After Brahms wrote his two brilliant string sextets, Dvořák, Erwin Schulhoff, Schoenberg, Tchaikovsky, Reger, Rimsky-Korsakov, Franck, Korngold, Martinů, and others followed suit. I’d like to feature two Czech composers’ sextets. Antonín Dvořák (1841-1903) the first of 14 children, showed exceptional

“My music exists to give pleasure” The son of the former director of the Conservatory of Le Mans, Jean Françaix (1912-1997) was a prodigious musical talent. He received his early musical instructions from his father and composed his first piano

The 20th century normalized doctors – we now see them in their more accustomed roles as healers or consultants to the ill. The occasional black magician / doctor still appears, but that role is increasingly rare. We open the century

João IV / John IV (1604-1656) of Portugal, got the nickname of ‘John the Restorer’ for his freeing of Portugal from Spanish rule. Beginning in 1580, Portugal and Spain were ruled together by the Habsburg Spanish court. Under João, the

The elements of nature frequently are represented in music: water, snow, and, of course, wind. We looked at a number of different works that might, literally, blow us away. We never see the wind but only the effect of the