The world of music is numerously populated by compositions that openly celebrate courtship, love, sex, and marriage. Equally numerous, although less overtly advertised, are works that exult in the suspension of a partnership, the break-up of a relationship, or the

Czech composer Bohuslav Martinů (1890–1959) started his music career as a violinist, giving his first public performances at age 15. Townspeople supported his career and at age 16, he was given funding to attend the Prague Conservatory. He didn’t take

Some called him a glutton, while others considered him a gourmet. However you look at it, Gioachino Rossini was the undisputed king of the dinner table, and he knew it. Apparently, he cried only three times in his entire life.

The Cretan novelist Nikos Kazatzakis brought us the expansive personality of Zorba the Greek in his 1946 novel Βίος και Πολιτεία του Αλέξη Ζορμπά (Life and Times of Alexis Zorbas). The education of a nameless well-meaning Greek intellectual, who has

Let’s continue to explore Edvard Grieg’s social circle. Christian Emil Horneman (1840-1906) was a Danish composer, conductor, and music publisher. Born in Copenhagen, he made his way to Leipzig to study at the Conservatory. That’s where he met his fellow

The Japanese composer Tōru Takemitsu wrote his choral work Wind Horse between 1962 and 1966, taking his imagery from Tibet. ‘Tibetan nomads tie pieces of their national dress together, It is said, about the rope. The wind blows and the

Igor Stravinsky (1892–1971) was commissioned by Lincoln Kirstein’s American Ballet in 1935 for a work, completed in 1936 and it was staged in 1937. The work, Jeu de cartes (The Card Game), was choreographed by George Balanchine. The work, a

Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) was the foremost Scandinavian composer of his generation. He was a celebrated figure on the European musical stage, and highly esteemed by Liszt, Brahms, and Tchaikovsky. Influenced by the late-Romantic spirit he was a master of the