Thoughts
Thoughts on Music
Essays on interpretation, performance practice and the craft of violin playing.
- 19 January 2026
The Rediscovery of Baroque Music — Mendelssohn’s Legacy
Until the mid-nineteenth century, almost exclusively music by living composers was performed. How a single concert changed that — and why we still live with the consequences.
- 16 February 2026
What is Music? — The Art of Imitation
For the composers of the Baroque there was a clear answer: music is the art of imitating human emotion. A look at the doctrine of affects and what it still tells us.
- 23 March 2026
The Soul of Interpretation — From Affect to Expression
Anabasis and katabasis, the minor second as the saddest interval, the eight-bar period. On the craft of expression.
- 20 April 2026
From Composer to Performer — Performance Practice in Transition
In the eighteenth century every artist played his own works. How the virtuoso displaced the composer on stage — and what that means for us.
- 18 May 2026
The Living Conditions of Great Composers — Music as Consolation
Haydn, Mozart and Metastasio lodged under the roof of the Michaelerhaus on Michaelerplatz. On a room still in family hands — and what it reveals about the purpose of art.
- 15 June 2026
The Art of Practising — More Than Repetition
Seven to eight repetitions, not duration. What research in medical rehabilitation and David Oistrakh’s practice scheme have in common.
- 13 July 2026
Stage Fright — The Battle Against Fear
Why one should play everything ten per cent slower on stage, and what the fight-or-flight response has to do with it.
- 10 August 2026
The Development of Violin Technique — From Bach to Today
What is self-evident for an advanced student today was revolutionary centuries ago. On Bach, Paganini and the great violin schools.
- 7 September 2026
The Art of Improvisation — A Lost Legacy
Anyone who could not improvise was considered an incomplete musician. On a skill that has all but vanished from classical training.
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