Elgar wrote his musical 'billet doux' in 1888 and dedicated it to his fiancée Caroline Alice Roberts. It was premiered in 1889 and helped to establish Elgar's reputation as a composer. To this day the...
Among violinists and teachers, Oskar Rieding (1840-1918) is mainly known for his easily playable violin concertos especially for beginners. His works written for music lessons are easy to master, beau...
'Novelty of form, selected modulations, strange tone colours, the use of completely unexpected rhythms', this is how Camille Saint-Saëns praised the debut work of a young colleague and continued: 'Abo...
A wedding without a famous wedding march - unimaginable! Wagner's 'Bridal Chorus' from 'Lohengrin' and Mendelssohn's 'Wedding March' from the incidental music of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' vie for th...
The Trois Gymnopédies are Satie's most famous pieces: Allusions to dances of young men in ancient Sparta in honor of the fallen of the Battle of Thyrea. Wolfgang Birtel has now arranged the Gymnopédie...
The Violinissimo series attempts to make the rich repertoire of five centuries of violin music accessible for lessons, concerts and private music-making. The anthology Serenade contains a selection of...
Friedrich August Kummer (1797-1879) came from a family of musicians, studied violoncello with the renowned solo cellist Friedrich Dotzauer of the Dresden Court Chapel and then worked as a cellist firs...
Tango - a dance, a music genre, an awareness of life, 'a sad thought that can be danced' (according to a tango composer). The terms and definitions are as varied as the range of styles of the works. T...
The Air by Johann Sebastian Bach at best can rival his setting Jesus bleibet meine Freude for popularity: The final chorus from the cantata BWV 147 Heart and Mouth and Deed and Life is really catchy b...
