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A word today about the solo cello suites of Johann Sebastian Bach. The melodies to which we’re most accustomed in the music of such composers as Haydn,…

When the dance known as the waltz first became popular in Europe in the late 1700's and early 1800's, it was considered by many to be the ultimate in…

No piece of music is ever just “about” any one thing. In Mozart’s opera Don Giovanni, Don Giovanni stands beneath Donna Elvira’s window and sings the aria…

The literal meaning of the Italian word staccato is similar to that of staccato—“detached,” or “distinct.” In string playing, to play notes staccato means…

What goes on in a performer’s mind during a performance? Well, lots of things, from the sublime to the salacious. From thoughts and feelings whose only…

The motet is a form that played a central role in music history for five hundred years, from the 1200's to the 1700's. During that time, most of the…

Today, let’s just take a moment to listen to Franz Schubert’s beautiful thank-you note to music: An die Musik, sung by Fritz Wunderlich.A Minute with…

Miles Hoffman discusses the history of the harpsichord, which was one of the principal keyboard instruments in the Baroque period.A Minute with Miles - a…

Acoustics is the science of sound. More specifically, it’s the branch of physics that deals with sound waves and their properties—how sound waves are…

Serenade is one of those musical terms that has meant many different things at many different times. The term itself comes from the Italian sereno, which is from the Latin serenus, which means “serene.”