Modest Mussorgsky (1839–1881), a member of the Russian group known as The Mighty Handful or The Five, was part of a circle that came together from 1856 to 1870 to create classical music in a distinctively Russian style. Instead of

Just as in his piano concertos, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) created a world in his five violin concertos where the solo instrument is in conversation with the orchestra, rather than fighting it. The violin is very much a part of

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) may have written only nine symphonies (a pittance compared with Haydn’s 104 and Mozart’s 41), but in those nine works, he managed to thoroughly expand a form that might have become a bit too complacent. From

As Mozart approached his final years, his work finally started to achieve the promise of his early years. His operas gained an international audience, he was being commissioned to write for private clients, and his works were becoming of a

Gustav Mahler (1860–1911) was born in Bohemia (then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire) and became one of the leading composers and conductors in late 19th-century Vienna. As a composer, he struggled to get his works recognised and performed. As a

Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849) took the Ballade from being a favourite kind of German poem to something much more eloquent. In the pens of Goethe and Schiller, it was a narrative poem, and the most familiar we know in music includes

On Fridays, the publisher Mitrofan Petrovich Belaieff had his musical gatherings, bringing together the cream of the St Petersburg composers. The earlier group, who came together around Mily Balakirev, known as the Mighty Handful, or just The Five (Balakirev, Alexander

Rising in stately spirals, J.S. Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 opens in the strings and flute before the keyboard enters. One of the most noble of the Six Brandenburgs, it uses the basic chamber music ensemble of flute, violin, and