In 1780, in order to join the new opera company set up by Emperor Joseph II, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart started writing a new German opera on the then-popular theme of rescue of enslaved Europeans from Muslim pirates. Mozart wrote about

Symphony No. 35 in D Major, K. 385, “Haffner” (arr. J.N. Hummel for flute, violin, cello and piano) I. Allegro con spirit From MOZART, W.A.: Symphonies Nos. 35, 36, 41 (2015) Released by Naxos Mozart: Symphony No. 35 in D

“Minors of the Majors” invites you to discover compositions by the great classical composers that for one reason or another have not reached the musical mainstream. Please enjoy, and keep listening!

During its days of largest expansion and influence in the 17th century, the Ottoman Empire controlled much of Southeastern Europe, the Middle East and Northern Africa. Remaining a constant military threat to Central Europe over several centuries, Turkish troops famously

One of the essential things about music is how it’s so hard to pin down, so hard to fix in time, and so hard to be definitive about. In looking at cadenzas, those virtuosic flourishes that appear in concertos, we

During his initial years in Vienna, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart made the acquaintance of Franz Anton Mesmer. Mesmer was a trained physician who hypothesized that it was essential to maintain equilibrium between the natural magnetic fluid that filled all living things,

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was the undisputed pop star of the 18th century! Numerous composers and musicians arranged his music, and profited handsomely from this indirect association with a superstar. But Mozart himself was also a rather active arranger of works

Sigismund von Schrattenbach was Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg from 1753 to 1771. He appointed Leopold and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart as members of the episcopal court orchestra, but only after Wolfgang had passed a rigorous test! Schrattenbach had always been suspicious that