It was easy for the numerous piano virtuosos of the 19th century to continue to write perfect and exquisite miniatures for their own instrument. Robert Schumann, on the other hand, writing from his platform in the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik,

Written for his time at the Salzburg court, Mozart’s five violin concertos were all produced between 1773 and 1775, probably with himself as the intended conductor. The final three (k. 216, 218, and 219) were all completed in just a

In February 1778, Leopold Mozart told his son to go to Paris with his mother, and the pair arrived in the capital city in March 1778. He immediately started to set up his musical networks and wrote to his father

The story of Faust has captured composers’ imaginations for centuries. There was a historical figure, Johann Georg Faust (c. 1480–1540), who made the original deal with the devil at the crossroads when he exchanged his soul for unlimited knowledge and worldly

When he finally arrived in Vienna as a permanent resident in 1795, Beethoven fit into an interesting hiatus in the city’s music life. Mozart‘s recent death left a place open for a daring piano virtuoso and composer. In his first

Édouard-Victoire-Antoine Lalo (1823 –1892) started his musical career as a viola and violinist, studying at the Paris Conservatoire with François Antoine Habeneck, who had founded and led the Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire from 1828. After graduation,

The Russian composers of the late 19th century seemed to vie with each other for difficult piano music. Mily Balakirev (1837–1910) was active as both a nationalist composer and encourager of other composers, most importantly Pyotr Tchaikovsky. Balakirev was important

Inspired by the works of the Spanish Romantic painter and printmaker Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (1746–1828), Goyescas by Enrique Granados (1867–1916) was a 6-part suite for piano, written in 1911. In 1915, he transformed the piano works into