“Perhaps women have always been in closer contact with reality than men” Germaine Tailleferre (1892-1983) was the sole female member of the intriguing group of young French composers eventually known as “Les Six.” Her association with “Les nouveaux jeunes” aside,

Composer and Educator Zoltán Kodály (1882-1967) is widely considered the perfect embodiement of the Hungarian spirit. His prolific scholarly research into Hungarian folk sources combined with a hightened interest in the education of the young. In the process, he created

“The condensed voices of a whole country” In 2016 we celebrate the 100th birthday of Alberto Ginastera (1916-1983), considered one of the most important classical composers of the Americas! Continuously at odds with the repressive military dictatorship of his native

Nights in the Gardens of Spain The marriage of Napoleon III to Eugenie de Montijo in 1853 heralded a French artistic fascination with the Iberian peninsular. Some of the best Spanish music of the late 19th century, particularly in the

Master of the Queen’s Music To commemorate the musical achievements of Sir Arthur Edward Drummond Bliss (1891-1975) a noted musicologist suggested, “Of the smaller stars that shone in the ample firmament of twentieth-century English music, the light that coruscated with

An Uncompromising Vision Sofia Asgatovna Gubaidulina, born on 24 October 1931 in Tschistopol, a small town on the Volga in the Tartar Republic of the USSR, has never been in doubt about her personal and musical identity and convictions. “I

Chopin of Spain When Enrique Granados (1867–1916) drowned in the English Channel trying to save his wife 100 years ago, the musical world lost an extraordinary poet of the piano. “His hands stroke the keys with a delicacy, with a

Pining for Rome 85 years ago, on 18 April 1936, Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936) died from an inflammation of the inner layer of the heart in Rome. Respighi lived and worked during tumultuous political times, and his historicist interest in Italian