Emile Waldteufel was the French answer to Strauss
Much like his rival, he was born in a family of dance musicians, as his father Louis and his elder brother Leon were well-versed in … Read more
Angelica Frey
Ten Johann Strauss Pieces Every Strauss Lover Should Listen To
You just need to hear a violin tremolo in the key of A major accompanied by a horn (and maybe the staccato wind chords) to … Read more
7 Curious Facts You Should Know About Symphonies
When you hear the word ‘symphony’, you immediately think of something solemn and majestic such as Mozart’s Jupiter symphony, Beethoven’s Eroica (a current earworm of … Read more
Eleven Beautiful Pieces of Classical Music Inspired by Water
The water element abounds in classical music throughout the centuries: just consider Händel’s Water Music (whose title, however, just references the fact that his music … Read more
Here is What Great Philosophers Thought of Music
While philosophers and scholars of the pre-modern era kept studying music from a harmonic point of view and often delved deeper into the concept “musica … Read more
13 Symphonic Poems Every Classical Music Lover Should Listen To
In 1851, Richard Wagner made a bold statement regarding the art of symphony: he claimed that, after Beethoven’s substantial contribution to the genre, the symphonies … Read more
Seven Composers and Their Mental Illnesses
Whoever analyses the biographies of a determinate amount of classical composers will notice that half exhibited cases of various degrees of psychopathology: affective disorders–anxiety and … Read more
What would Tchaikovsky have been without Nadezhda von Meck?
By now, even the least musically educated person can discern the main theme of Swan Lake, the celesta-based dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy and … Read more
Five Types of Classical music lovers you find online
The Internet 2.0 gave us a great opportunity: user-generated content can allow anyone’s voice to be heard (a blessing or a curse?) and, as a … Read more
Five Curious Facts about Music and Brain Damage
Music is the ultimate “brain” activity, as it involves the motor, visual, auditory, audiovisual, somatosensory, parietal and frontal areas in both hemispheres and the cerebellum. … Read more
Seven Reasons Why You Should Date a Classical Musician
The contemporary dating scene might, at times, resemble TS Eliot’s wasteland or, worse, a post-apocalyptic landscape punctuated by primeval beings who shy away from light. Apps like … Read more
Wine, Women and Music: Six interesting facts about the Waltz
Whether you agree with Graf, or simply enjoy twirling or, like Wagner, you have the deepest admiration for Johann Strauss II’s Wein, Weib und Gesang, … Read more
Seven Ancient Myths about Music Instruments
We all know that music is beneficial to the human mind: it lowers anxiety, pain levels, it alters your brainwaves and, of course, helps infants’ … Read more
“The last Romantic Composer:” seven interesting Facts about Rachmaninoff
Described as a “six and a half foot scowl” by Igor Stravinsky, Sergei Rachmaninoff (born April 1st, 1873) rose to fame at age 18 with … Read more
Six Curious Facts about Perfect Pitch
The term “perfect pitch” indicates the ability to identify the pitch of a musical tone without an external reference pitch. The first studies about the … Read more