We often imagine the great masterpieces of classical music as being the result of years of painstaking labour. But history tells a more complicated story. Some of the most enduring works in the classical repertoire were written at astonishing speed:

In many respects, Cage and Feldman stand among the most important composers shaping the musical thinking of the twenty-first century. Together, they were central figures of what came to be known as the New York School. If their music is

Franz Liszt is remembered today as one of the most revolutionary pianists in history, but his influence extended far beyond his own performances and compositions. During his decades teaching in Weimar, Rome, and Budapest, Liszt trained an extraordinary circle of

Designed for performances during times when the majority of public performance spaces were closed for religious reasons, including the weeks leading up to Easter, the first concert series in existence was founded in March 1725. The Concert Spirituel was a

Queer love has always existed in classical music. Sometimes it was hidden in plain sight; sometimes it was expressed through music itself; other times, LGBTQ+ composers were remarkably frank and open about it. Stretching from the salons of fin-de-siècle Paris

Finding violin pieces that sound impressive without demanding advanced technique can feel like an impossible task. But there’s a huge middle ground between beginner repertoire and full-blown virtuoso concertos: accessible, intermediate pieces that sound far more virtuosic than they actually

Franz Liszt is often remembered as the quintessential Romantic era piano virtuoso and composer. Less often discussed, however, is the remarkable group of women composers and pianists who studied with him, admired him, challenged him, or were otherwise inspired by

Russian pianist Stanislav Neuhaus carried on the tradition of his father, the pianist and teacher Heinrich Neuhaus (1888–1964). Heinrich taught at the Moscow Conservatory from 1922 to 1964 and was the author of The Art of Piano Playing (1958), considered