Beethoven Archive

On May 30, 2013 I pre­sented a new lec­ture at Cen­tral School in East Hanover, NJ. For sev­eral years I have gone there and lec­tured on find­ing the hero myth […]

New Lecture presented at New Jersey School

On May 30, 2013 I pre­sented a new lec­ture at Cen­tral School in East Hanover, NJ. For sev­eral years I have gone there and lec­tured on find­ing the hero myth […]

Once again, my fre­quent col­lab­o­ra­tor, Emily Thomp­son, asked me to lec­ture to her class of young­sters at the school where she teaches: Cen­tral School in East Hanover, NJ. I went […]

Lecture at Central School in NJ (Feb. 22, 2013)

Once again, my fre­quent col­lab­o­ra­tor, Emily Thomp­son, asked me to lec­ture to her class of young­sters at the school where she teaches: Cen­tral School in East Hanover, NJ. I went […]

Richard Russell presents his lecture on the interdisciplinary aspects of creativity.

Lecture at East Hanover (NJ) Central School

Richard Rus­sell presents his lec­ture on the inter­dis­ci­pli­nary aspects of creativity.

Borrowing from literature's hero myth has been a fruitful way for composing since Beethoven's time. Here are some different ways to think about it.

Using literature’s hero myth as a blueprint for music

Bor­row­ing from literature’s hero myth has been a fruit­ful way for com­pos­ing since Beethoven’s time. Here are some dif­fer­ent ways to think about it.

Rob Deemer, a com­poser and con­duc­tor, recently posed this ques­tion on New Music Box, “Why do you com­pose?” That’s a pointed way of ask­ing some ques­tions I’ve con­sid­ered for a […]

Why Do You Compose?” a response to Rob Deemer

Rob Deemer, a com­poser and con­duc­tor, recently posed this ques­tion on New Music Box, “Why do you com­pose?” That’s a pointed way of ask­ing some ques­tions I’ve con­sid­ered for a […]

To recap Part 1 of my reac­tions to the film Black Swan, I posed the ques­tion of: …how to rec­tify our train­ing with our wild-card pen­chant for cre­ativ­ity? Artists any­where will […]

Black Swan’s composition lesson Part 2

To recap Part 1 of my reac­tions to the film Black Swan, I posed the ques­tion of: …how to rec­tify our train­ing with our wild-card pen­chant for cre­ativ­ity? Artists any­where will […]

I love this arti­cle writ­ten by Carl­ton Cuse, one of the show run­ners of my favorite tele­vi­sion show of the last decade, “Lost.” In this arti­cle he faces a cri­sis […]

Once “Lost”, How to be Found?

I love this arti­cle writ­ten by Carl­ton Cuse, one of the show run­ners of my favorite tele­vi­sion show of the last decade, “Lost.” In this arti­cle he faces a crisis […]

Richard Russell presents a lecture and demonstration on how the literary tradition of the heroic quest can be found in the music of Beethoven.NJ | Oct. 29, 2010" />

Lecture at Central School in NJ | Oct. 29, 2010

Richard Rus­sell presents a lec­ture and demon­stra­tion on how the lit­er­ary tra­di­tion of the heroic quest can be found in the music of Beethoven.

Can you remember the first time you heard a live performance of a symphony that you love? I recall hearing the Beethoven Ninth for the first time in a live concert. I was in my last year of high school and heard it performed by the Honolulu Symphony. It was...

On Audio Fidelity

Can you remem­ber the first time you heard a live per­for­mance of a sym­phony that you love? I recall hear­ing the Beethoven Ninth for the first time in a live con­cert. I was in my last year of high school and heard it per­formed by the Hon­olulu Sym­phony. It was…

With the huge down­turn in the econ­omy over the last year, the stock mar­ket is on everyone’s mind. It’s a funny busi­ness because of all the euphemisms. One hears talk […]

What the stock market says about creative evolution

With the huge down­turn in the econ­omy over the last year, the stock mar­ket is on everyone’s mind. It’s a funny busi­ness because of all the euphemisms. One hears talk […]

I was at a con­cert of new music recently, and in the time before the start of the pro­gram I got to think­ing. I was going to be hear­ing a […]

Looking forward to new music

I was at a con­cert of new music recently, and in the time before the start of the pro­gram I got to think­ing. I was going to be hear­ing a […]

For those of us con­cerned about form and archi­tec­ture, here’s a great quote about Beethoven, cour­tesy Bernard Hol­land in the 2/23/07 New York Times: Beethoven was the Clas­si­cal era‚Äôs psy­cho­log­i­cal archi­tect. […]

A Beethoven Thought

For those of us con­cerned about form and archi­tec­ture, here’s a great quote about Beethoven, cour­tesy Bernard Hol­land in the 2/23/07 New York Times: Beethoven was the Clas­si­cal era‚Äôs psy­cho­log­i­cal architect. […]

The other night I was at a composer’s forum where the guest of honor was 2004 Pulitzer Prize win­ner Paul Moravec. We were all hav­ing a great exchange, and the […]

Write something joyful!

The other night I was at a composer’s forum where the guest of honor was 2004 Pulitzer Prize win­ner Paul Moravec. We were all hav­ing a great exchange, and the […]

I just have to rec­om­mend this book, The Cre­ative Habit. It was writ­ten by Twyla Tharp, the choreographer. Now, one might ask what chore­og­ra­phy has to do with music com­po­si­tion, […]

The Creative Habit

I just have to rec­om­mend this book, The Cre­ative Habit. It was writ­ten by Twyla Tharp, the chore­o­g­ra­pher. Now, one might ask what chore­og­ra­phy has to do with music composition, […]

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