Ah, Frankenstein Friday! That electrifying evening when the veil between the living and the undead thins just enough for monsters to mingle with mortals. You might know it by its more common alias, Halloween, but let’s crank up the voltage

Michael Haydn was born on 14 September 1737 in the Austrian village of Rohrau. His father was Mathias Haydn, a wheelwright and local government official. His mother was Maria, a cook, wife, and mother. Both parents were enthusiastic amateur musicians

French composer Camille Saint-Saëns (1835–1921) spanned a change in eras that opens with the child prodigy being recognised by Rossini and Hector Berlioz and ends with the radical changes of the early 20th century. He did not like atonality or

As creative as the human mind gets, it seems we constantly find situations in which we repeat what has been done in the past. In fact, in art, one could question how much new there really is and how much

Mana-Zucca is, beyond a shadow of a doubt, one of the most interesting American composers you’ve never heard of. She was a child prodigy who debuted in Carnegie Hall with the New York Symphony, was admired by Puccini, and was

The great English writer Jane Austen (1775–1817) only completed six novels, but they were novels that are not just stories but telling and pointed commentary on English landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. The definition of people

When music lovers think of the origins of opera, names like Claudio Monteverdi often come to mind. However, before opera became dominated by male composers, a remarkable woman was composing groundbreaking works in the genre. Francesca Caccini, born in Florence

When composers grieve, they often turn to music to express what words can’t. Some of the most powerful works of classical music ever are connected to the deaths of loved ones: spouses, siblings, friends, and others. From Johann Sebastian Bach’s