Overcoming Deafness: Embracing Brilliance Without Bounds
Twenty years after composer Johann Sebastian Bach died, Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany, and baptized on Dec. 17, 1770. Beethoven was a pupil of the Austrian composer…
Mozart’s Recently Unearthed Composition Showcased on His Own Fortepiano
A music scholar made an astounding discovery recently while going through the personal belongings from the attic of a recently deceased church musician and band leader in the Lech…
Exploring Brahms’s Symphony No. 3: Top Recordings and In-Depth Analysis
Johannes Brahms fought shy of writing a symphony. What was there left to say after Beethoven? When he eventually got around to it, the First Symphony of 1876 proved so…
The Dark Childhood of Joseph Haydn: Not only a Great Composer but also a Strong Survivor
Joseph Haydn has entered music history as a jovial, grandfatherly figure with a reputation for a quick wit. Generations later, we still chuckle at the stories behind the Surprise Symphony or…
1200 Years of Women Composers: A Free 78-Hour Music Playlist from the Medieval Era to the Present
In modern times, we don’t regard female musicians as in and of themselves unusual. Our rosters of favorite rockers, pop-stars, solo singer-songwriters, and what have you might well feature as many women…
Discover the Early Musical Masterpieces of Mozart at Age Five
A preternaturally talented, precocious child, barely out of toddlerhood, in powdered wig and knee-breeches, capering around the great houses of 18th century Europe between virtuoso performances on the harpsichord.…
From the Past to the Present: 10 Incredible Child Music Prodigies
Stories of child prodigies in the classical genre have a long history, going back to some of the greatest composers in the 18th and 19th centuries. As well as Mozart,…
Maria Anna Mozart, like her brother Wolfgang, was a musical prodigy; why, then, was she obliterated from history?
When people ask why we have specifically black histories, or queer histories, or women’s histories, it can be hard for many who do historical research to take the question seriously.…
From Slave to Virtuoso: The Incredible Journey of ‘Blind Tom,’ Becoming the 19th Century’s Highest Paid Pianist at Age 10
“Blind Tom” was a musical prodigy who was born in slavery in 1850, in the state of Georgia. He was a contemporary virtuoso of Liszt and Rubinstein, but one who seemed…
Unlocking the Keys: 21 Beginner-Friendly Piano Songs with Music Videos
As a beginner on almost every instrument, the range of possible pieces can be limited which is not encouraging if you want to make progress. Fortunately, in the case of…