The Renaissance – the sixteenth century time of rebirth was also a time for musical games. One of the greatest games of the day was sex. Musical references to sex were everywhere and especially in the madrigal. The madrigal was

On occasion, composers and artists have some very peculiar habits or eccentricities that border on insanity. Erik Satie ate only food that was white in color, Richard Wagner enjoyed cross-dressing and his daily enemas, Anton Bruckner had an obsession with

Ferruccio Busoni was the only child of two professional musicians. His Italian father was an accomplished clarinetist and his German mother a capable pianist. Towards the end of his life Busoni declared, “I bless my father for having directed me

“Minors of the Majors” invites you to discover compositions by the great classical composers that for one reason or another have not reached the musical mainstream. Please enjoy, and keep listening! The 1860’s were not particularly kind to Franz Liszt.

Othello has long been a seductive Shakespeare tragedy, adaptable to our present day life with its enduring leitmotifs—love, mistrust, duplicity, racism, retaliation and remorse.

The not-so-young composer was working on the next piece after the work that made him a national star. The singer was an up-and-coming contralto. At the 1899 Norwich Festival, Edward Elgar unveiled his new song cycle, Sea Pictures, with the

At age 22, Ferruccio Busoni (1866-1924) was appointed piano teacher at the conservatory of Helsingfors, then part of the Russian Empire, today known as the Finnish capital Helsinki. Stable employment and income aside, Busoni could not speak a word of

I went to a concert the other night – dynamic conductor, electrifying soloist, enthusiastic audience that cheered as each piece was announced and often sang along with the melodies – and yet the programme consisted of music that you hear,