Music to Ice Skate By

 The winter Olympic Games are upon us. Tomoko's daughter Beata was an Olympics dance skater, and she continues in that profession. Beata had the advantage of knowing about music, starting with her mother, so she understood the importance of music -- and choosing the most effective pieces -- for choreographing a skating routine.

Classical music is a mainstay of ice skating, ranging from lighthearted winter waltzes to intense dramatic scores used by Olympic champions. 

Iconic Classical Pieces for Skating

These works are specifically associated with the atmosphere of ice skating or are frequently performed in competitive routines: 

• The Skaters' Waltz (Les Patineurs) by Émile Waldteufel: Composed in 1882, this is the most iconic piece of "skating music," featuring flowing melodies and the sound of bells to mimic a wintry rink.
• Boléro by Maurice Ravel: Famous for its steady, building rhythm, most notably used in the perfect 6.0-scoring routine by Torvill and Dean in 1984.
• Swan Lake by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: A competitive staple, used by gold medalists like Oksana Baiul (1994) to evoke elegance and drama.
• The Four Seasons: "Winter" by Antonio Vivaldi: Features sharp, rapid string work that matches the precision of high-level footwork.
• Carmen (Habanera/Prelude) by Georges Bizet: Frequently used for its intense energy; famous for the 1988 "Battle of the Carmens" between Katerina Witt and Debi Thomas.
• Moonlight Sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven: A popular choice for romantic or emotional programs, used by pairs such as Gordeeva and Grinkov. 

 

Popular Orchestral Selections

Many skaters select movements from larger classical works that provide a mix of slow, lyrical sections and powerful finales: 

• Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2 and No. 3.
• Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade.
• Saint-Saëns: "The Swan" from The Carnival of the Animals and Danse Macabre.
• Stravinsky: The Firebird and The Rite of Spring.
• Mahler: Adagietto from Symphony No. 5. 

 

Curated Playlists & Collections 

You can find these and other classical skating tracks on the following platforms:

• 55 Ice Skating Classics (Spotify): A comprehensive collection including Strauss waltzes and Puccini arias.
• Figure Skating's Greatest Hits (Europadisc): A curated CD featuring Tchaikovsky, Ravel, and Vivaldi.
• Best Figure Skating Classics (Apple Music): Includes competitive favorites like the "Sabre Dance" and "Méditation" from Thaïs. 

Classical Jewish Piano Composers

 

Now is the time for Passover, remembering when God redeemed the Jewish people who were enslaved by the Egyptians. For hundreds of years, Jewish people have been known for their rich culture and their creative efforts, including in composing for the piano. Here is a sampling of classical European piano composers.

One of the earlier known Jewish composers is Giacomo Meyerbeer (né Jakob Liebmann Mayer Beer), who was born in 1971 near Berlin and died in 1864. Although known mainly for his grand opera style, he also wrote pieces for the piano, mainly early in his career.

Probably the most famous of the group is Felix Mendelssohn, who was born in 1809 in Hamburg and died at the age of 38. Both a composer and performer, Mendelssohn is known, in terms of his early Romantic piano composition, for his collection Songs Without Words.

Parisian composer Charles-Valentin Alken was born in 1813 and died in 1888. He was friends with Chopin and Liszt, and like them, he was as virtuoso pianist as well as a keyboard composer. He is known as the first composer to incorporate Jewish melodies in art music.

British composer Frederick Hymen Cowen was born in 1852 in Jamaica, moved to England at age four, and died in 1935. His father was Her Majesty’s Opera treasurer. Cowen wrote his first piano piece at age six, and gave his first public piano recital at age thirteen. He won a Mendelssohn scholarship to study at the Leipzig Conservatorium. He wrote over 300 songs as well as piano works for piano solos, chamber music, choral music, cantatas and oratorios.

Another renown composer is Gustav Mahler, an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, born in 1860 and died in 1911. Tol get is job as the director of the Vienna Court Opera, he had to convert to Catholicism; yet he still experienced significant anti-Semitism. Most of his works were written for large orchestras, but he did compose for the piano early in his career.

Arnold Schoenberg is also associated with Vienna, where he was born in 1874. One of the early modernists, he is known for his transformation of harmony and twelve-tone technique. Some of his best piano works were written during his final period and showcase both twelve-tone and tonal approaches.

Ernest Bloch, born in 1880 in Geneva and died in 1959 in Portland (Oregon), is celebrated as one of Switzerland’s greatest composers. Several of his compositions draw upon his Jewish heritage. He was also a noted music professor.

Another 19^th century German composer is Otto Klemperer, born in 1885 and died in 1973. At age five he started piano lessons with his mother. He was a student of Mahler, and started conducting for the opera when he was 22 years old. As a composer, Klemperer wrote almost a hundred songs for the piano and for orchestras.

Ukrainian composer Leo Ornstein was born in 1985 and died in 2002. His father was a Jewish cantor. Leo was a protégé piano performer, but stopped performing at age 40 to focus on his experimental composing, mainly for the piano.

Excellent Jewish piano composers continue to exist in modern society, many of whom are Americans, such as George and Ira Gershwin, Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, Irvin Berlin, Jerry Goldstein, and Philip Glass.

These examples reveal that the world has greatly benefitted from Jewish piano composers.