Max Derrickson

Writing Music Program Notes for Over 30 Years

Tag: gypsies

Kodaly – Dances of Galánta

“Folk music” as a genre of music seems to defy a specific definition.  Mainly, however, it’s the songs of a particular group/culture that arose organically amidst daily life, passed through the ages by oral communication, and without a known author.  Of course, dance and tales often accompanied these songs, and the whole business was coined […]

Bizet – Toreador from Carmen (Suite No. 1)

Georges Bizet (October 25, 1838 – June 3, 1875) Toreador from Carmen (Suite No. 1) Despite its less than enthusiastic premiere at the Opéra Comique in Paris, 1875, Bizet’s  Carmen has become what may be the most popular opera ever written.  In its time it seemed scandalous, what with its gypsies and prostitutes and murder […]