In the history of classical music, few relationships began as intensely – or as tumultuously – as the whirlwind courtship between Gustav Mahler and Alma Schindler. Their meeting in November 1901 at a Vienna salon brought together two formidable artistic

Over the course of her life, Alma Mahler (1879–1964) enchanted a veritable constellation of influential men, not as a passive muse, but as an active, opinionated, and often volatile presence. A composer, muse, socialite, and sharp observer of the artistic

Few Romantic Era love stories are as passionate – or as tumultuous – as the relationship between Franz Liszt and Marie d’Agoult. What began as an unexpected meeting in a Parisian salon in the early 1830s blossomed into an intense

The love story between Robert and Clara Schumann is often regarded as one of the most romantic in classical music history. Happily for historians, many of their love letters survive. They document their inner thoughts and emotions, as well as

As a continuation of his first book on the animals of the Chinese zodiac (Read more from The Chinese Zodiac for Children), Canadian composer Vincent Ho (b. 1975) wrote a book 2 that builds on Book 1 and takes a

Throughout classical music history, ostensibly professional relationships between teachers and students have sometimes turned romantic. Some of the resulting marriages ended up being loving, long-lasting partnerships built on deep mutual admiration and respect. Others curdled rapidly due to destructive power

In the 1930s, Peter Burra was a rising star in British letters. But his death at the age of twenty-seven in an airplane crash brought those hopes to a sudden, violent end. Though Burra’s life was cut tragically short, his

In 1935, the filmmaker Josef von Sternberg directed a romance film starring actress Marlene Dietrich. Titled “The Devil is a Woman,” it was the last of the six Sternberg-Dietrich collaborations for Paramount Pictures. The plot is based on a novel