Silent Night: From Poem to Christmas Carol
The Christmas carol Silent Night was first performed at a Christmas Eve service in 1818 in the village of Oberndorf, outside of Salzburg, Austria. The … Read more
CLASSICAL
Five Famous Composers Who Suffered From Deafness
Hearing loss has been an occupational hazard for musicians for some time. It has been receiving more attention recently as significant numbers of musicians have … Read more
The Brewer’s Daughter: How Giuseppe Verdi’s first love ended in tragedy
In The Man Verdi, Frank Walker describes Giuseppe Verdi‘s birthplace as “the merest hamlet”. Born in Le Roncole on October 10, 1813, Giuseppe Verdi was … 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
7 Pieces of Classical Music about Love
Like a theme that threads through so much art, literature and music, love has provided inspiration for some of the most celebrated composer’s works. In … Read more
13 Most Interesting Versions of Happy Birthday
A US court has ruled that one of the world’s most popular songs, Happy Birthday, is no longer under copyright. This could potentially mean that … Read more
5 Famous Piano Pieces By W A Mozart
Mozart is probably the most celebrated composer from the Classical period of music. His output contained over six hundred compositions, many of which were for … 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
Albert Einstein: His Musical Life
Many of us are very familiar with the equation E=MC2 and the many pictures of the wild-haired scientist who created it, but what do you know … 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
Gustav Mahler’s Symphonies: Bridging the Romantic and Modern Eras
Austrian-born composer and conductor Gustav Mahler (1860-1911), was one of the greatest symphonic writers of his age. His lifetime spans a key period in musical … 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
Bach’s Cello Suite No. 3 Performed in Stunning San Francisco Setting
The iconic setting of San Francisco, including the Golden Gate Bridge, is the location for this video to accompany Bach’s cello suite no. 3 in … Read more
Octobass: The Largest String Instrument Ever Invented
Move over Contrabass, the Octobass has arrived. This unique stringed instrument makes the upright bass or cello look like a junior instrument. It is exceptionally … Read more