an orchestra concert during December, there’s a small chance you’ll get to hear the suite from Rimsky-Korsakov‘s opera, Christmas Eve. Usually one movement (the Polonaise) gets programmed in an attempt to get some variety into the program, and to balance out things like Sleigh Ride.

But before you get the hot cocoa and snuggle up by the Christmas Tree, you should be aware that this is not your lovey-fuzzy Christmas Nutcracker. Like any good Russian opera, this tale has devils, a witches’ Sabbath, and a fantastical plot that is bizarre, even for an opera. Or, on the other hand, go ahead and get the cocoa and snuggle up; just blissfully ignore all the dark subject matter and enjoy the music!

The witches’ Sabbath in this piece is fairly tame. By this time this piece was written, the subject had already been overdone – the trend was started by Berlioz nearly half a century before. I suppose Rimsky-Korsakov knew he couldn’t outdo his good friend‘s more famous setting of the same subject!

Thanks to elementary-school music classes and “Row, row, row your boat”, canon is a musical term that is pretty well known. Even if you didn’t pay attention in music class, you probably recognize the term from going to, basically, any and every wedding ever.

You can find canons throughout all of music history. To this day, student composers write canons as part of their training. Canons range from being super simple to outrageously complex.

Cesar Franck wrote canon into many of his works – this was a bit odd for the romantic era, which tended to favor emotion and drama over form and structure. Franck’s canons, however, perfectly fit the aesthetic of the romantic era, and never sound forced or out of place. His Sonata for Violin and Piano is a stunning work and favorite of violinists & pianists (and flutists, who also lay claim to this work.)

Interestingly, Franck’s most famous composition, also with a canon, can be heard alongside Pachelbel’s, at “any and every wedding ever.”

Throughout history there have been numerous female composers; their place in society prevented nearly all of them to remain obscure and their music unheard. Even with all the progress made in modern society, women composers (living and dead) still are unjustly considered second-class. Just consider this – the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra did not accept female musicians until … ready for it? … 1997.

1997! Seriously?
It took them that long to join the 20th century?!?!

I need not go into great detail on this issue because there are plenty who already have done it far better than I can. What I can do is encourage you to listen to Clara Schumann. (Clara’s husband, by the way, was also a composer. Not surprisingly, his Wikipedia article is longer – but not by much.) In a way, she is the figurehead for the advancement of women composers. Her writing was so good, so much better than most of the schlock that was being pumped out by many of her male contemporaries, that she simply could not be ignored. And since her, things have been steadily improving for female musicians and composers, albeit slowly.