Composers and Cars

When stuck on a long flight, my imagination tends to get out of hand. I thought it would be fun to speculate what kind of car some of our favorite composers would have driven.

David Yang, Artistic Director

‍

**Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 – 1827, Germany)**
**1972 Plymouth Satellite Custom**
*Completely badass, powerful, rebel*

‍

**Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 – 1791, Austria)**
**1960 Fiat 500**
*Fun, playful, quick, iconic*

‍

**Joseph Haydn (1732 – 1809, Austria)**
**1960 VW camper van (with surfboard)**
*For those who love life*

‍

**Dmitri Shostakovich (1906 – 1975, Soviet Union)**
**1970 Trabant 601**
*Best vehicle to avoid attention from the authorities*

‍

**Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 – 1750, Germany)**
**1990 Chrysler Town and Country**
*Twenty children on a provincial Kappelmeister’s salary?*
*A simple minivan, no frills.*

‍

**Philip Glass (b. 1937, United States)**
**1969 Checker Cab**
*He actually drove a Checker cab in NYC in the 70s*

‍

**Antonio Vivaldi (1678 – 1741, Italy)**
**2023 Alfa Giulia**
*Raw and fast, an Italian attention-grabber*

‍

**Johannes Brahms (1833 – 1897, Germany)**
**1953 Mercedes 300 Cabriolet D**
*Powerful, complex, unmistakably romantic*

‍

**Leonard Bernstein (1918 – 1990, United States)**
**1967 Aston Martin DB6 Vantage Volante**
*Lenny’s actual car. Is anyone surprised?*

‍

**Jean Sibelius (1865 – 1957, Finland)**
**1961 Saab 96**
*Quirky and utterly unique, makes you feel small*
*in the presence of immense natural forces*

‍

**Aaron Copland (1900 – 1990, United States)**
**1940 Ford Deluxe Rockville**
*As American as apple pie*

‍

**Maurice Ravel (1875 – 1937, France)**
**1960 Citroën DS**
*Mais bien sûr!*

‍

**Giacomo Puccini (1858 – 1924, Italy)**
**Mr. Softee Truck**
*Sweet and delicious, everyone loves Mr. Softee*

‍

**Arnold Schoenberg (1875 - 1951, Austria)**
**1937 LaSalle**
*Herr Doktor Schoenberg’s actual car when he lived in L.A.*
*(although he never actually learned to drive)*

‍

**John Cage (1912 – 1992, United States)**
**1974 electric Citicar**
*Undeterred by mockery and* ahead of his time

‍

**Edward Elgar (1857 – 1934, England)**
**2023 Range Rover**
*Stuffy but strong and oh so British*

‍

**Béla Bartók (1881 – 1945, Hungary)**
**Donkey**
*Stubborn and doesn’t give a $&%* whether you like him or not*

Download File

Ravel's String Quartet and the Age of Opulence

David Yang

Ravel was an ardent collector of Art Nouveau and Art Deco with its stylized and stylish ideals

Notes from David Yang

Pianist Ilya Poletaev, a musician’s musician

David Yang

This summer, we’ll be performing piano quintets by Schumann (happy!) and Schnittke (maybe not so happy…).

Notes from David Yang

Summer 2024: July 29th to August 11th - an overview

David Yang

Brahms, Schumann, Kurtag, Schnittke, Ligeti, Liszt, a world premiere by Castillo with theremin, puppet shows, oh my!

News