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Betsy Schwarm

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Websites : Betsy Schwarm at the Metropolitan State University of Denver, Classical Music Insights

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Associated with The Music Alliance, part of Encyclopaedia Britannica's Publishing Partner Program.

BIOGRAPHY

Betsy Schwarm is a music historian based in Colorado. She serves on the music faculty of Metropolitan State University of Denver and gives pre-performance talks for Opera Colorado and the Colorado Symphony Orchestra. She also has a dozen years’ experience as a classical radio announcer/producer, through which she honed her music writing style to balance the interests of music professionals and the needs of casual listeners. Ms. Schwarm writes classical program notes for various organizations around the world. The domestic portion of that list includes the Cleveland Orchestra, the Philharmonic Society of Orange County, Mainly Mozart of San Diego, and the Huntsville Symphony, as well as Encyclopaedia Britannica.

In addition to many hundreds of published articles on classical music, Ms. Schwarm has published two books intended to make classical music accessible for the general listener, Classical Music Insights and Operatic Insights.

Primary Contributions (254)

Articles

Rhapsody in Blue

Rhapsody in Blue, musical composition by George Gershwin, known for its integration of jazz rhythms with classical music, that premiered on February 12, 1924, as part of bandleader Paul Whiteman’s “An Experiment in Modern Music” concert at New York’s Aeolian Concert Hall. The composition, perhaps…

Giselle

Der Ring des Nibelungen

Requiem in D Minor, K 626

Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67

4′33″

Peter and the Wolf

Boléro

Erich Wolfgang Korngold

Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125

New World Symphony

Pictures at an Exhibition

Carmina Burana

Beethoven Piano Sonatas

Symphony No. 40 in G Minor, K. 550

Symphony No. 1 in D Major

Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92

Symphony No. 6 in F Major

Resurrection Symphony No. 2 in C Minor

Leningrad Symphony No. 7 in C Major, Op. 60

Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in C-Sharp Minor

Requiem in D Minor, Op. 48

Adagio in G Minor

An American in Paris

Mozart Piano Concertos

Chopin Preludes, Op. 28

Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 18

William Tell Overture

Pathétique Symphony

The Pirates of Penzance

Eroica Symphony

Piano Concerto No. 3 in D Minor, Op. 30

Billy Budd

La Bohème

The Nutcracker

The Stars and Stripes Forever

Zadok the Priest

Symphony No. 4 in E-flat Major

Bachianas Brasileiras No. 2

The Skaters’ Waltz, Op. 183

Preludes

Lyric Pieces

Oboe Concerto

Nights in the Gardens of Spain

Piano Sonata No. 1, Op. 22

Clarinet Concerto in A, K 622

Eine kleine Nachtmusik

Wozzeck

Atmosphères

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

An Alpine Symphony, Op. 64

Elvira Madigan

Erlkönig

The Well-Tempered Clavier, BWV 846–893

Florencia en el Amazonas

Songs Without Words

Dance of the Hours

Short Ride in a Fast Machine

Spem in alium nunquam habui

Scarlatti keyboard sonatas

Suites for Unaccompanied Cello, BWV 1007–1012

The Firebird

Des Knaben Wunderhorn

Liebeslieder waltzes

Slavonic Dances, Op. 46 and Op. 72

The Blue Danube, Op. 314

Pomp and Circumstance March in D Major, Op. 39, No. 1

The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra

Symphony No. 5 in C-Sharp Minor

Symphony No. 8 in E-Flat Major

Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin

The Moldau

Quartet for the End of Time

Asturias

Suite bergamasque

Concerto for Four Violins and Cello in B Minor, Op. 3, No. 10

Piano Concerto No. 1 in D-flat Major, Op. 10

Serenade No. 1 in D Major, Op. 11

Variations on a Theme by Haydn, Op. 56

Emperor Concerto

Verklärte Nacht, Op. 4

Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14

Transcendental Études

Music for the Royal Fireworks

Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun

La traviata

Hungarian Dances

Estancia

Ave Verum Corpus, K 618

Marche Slave, Op. 31

The Red Violin

The Lord of the Rings

Heroic Polonaise

Symphony No. 9 in C Major

Violin Concerto in E Minor, Op. 64

Symphony No. 1 in B-flat Major, Op. 38

Scheherazade

Les Préludes

Les Indes galantes

St. Matthew Passion, BWV 244

The Tales of Hoffmann

Spartacus

Faust

Der Hirt auf dem Felsen

Finlandia

Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion

Sinfonía india

Symphony No. 4, Op. 29

Symphony No. 3

Appalachian Spring

Piano Sonata No. 6 in A, Op. 82

Symphony No. 2

Night on Bald Mountain

Symphony No. 2: The Age of Anxiety

Henry V

L’Arlésienne

Violin Concerto No. 2

The Comedians, Op. 26

Cello Concerto in B Minor, Op. 104

Piano Sonata No. 11 in A Major, K 331

Clarinet Quintet in A Major, K 581

Academic Festival Overture, Op. 80

Chaconne

Italian Symphony

A German Requiem, Op. 45

La noche de los Mayas

Le Grand Tango

The Lark Ascending

Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, BWV 565

Trout Quintet

Brandenburg Concertos

Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat Minor, Op. 23

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

The Red Pony

Cello Concerto in E Minor, Op. 85

Horn Concerto No. 1 in E-flat Major

The Plow That Broke the Plains

Gnarly Buttons

Alleluia

Harold in Italy, Op. 16

Three Places in New England

Elijah, Op. 70

Orpheus in the Underworld

Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43

Symphonic Dances, Op. 45

Spanisches Liederbuch

Pathétique Sonata

Romeo and Juliet, Op. 64

Archduke Trio

Choral Fantasy in C Minor, Op. 80

Symphony No. 3

Pines of Rome

Cavalleria rusticana

Violin Concerto No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 26

Spiegel im Spiegel

Adagio for Strings

Violin Sonata in A Major

Diabelli Variations, Op. 120

Der Rosenkavalier

Nixon in China

Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 77

Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 61

Cantique de Jean Racine, Op. 11

Octet for Strings in E-flat Major, Op. 20

La strada

The Creation

Abdelazer

Symphony No. 5 in D Minor, Op. 47

String Quartet No. 2

Frauenliebe und-leben

Concerto for Two Trumpets in C Major

Piano Sonata No. 4 in F-sharp, Op. 30

Die Fledermaus

Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano

The Devil’s Trill

Psycho

Exsultate, Jubilate, K 165

Star Wars

Piano Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 47

Siegfried Idyll

Symphony No. 5 in E-flat Major, Op. 82

Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 54

Symphony No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 68

Symphony No. 4 in F Minor, Op. 36

Four Fugitive Pieces, Op. 15

Twelve Variations on Ah, vous dirai-je, Maman, K 265

The Marriage of Figaro

Gypsy Melodies, Op. 55

Air and Simple Gifts

Il trovatore

The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba

Azul

Woodwind Sonatas

The Barber of Seville

Carmen

Concerto for Saxophone Quartet and Orchestra

La campanella

Publications (1)

Classical Music Insights: Understanding and Enjoying Great Music (2011)

By Betsy Schwarm

If you enjoy great music but want to know more about how it came to be the way it is - without investing time in a graduate degree - here are the background stories of over 200 great compositions. If you're only just coming to experiment with great music, here are guideposts to help you understand and enjoy what you encounter. The stories and sounds behind the scenes: welcome to Classical Music Insights.