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The story of Albert Einstein and the music he loved

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The story of Albert Einstein and the music he loved
The story of Albert Einstein and the music he loved(Albert Einstein (via Creative Commons))

A Nobel Prize winner, developer of the theory of relativity, and a musician, Albert Einstein is remembered as being one of the greatest physicists in the history of science.

He was born in Germany in 14 March 1879 but moved all around Europe during his young schooling years, studying in Italy, then Munich, Aarau, and Zurich. He spent most of his adult life in Switzerland and in 1901 he obtained Swiss citizenship after renouncing his German citizenship 5 years prior. In 1905 he was awarded a PhD from the University of Zurich and it was in the same year that he published his ‘Annus Mirabilis’ papers.

The ‘Annus Mirabilis’ papers were four articles that would go on to change modern physics substantially. Most famously, his equation of relativity E = mc2 was published in the fourth paper. Einstein was only 26 years old at the time, but these four papers quickly made him world famous.

At the time, Einstein was working as a teacher at the Patent Office in Bern and he used to use his students and colleagues as sounding boards to discuss his ideas. However, despite the fame of his equation to describe his theory of relativity, Einstein won the Nobel Prize in 1921 for his work on the photoelectric effect, “For services to theoretical physics and especially for the discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect."

As well as being the philosophical scientist he was, Einstein was also a musician. In one of his late journals he wrote, “If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music... I get most joy in life out of music.” Einstein played the violin and often liked to play chamber and solo recitals for his friends and family. From about the age of 13, he was a particular fan of Mozart sonatas and he loved studying the compositions. He did not have formal lessons and he taught himself.

In 1943 when Einstein was teaching at Princeton University in the US, Bohuslav Martinů was also a professor there. Martinů discovered that Einstein could play the violin at quite a reasonable standard and that he loved playing Mozart Sonatas with pianist Robert Casadesus. And so, Martinů wrote a set of ‘Madrigal Stanzas’ in 1943 and dedicated it to Einstein.

In the classical world, in the years of Einstein’s scientific genius some of the most famous musical geniuses were composing some of the most cherished works in the canon. In today’s show, immerse yourself into the extensive catalogue of the early 20th century and hear how the classical music world sounded at the time.

Second Solvay Conference on Physics

Tracklist

  • Symphony No. 4 in G Major: II. With leisurely movement, without haste [09'06]

    Composer

    Mahler, Gustav

    Performers

    Sydney Soloists

    Album

    Mahler: Symphony No. 4, Songs of a Wayfarer, 476 4221

    Label

    ABC Classic

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  • Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 18: I. Moderato [10'26]

    Composer

    Rachmaninov, Sergei

    Performers

    Yuja Wang (piano) + Mahler Chamber Orchestra

    Album

    Rachmaninov

    Label

    Deutsche Grammophon

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  • Introduction and Allegro for harp, flute, clarinet and string quartet [10'47]

    Composer

    Ravel, Maurice

    Performers

    Melos Ensemble of London

    Album

    Melos Ensemble: Chamber Music, 7243 5726462 4

    Label

    EMI Classics

    Year

    1998

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  • Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47: III. Allegro, ma non tanto [07'16]

    Composer

    Sibelius, Jean

    Performers

    Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra + Hilary Hahn (violin)

    Album

    Schoenberg & Sibelius: Violin Concertos, 477 7346

    Label

    Deutsche Grammophon

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  • La Catedral (The Cathedral), for guitar [06'54]

    Composer

    Barrios, Agustín

    Performers

    Craig Ogden (guitar)

    Album

    Guitar Meditations, 9743

    Label

    Chandos

    Year

    1999

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  • Five Madrigal Stanzas for violin & piano [10'19]

    Composer

    Martinů, Bohuslav

    Performers

    Chamber Melange + Duo Chamber Melange

    Album

    Bridges Vol 2, MD3342

    Label

    Move

    Year

    2010

    Add to

Credits

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