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Antonio Vivaldi’s life story could easily be the subject of a novel. Vivaldi was born in Venice in 1678 and at the age of 25 he was ordained as a…

Miles Hoffman continues his musings about the history of the overture.A Minute with Miles - a Production of South Carolina Public Radio, made possible by…

“Sonata form” and the musical form known as the sonata are not the same thing. A sonata is a piece—usually for piano or for piano and one other…

The strings of stringed instruments—violins, violas, cellos, basses, guitars, and harps—may be made of steel, nylon or other synthetics, or of gut. Often the steel, nylon, or gut serves as the core of the string, and around the core is a tight winding of very fine wire—wire of steel, aluminum, or silver.

The French horn is only called the French horn… in English. In French, it’s just called the horn, le cor – c-o-r. In German it’s Horn, das Horn, in…

A mute is any device that softens, dampens, darkens, or muffles the normal sound of an instrument. On stringed instruments, the strings pass over a…

For centuries, composers have borrowed dance forms. Dances provide rhythmic vitality, and they offer ready-made, concrete associations, associations with…

The Trombone is an instrument that has remained largely unchanged for five centuries. Host Miles Hoffman outlines the history of the trombone.A Minute…

The French Horn is only called the French horn in English. In French, it's just the horn. Miles Hoffman discusses why English speaking countries have…

Today is the birthday of George Washington, so I thought I’d talk about… Alexander Reinagle. And in case this doesn’t seem like the most obvious choice to…