A good number of instrumental works, specifically pieces written for piano solo in the 19th and 20th-century, carry the title “Nocturne.” The word comes from the French, meaning “nocturnal” or “night”, and it suggests the magical atmosphere of peace and

The Polish-born American violinist Samuel Dushkin (1891-1976) is widely known for his extensive collaborations with Igor Stravinsky. The two men were compatible friends from the very beginning and eventually embarked on a concert tour through Europe and the United States,

Claude Debussy is one of the most beloved composers in the classical music canon. Several qualities make his work especially unique: Use of colour and texture. Debussy was a master at using unusual combinations of instruments to create unique sounds.

In my initial blog on the 10 most beautiful piano quintets in classical music, I featured incredible masterworks for the combination of the string quartet with the piano. This type of scoring essentially started with Robert Schumann, and from around

William Shakespeare, the immortal “Bard of Avon”, is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world’s pre-eminent dramatist. He has given us 38 plays, 154 sonnets, and two narrative poems alongside other verses of uncertain

In the 1840s, the Parisian instrument builder Adolphe Sax provided a welcome addition to the family of woodwind instruments. Named after its inventor, the saxophone features a single reed mouthpiece like the clarinet, a conical brass body like the ophicleide,

Whenever people are looking for inspiration, they often look up into the sky. Classical composers are no exception. We’ve gathered fourteen pieces of classical music that encourage us to take a breath, go outside, and look up. Franz Liszt: Nuages

On 4 November 2024, we commemorate the 100th anniversary of the death of Gabriel Fauré. He might well have been the greatest master of French songs, with his settings achieving a beautiful balance of prosody, melody, harmony, and polyphony. In