Why Is There So Little Music about Working?
Over Labor Day weekend, I decided to write a post for this blog about all the wonderful pieces of classical music that celebrate working. The problem seems to be, there aren’t too many of them. At the same time – and this is funny – there is no shortage of popular...
Featured New Release: Andre Cluytens Conducts Ravel
I am enthralled with one of the new releases that are available for listening here on Classical Archives. It is a two-CD recording on the Urania Arts label of the great Belgian/French maestro Andre Cluytens conducting the Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du...
Can Your Piano Be a Composer?
Can your piano be a composer? Not really. I have to admit that the title of today’s post is a trick question. But the fact is, at least two important composers – Muzio Clementi and Ignace Pleyel – were also manufacturers of pianos. They put their names on the...
Get to Know the Music of Einojuhani Rautavaara on Classical Archives
Einojuhani Rautavaara, widely called the finest Finnish composer since Jean Sibelius, passed away on July 17th in Helsinki at the age of 87. If you’re not familiar with his music (and I have to admit that I have only gotten to know it in the weeks since he died), you...
Creaks, Groans and Dripping Blood: The Scary Supernatural Operas that Influenced Richard Wagner
In a future post, I’ll be sharing some of the basic information that classical music bluffers need to know about the operas of Richard Wagner (1813-1883). Today, we will listen to some of the rather spooky German romantic operas that influenced him. If the topic of...
Discovering the Glories of Tchaikovsky’s Church Music
We invite you to watch this video of a performance of one of Tchaikovsky’s sublime “Cherubic Hymns” Pyotr Ilich Tchaikovsky has rightfully earned a place on lots of “greatest” lists. He is one of the greatest ballet composers of all time, one of the greatest...
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