The twentieth century transformed the role of conductor from timekeeper into a powerful cultural figure: not just an orchestra leader, but an authority figure that loomed increasingly large in mass media and pop culture. (Think Stokowski’s silhouette in Fantasia.) As

Bach built the architecture. Mozart gave it a human voice. Vivaldi taught it to paint. No single mind invented Western classical music. It was assembled across centuries — through faith, craft, theatre, and intellectual daring. But among its many masters,

You may not know that the tuba has quite an expressive range and versatility, with a sound that is deep, rich, and full-bodied. The tuba, the big boy of the brass section, will sometimes throw its weight around. The tuba

Ludwig van Beethoven may be one of the most famous composers in Western music history, but he’s also one of the most misunderstood. Over the past two centuries, a powerful mythology has grown around Beethoven: the image of a lonely,

The first opera I ever saw live on stage was Carl Maria von Weber’s masterpiece Euryanthe. It was all a bit confusing at first, because there was just so much going on. I tried to follow everything, including the story,

In the world of classical music, when careers can last for decades, few losses are as profound as those of extraordinary talents who die young. During the mid-twentieth century, a number of remarkable violinists captivated audiences with their brilliance, charisma,

It is quite common — and somehow expected — for composers to seek new sounds. Sometimes these sounds come from what surrounds them; sometimes they come from what appears distant, unfamiliar or even exotic. Throughout history, composers have been drawn

Today, Amalie Joachim is often remembered solely as being the wife of violinist Joseph Joachim: an injustice, given her own era-defining musical talents. Their messy divorce is known among classical music lovers as the inciting event that nearly destroyed Joachim’s