Hi everyone,
I started this blog because as I started getting more and more into classical music, I also had more and more friends tell me how they'd love to get into it as well but wouldn't know where to start. I have no pretension of being an expert, I'm a lover and a listener of music who just happens to read a lot. My parents did raise me with an awareness of classical music (Dvorak, Prokofiev, Andriessen, Bach and Stravinsky were particular favourites in our household) but it wasn't until I saw my first Shostakovich symphony in 2005 that my obsession started. Of course this obsession is still primarily Shostakovich-related, but I have gotten to know so many other pieces of music I love, and this blog's a nice way to share them with you.
In my everyday life I'm a philosophy student, focusing on Nietzsche and philosophy of religion. I'm from The Netherlands but currently live in England where I'm pursuing a PhD. I review concerts for Bachtrack, usually a couple of times a month, which is why I can see so many amazing concerts (I used to review in The Netherlands but have now switched to London-based performances). Experiencing classical music live is such an amazing thing to do, and it is often the concerts that I see/hear that inspire me to write posts for this blog. I am also in charge of the "Heavy Symphonic" playlist at 24Classics, which is an honour and a lot of fun. I try to update my playlist every two weeks with around 6 new tracks.
If you have any comments or questions, I'd be very happy to hear from you. My e-mail address is itisyouranthem@gmail.com. You can also find me on twitter.
If you have any comments or questions, I'd be very happy to hear from you. My e-mail address is itisyouranthem@gmail.com. You can also find me on twitter.
- Renée Reitsma.
Thanks Renee for your blog on classical music. I've been a lover of classical music since my youth partly also because my family brought me up with it. I've love Shostakovich's music for decades - both my mother and father loved his music as well. But I adore the music of many great composers as well as lots of contemporary composers. Thanks SO MUCH for introducing me to "The Execution of Stepan Razin" and for providing the translation of the poem. I've been on a Shostakovich deep dive for the past several months, working to learn all his symphonies, quartets, concertos, and various other works. I've also been reading various books - Volkov, MacDonald, Wilson, and Stephan Johnson's "How Shostakovich Changed My Mind" - a gem of a little book. Do check it out. What a marvelous journey it has been!
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