Wolfgang Birtel

The music of small forms and of chamber-music instrumentations was to become the focus of the French composer Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924). In 1874, after many years spent in the 'provinces', the teacher...

The music of small forms and of chamber-music instrumentations was to become the focus of the French composer Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924). In 1874, after many years spent in the 'provinces', the teacher...

Overcoming the boundaries between 'serious' and entertaining music was what mattered to the musician Eduard Pütz (1911-2000). His compositions therefore include stylistic features of jazz and pop musi...

Who would have thought that ragtime would enjoy another renaissance! But more than 50 years after the death of its main representative, Scott Joplin, the film 'The Sting' has made this once popular st...

Who would have thought that ragtime would enjoy another renaissance! But more than 50 years after the death of its main representative, Scott Joplin, the film 'The Sting' has made this once popular st...

The reputation of the Bohemian composer Zdenek Fibich (1850-1900) has always been somewhat overshadowed by that of Bedrich Smetana and Antonín Dvorák. This is a pity, for Fibich, though he died young,...

The melodies from George Gershwin's (1898-1937) musicals, from 'Porgy and Bess', from orchestral pieces like 'Rhapsody in Blue' or 'An American in Paris', we all know them! But the career of the young...

Originally composed for piano solo, Rubinstein's 'Melody' Op. 3/1 is the best-known work written by the Russian composer, pianist and successful performer Anton Rubinstein. Thanks to the simple, yet t...

Songs Without Words' - that's what Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809-1847) called his lyrical piano pieces, the romantic miniatures in which the composer wanted to 'sing' on the keyboard instrument. W...

Songs Without Words' - that's what Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809-1847) called his lyrical piano pieces, the romantic miniatures in which the composer wanted to 'sing' on the keyboard instrument. W...

The only work still known today by Noack, 'Heinzelmännchens Wachtparade' [Parade of the Brownies] Op. 5 was called a 'character piece' by the composer himself, and this 'marche en miniature' conveys w...

The only work still known today by Noack, 'Heinzelmännchens Wachtparade' [Parade of the Brownies] Op. 5 was called a 'character piece' by the composer himself, and this 'marche en miniature' conveys w...

Originally composed for piano solo, Rubinstein's 'Melody' Op. 3/1 is the best-known work written by the Russian composer. Thanks to the simple, yet tender melody and its expressive harmony, the name o...

Originally composed for piano solo, Rubinstein's 'Melody' Op. 3/1 is the best-known work written by the Russian composer. Thanks to the simple, yet tender melody and its expressive harmony, the name o...

The reputation of the Bohemian composer Zdenek Fibich (1850-1900) has always been somewhat overshadowed by that of Bedrich Smetana and Antonín Dvorák. This is a pity, for Fibich, though he died young,...

Angel G. Villoldo (1861-1919) is considered one of the pioneers of Argentine tango. His Tango criollo El choclo (The Corncob), which appeared in Buenos Aires in 1903, is one of the earliest compositio...

Originally composed for piano solo, Rubinstein's 'Melody' Op. 3/1 is the best-known work written by the Russian composer. Thanks to the simple, yet tender melody and its expressive harmony, the name o...

The reputation of the Bohemian composer Zdenek Fibich (1850-1900) has always been somewhat overshadowed by that of Bedrich Smetana and Antonín Dvorák. This is a pity, for Fibich, though he died young,...