Gioacchino Rossini was a musical prodigy, composing his first opera when he was eighteen years old. At the age of 37, after having written 39 operas in all, he almost completely stopped composing and...
In 1878, on a commission from his publisher, Anton n Dvorák wrote a series of eight Slavonic dances. Modelled on Johannes Brahms' famous Hungarian Dances, although in contrast to Brahms' work, Dvorák...
Una Furtiva Lagrima is a brilliant arrangement by Jacob de Haan, of the aria from Gaetano Donizetti's opera L'Elisir d'Amore (The Elixir of Love) for concert band. The subject of this song is the powe...
Addio Napoli is a medley of well-known Neapolitan melodies, including Torna a Surriento by Ernesto de Curtis (1875-1937), Neapolitan Dance by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) - which he used in hi...
An der schönen blauen Donau (The Blue Danube Waltz) has had more success as a concert waltz than in the original choral version: since its victorious performance at the World Exhibition in Paris (1867...
This march, opus 470 in Johann Strauss the Younger's oeuvre, was dedicated to the k. u. k. (Royal) Infanterie-Regiment 'Hoch und Deutschmeister No. 4' on the occasion of its 200th anniversary. In 1896...
A few flavoursome introductory bars carry the listener off to a temple garden in Manchuria in North-eastern China. Mysterious incantations of the priests in the temple and the scent of incense set the...
Ravel's ballet, Daphnis and Chloé, was commissioned by Sergei Diaghilev and premiered with the Ballets Russes in Paris in 1912. The ballet is now rarely performed, but its Suite No. 2 remains popular....
The German composer Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897) wrote his Academic Fesival Overture in the summer of 1880, together with the Tragic Overture. The occasion was the honorary degree which Brahms had re...
Neben dem Zigeunerbaron und Eine Nacht in Venedig ist Die Fledermaus eine der bekanntesten Operetten von Johann Strauss (Sohn). Dieses Werk, das 1874 uraufgeführt wurde, ist ein Paradebeispiel für die...
