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Be sure to watch this wonderful short video from the Philharmonie de Paris. Yes, Ravel’s Boléro Is a Masterpiece by Barry Lenson Like many people, I never thought of Boléro as Ravel’s greatest work – […]

By Barry Lenson Sean Hickey’s epic solo piano work, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, in eight sections, is based on the book of the same name, written by Noah Harari. Sean’s Sapiens is played […]

 By Barry Lenson The Italian composer Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936) is most admired for his incredibly skillful, masterfully orchestrated tone poems The Birds, The Pines of Rome, and The Fountains of Rome. These charming works have […]

Composer Profile: Carlo Gesualdo (1566-1613), Madrigalist and Murderer The Tomb of Carlo Gesualdo in Naples  By Barry Lenson Many well-regarded composers did much more than just write music. Alexander Borodin (1833-1877) was also a physician […]

Benjamin Britten (1913-1976): A Musical Biography By Barry Lenson The British composer Benjamin Britten wrote a remarkably large and varied body of music. His compositions range from the simply delightful Young Person’s Guide to the […]

by Barry Lenson We would like to start today’s composer profile with a short quiz. Ready? Please put on your thinking cap. Question One: Which composer wrote the Water Music? Question Two: Which composer wrote […]

Heitor Villa-Lobos: Brazilian-Born Master Composer Whose Music Knows No Boundaries by Barry Lenson Have you noticed that many members of the classical music world are prejudiced against the music of Spain and Latin America? When […]

by Barry Lenson Heroic and Troubled in Life, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Stands at the Pinnacle of Romantic Russian Music Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, born on May 7, 1840, in Votkinsk, Russia, is indisputably one of the […]

Edited by Barry Lenson from Content Generated by the Claude AI App Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky was a revolutionary Russian composer who played a crucial role in creating a distinctly national musical style during the 19th […]

Jean Sibelius (1865-1957): A Reserved Finn with White-Hot Passion Within by Barry Lenson If you ask a group of music lovers to tell you something about the Finnish Composer Jean Sibelius, at least 10 of […]