#ClassicsaDay #ClassicalSchool Weeks 4 and 5

Traditionally, September is the back-to-school month. The Classics a Day team decided to mark the occasion. Classical School is the theme for September 2019. To participate, just post a piece of classical music that's somehow related to education with the appropriate hashtags.

What would count? Any classical work about school, or using themes from schools; examination pieces; composer tributes to their teachers (or students); etudes or other instructional works, just to name a few.

There's only one week day in the fifth week of the month. So below are my selections for the fourth week of #ClassicalSchool, plus a preview of next Monday's post!

9/23/19 John Philip Sousa - High School Cadets March

Sousa wrote this march in 1890 for the teachers and students of Central High School -- at that time the only high school in Washington, DC.

9/24/19 Sigmund Romberg - The Student Prince

Romberg's 1924 operetta tells the story of Prince Karl Franz, who attends Heidelberg University incognito. He falls in love with a commoner but must give her up when he's called to take the throne.

9/25/19 Einojuhani Rautavaara - Etudes, Op. 42

Some etudes are finger studies. Rautavaara's 1969 Etudes study intervals. The first etude, based on thirds, is the most consonant of the six.

9/26/19 Alexander Scriabin - Etude in D-sharp minor, Op. 8 No. 12

Vladimir Horowitz used this etude frequently as an encore. It features wide leaps in the left hand, continual octaves in the right, and intervals stretching up to an 11th. Not for beginners.

9/27/19 Clifton Williams - The Sinfonians March

This march was commissioned by the Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity. Phi Mu Alpha was founded at the New England Conservatory of Music and is primarily for music students.

9/30/19 Benjamin Britten - Turn of the Screw

This 1954 opera is based on the gothic horror story by Henry James. It involves a governess whose care of two children in a haunted house goes horribly awry.