Pianist Dinu Lipatti (1917-1950) is best known as one of the leading pianists of the 20th century but less for his compositions. This dual life of composer / pianist had been his since childhood where he was a wunderkind on

In 1939, in the middle of writing his opera Die Liebe der Danae, Richard Strauss wrote a work that’s rarely performed but commemorates an event few countries can claim. His Japanische Festmusik was written for the 2,600th anniversary of the

Composers love mysteries, particularly when they can hide something in plain sight in their music. Starting with Johann Sebastian himself, hiding words and letters became a thing to do. When you convert the scale into letters and use German, you

Swiss composer Francesco Hoch takes modern music everywhere. He’s written for a wide variety of ensembles, from children’s voice through full orchestral works. He’s been part of the International New Music Workshop at the Venice Biennale. He was commissioned to

In 1879, composer Johannes Brahms and violinist Joseph Joachim took a concert trip through Transylvania to workshop Brahms’ latest work, the Violin Concerto, Op. 77, which had opened to less-than-satisfactory reviews. Although Brahms wasn’t really up for a tour, of

Unlike earlier days, it was harder for modern operas to truly qualify as a Hit! However, Richard Strauss’ 1911 opera Der Rosenkavalier was not only a success, but a triumph, with impressive ticket sales from the night of its premiere.

Is it night or is it day? A serenade is a song sung at night, generally in the open air below the window of your beloved. But what does it mean when Malipiero calls this 1959 work a ‘serenata mattutina’,

We often regard vocal music and instrumental music as quite separate. We know the limitations of the voice, such as a limited range, and we know the freedom of an instrumental performance, which can cover a range of sound music