Sergei Rachmaninoff was born in 1873 in Russia. He became one of the greatest pianists of his generation, as well as one of the most famous composers. Here are a few facts about Rachmaninoff’s life and music: Rachmaninoff’s music is

A barque is a three-masted sailing ship in its original definition, but by the end of the 19th century, it had become downgraded to refer to a small boat or even a rowing boat for inland waters. The idea of

When we think of bubbles, we think of floating air or just the utter joy of watching them catch the sunlight and turn to rainbow colours. In the driest definition, it’s ‘a thin sphere of liquid enclosing a gas’. Mostly.

Dmitri Shostakovich was born in 1906 in St. Petersburg, Russia. He was an extraordinary talent who spent his entire creative life interacting with the Soviet regime, and his dark soulful works are favorites in the classical music world. Here are

Water, in its warm form, is the summer symbol (water in its cold form, i.e., ice and snow, is another matter). We start on the water’s edge as it laps around our feet, cooling us and inviting us deeper. In

Sergei Prokofiev was born on 23 April 1891 in Sontsivka, present-day Ukraine. He became one of the famous rebellious enfant terribles of twentieth-century Russian music. Here are a few facts about his life and career: Prokofiev’s music blended steely modernism

In English, ‘the hunt’ means fox hunting, otherwise, it’s shooting (birds) or stalking (deer). In Europe in the 18th century, hunting, usually for deer, was a sport enjoyed by the upper classes, and there was specific music for different parts

Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky composed well over 100 romanzas written for voice with piano accompaniment. These songs enjoyed considerable popularity, however they also attracted some criticism. The Russian composer and music critic César Cui, for example, denounced them for failing to