Located between the constellation of Virgo to the west and Scorpio to the east, the constellation of Libra was first cataloged by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the second century. It is the only zodiac sign not represented by a

By placing Ludwig van B. on a musical pedestal we tend to forget that he was surrounded by a whole host of talented composers and musicians who competed for his audience. And as we all know, Beethoven was a difficult

He was proclaimed “Britain’s greatest living composer” in the Performing Right Gazette of 1929. That assessment was based on the overall number of performances of his works, and his apparent popularity caused a good deal of professional jealousy. Today, he

“If only grown-ups were like children, free from prejudice against everything new!” Anton Webern and Wilhelmine Mörtl, the daughter of his mother’s sister, were married in Danzig on 22 February 1911. They had kept their affair ingeniously secret until she

In 1809, the French army under Napoleon once again set their sights on the city of Vienna. On short notice, the imperial family fled the city, but it was decided that Vienna should nevertheless be defended. French howitzers bombarded the

As Benjamin Franklin famously said, “…but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” And while the mega rich have long attempted to find ingenious ways of avoiding tax payments, during Johann Sebastian Bach’s

Repertoire for Two Piano Players Performance by two piano players simultaneously sharing a single piano requires not only a level of intimacy unique to chamber music, it also presents its own set of technical challenges. Despite a number of notable

Catherine the Great (1729-1796), born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst, ushered in what many considered to be the “Golden Age of Russia.” She freed Russian nobles from compulsory military service and enthusiastically supported the ideas of the Enlightenment. She established a