Canteloube (1879-1957) was born in the Ardèche region in southern France. Early on he showed a proclivity for musical composition and eventually studied in Paris. While he composed two operas and a number of other works, he is best known today for his settings of...
Jean-Joseph Mouret (1682-1738) was a court composer active in France during the reigns of Louis XIV (the "Sun King") and his son, Louis XV. Very few of his compositions have survived, and even fewer are known to the public. The major exception is this collection of...
Rimsky-Korsakov is best known for large-scale works - operas and symphonies, as well as chamber works, which are staples of Russian romantic music. Less-well known, however, is that he initially embarked on a career with the Russian navy. After retiring from the...
Instantly recognizable, this work is taken from Wagner's opera "The Valkyries," his second opera in the Ring cycle. The "Ride" is a musical tone poem in which the Valkyries - warrior daughters of Wotan, king of the gods - ride through the air bringing back the souls...
This piece represents one of the highest achievements of Mozart's art. It is at once a symphony and a concerto, and showcases both the violin and the viola (the latter being an instrument particularly loved and played by Mozart himself). The orchestra sets the mood at...
César Franck was 66 when he completed the Symphony in D minor, his only symphony. It premiered the next year, on February 17, 1889, nine months before the composer's death. Performed by the orchestra of the Paris Conservatory under the direction of Vincent d'Indy, it...
Beethoven was a great admirer of Shakespeare's plays, and according to the composer's secretary, Anton Schindler, planned to compose an opera based on Macbeth. Unfortunately, such a plan never materialized and aside from Schindler's unreliable testimony, there is no...
Beethoven wrote only one opera, Fidelio (originally entitled Leonore). It is the story of Florestan, a young man who is unjustly imprisoned. His wife, Leonore, disguised as a young man, Fidelio, helps her husband to escape and liberates all other prisoners who have...
Schubert composed his Symphony No. 8 (“Unfinished”) in 1822 and kept it a deep secret for the rest of his life. Even after the composer’s death in 1828, the premiere of the symphony had to wait an additional 37 years until 1865 when it was performed in Vienna under...
Between 1783 and 1791 Mozart wrote four horn concertos and a horn quintet. All of these works were dedicated to one person - Joseph Leutgeb. Leutgeb was an acclaimed performer and one of Mozart’s closest friends in Vienna. Indeed, their friendship was so close that it...
Nulla porttitor pretium blandit. Suspendisse id nulla et erat feugiat vehicula. Nam ac sapien maximus sem auctor sollicitudin sit amet a enim. Nulla facilisi. Donec et commodo tellus.
