In April 1782, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart famously wrote to his father, “I suppose that you have heard that the English Bach is dead? What a loss to the musical world!” Johann Christian Bach, known in London circles as John Bach,

In the early morning hours of 28 December 1937, Maurice Ravel lapsed into a coma and died aged 62. The composer had entered a clinic on rue Boileau in Paris for neurological tests. In the event, exploratory brain surgery—apparently without

Anna Bolena: Act I Finale — Anna Netrebko (Met Opera) During an extended apprenticeship lasting the better part of a decade, Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848) composed in the region of 30 operas. However, his national and international reputation was firmly established

Johann Sebastian Bach: Magnificat in E-flat Major, BWV 243a The church of St. Nicholas in Leipzig is named after the patron of travelers and merchants. Construction began around 1165, and originally the church featured twin towers. It was extended and

During his formative years in Bonn, Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1828) took organ and keyboard lessons from Christian Gottlob Neefe. Concurrently, he received instructions on the violin and viola from the court musician Franz Georg Rovantini and from Franz Ries, Electoral-Court

Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini was born in Lucca, Italy, on 22 December 1858. He was the sixth of nine children by Michele Puccini and Albina Magi, and his birthplace was on the second floor of the historic

Born on 20 December 1950 in the colonial town of Álamos deep in the Sonoran desert, Arturo Márquez has “always been enthralled by the music bubbling out of cafes and dance salons in Mexico.” That love for the musical forms

Ludwig van Beethoven probably wasn’t actually born on 17 December, but in the absence of an authentic record of birth, we rely on the registry of his baptism in the Catholic Parish of St. Remigius in Bonn on 17 December