Baton Music

The 'Hungarian Dances' (Ungarische Tänze), evoking directly the warm blood of Hungarian gypsy music, consist of 21 dances, originally composed for piano four hands. Perhaps less familiar than the famo...

Tschaikovsky composed his 'Concerto for Violin and Orchestra' in the spring of 1878. The work does have a rocky beginning, somewhat like that of his first Piano Concerto. The premiere was both somewha...

Tschaikovsky composed his 'Concerto for Violin and Orchestra' in the spring of 1878. The work does have a rocky beginning, somewhat like that of his first Piano Concerto. The premiere was both somewha...

Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia (1816) is one of the greatest of all comic operas. The Cavatina 'Largo al factotum' is sung by Figaro, the barber of Sevilla, in the first act of the opera: he tells...

Die Zauberflöte isn't a romantic love story but a real parable: a resemblance about higher human striving to purity and self-improvement. Not love between two people is in the centre but a more indivi...

Gustav Mahler composed his 'Wunderhornlieder' (Songs from the Youth's Magic Horn) between 1892 and 1901. Just half of the 'Wunderhornlieder' have military subjects but beside those there are songs wit...

Gustav Mahler composed his 'Wunderhornlieder' (Songs from the Youth's Magic Horn) between 1892 and 1901. Just half of the 'Wunderhornlieder' have military subjects but beside those there are songs wit...

Gustav Mahler composed his 'Wunderhornlieder' (Songs from the Youth's Magic Horn) between 1892 and 1901. Just half of the 'Wunderhornlieder' have military subjects but beside those there are songs wit...

Gustav Mahler composed his 'Wunderhornlieder' (Songs from the Youth's Magic Horn) between 1892 and 1901. Just half of the 'Wunderhornlieder' have military subjects but beside those there are songs wit...

In 1876 Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) composed his "Preludio in Mi minore" which became later known as the "Preludio a Orchestra". It"s Puccini"s first surviving work and through its original treatment...

In 1876 Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) composed his "Preludio in Mi minore" which became later known as the "Preludio a Orchestra". It"s Puccini"s first surviving work and through its original treatment...

Pablo de Sarasate was not only a great violinplayer but a composer as well and because of that it´s quite logic that the violin plays an important role in his work. The 'Carmen Fantasy' , together wit...

Pablo de Sarasate was not only a great violinplayer but a composer as well and because of that it's quite logic that the violin plays an important role in his work. The Carmen Fantasy, together with Z...

Kurt Weill (1900-1950) was best-known work is "Die Dreigroschenoper" ("Threepenny Opera") (1928), a reworking of John Gay's "The Beggar's Opera", written in collaboration with Bertolt Brecht. Weill's...

Max Reger (1873 -1916), was a German composer, pianist, organist, conductor, and academic teacher. Between 1904 and 1912 Reger composed the "Schlichten Weisen" op. 76, 60 songs in 6 volumes. One of th...

Max Reger (1873 -1916), was a German composer, pianist, organist, conductor, and academic teacher. Between 1904 and 1912 Reger composed the "Schlichten Weisen" op. 76, 60 songs in 6 volumes. One of th...

Francesco Antonio Rosetti (1750 - 1792) was a German-Czech composer and a contemporary of Haydn and Mozart. Rosetti wrote over 400 compositions, primarily instrumental music including many symphonies...

Die Zauberflöte isn't a romantic love story but a real parable: a resemblance about higher human striving to purity and self-improvement. Not love between two people is in the centre but a more indivi...

'Le Nozze di Figaro' is one of the three opera's which Mozart composed on libretto's of Lorenzo da Ponte (1749-1838) the famous Viennese theaterdirector and courtpoet. The 'Canzonetta sull'aria' is su...

The 'Slavonic Dances' are a series of 16 orchestral pieces composed by Antonín Dvorák in 1878 and 1886 and published in two sets as Opus 46 and Opus 72 respectively. The 'Slavonic Dance No. 1' is a 'f...

The 'Slavonic Dances' are a series of 16 orchestral pieces composed by Antonín Dvorák in 1878 and 1886 and published in two sets as Opus 46 and Opus 72 respectively. The 'Slavonic Dance No. 1' is a 'f...

As a composer Lehár started with contributions to the opera-genre but the great triumph of his first operetta 'Die lustige Witwe' ('The merry widow') in 1905 made him clear that he had to give his tal...

As a composer Lehár started with contributions to the opera-genre but the great triumph of his first operetta 'Die lustige Witwe' ('The merry widow') in 1905 made him clear that he had to give his tal...

'Der Bürger als Edelmann' is the German title of a play by Molière and an orchestral suite by Richard Strauss. The original French play is called 'Le bourgeois gentilhomme' and is about a wealthy merc...

'Der Bürger als Edelmann' is the German title of a play by Molière and an orchestral suite by Richard Strauss. The original French play is called 'Le bourgeois gentilhomme' and is about a wealthy merc...