In 1967, Aaron Copland wrote a commissioned work for the New York Philharmonic’s 125th anniversary. The twelve-tone piece Inscape opens with a bang – with 11 of the 12 tones of the scale sounding at once.

The supposed discovery of the only authentic photograph of Constanze Mozart caused considerable excitement in 2006. The media giants BBC and the New York Times reported that authorities in the German town of Altötting had found and authenticated a print

When the English music historian Charles Burney traveled to the continent to collect materials for his History of Music he predictably also visited the city of Mannheim. Burney was simply in awe of all the musical activities happening at the

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844- 1908) started his career in the navy, entering the Naval Cadet College in St. Petersburg at age 14. It was a fortunate choice of city because it gave the nascent composer a chance to continue his piano

Musical Toys is a set of 14 short pieces by the Tatar composer Sofia Gubaidulina, which she herself described as ‘pictorial miniatures’ that she would have liked to play as a child. Though this set is subtitled ‘A Collection of

We often think of the symphonic form as being the province of the 19th century. Yet, the contributions by modern symphonists have permitted the orchestral form to develop and resonate with the new era. Adolphus Hailstork is professor of music

Who really knows what inspires the creative mind? It might be a painting of a moonlit lake, a craggy alpine peak, or the ferocious ocean pounding the rocky shores of a remote island. Of course, there is the ever-popular poem

The Russian dancer, actress and art patron Ida Lvovna Rubinstein was born into one of Russia’s richest families. Receiving the best musical, dancing and theatrical education money can buy Ida eventually ended up in Paris and immediately made headlines for