Shortly after the cessation of hostilities in 1946, the city of Darmstadt, located in the state of Hessen in central Germany, hosted unique musical gatherings that would eventually become an institution. These “International Summer Courses for New Music” had two

Francisco Goya (1746 – 1828) lead a life in and out of favour with the Spanish king and his highly dramatic paintings and etchings, particularly in relation to the various Spanish wars, were highly influential. His pictures of woman, his

What do you get when you mate a grand piano with a spaceship from planet Stealth? The answer is simple, you get a Bogányi! If you are still confused, just have a look at the attached picture! This appears to

Some musical instruments, once constructed, no longer need additional human intervention to become musically active. One such instrument is the spectacular Blackpool High Tide Organ. Designed by Liam Curtin and John Gooding in 2002, the musical sculpture, described as “a

It’s undeniable that higher education has become serious business! Universities across the globe are churning out music graduates in untold numbers. Robert Freeman, former head of the Eastman School of Music, pointedly believes that “we are graduating too many, too

The French Romantic artist, Eugène Delacroix (1798–1863), created his masterwork Liberty Leading the People in 1830. Its unforgettable imagery of Liberty, holding the tricolor representing liberty, equality, and fraternity, leading Parisians of all classes as they take up arm and

After finally achieving success with his opera ‘Pelléas et Mélisande’ in 1902, Claude Debussy (1862-1918) wrote ‘L’Isle Joyeuse’ (‘The Joyous Island’), while working hard on his new composition, ‘La Mer’. His very successful artistic achievements were in stark opposition to

Every pianist knows that the standard grand piano has an 88-key keyboard! And in general, this assumption is certainly correct. However, if you stumble across the Bösendorfer Imperial Model 290 or the Bösendorfer Model 225, you will notice that these