July 1, 2011

Scarlattiana, Op. 44 (1926)

Alfredo Casella (1883 – 1947) was an outstanding Italian composer who led several of his contemporaries, such as Respighi, Malipiero and Pizzetti, to modernize the music of their home country. The interests of Casella as a composer and as an author of music-related articles were highly cosmopolitan, both gathered from his early enthusiasms for the works of Debussy, Strauss, Bartók, Schoenberg and the Russian nationalists, as well as intensely inspired by Italian culture, including its folkways and its Futurism movement.

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June 1, 2011

Piano Quintet (1964)

The Incredible Flutist (Ballet Suite)

Walter Piston (1894 – 1976) was a notable American composer, music theorist and an influential professor at Harvard University whose students included Leonard Bernstein, Irving Fine, Leroy Anderson, and Elliott Carter.

Born in Rockland, Maine, Piston and his family moved to Boston in 1904. He exhibited musical talent at a young age, and could play the violin and piano with self-taught proficiency.

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May 1, 2011

Variations on a Georgian Theme, Op.49 (1915)

Violin Concerto in D minor Op.61 (1915)

7 Preludes Op.6 (1895)

Sergei Mikhailovich Lyapunov (1859-1924) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor. His father Mikhail Lyapunov was a celebrated mathematician and astronomer, while his mother Sofya Alexandrovna was an accomplished amateur pianist who fostered his interest in music.

When Sergei Lyapunov was eight, his father passed away, and the family moved to Nizhny Novgorod, where Sergei was enrolled in the Russian Musical Society.

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April 1, 2011

Faust et Hélène (1913)

Piano Trio : D’un Soir Triste (1918)

One of the most treasured composers in France is the younger sister of Nadia Boulanger, Lili Boulanger (1893 – 1918). While the older sister lived a long and fruitful life as one of the most important pedagogues, bearing her influence upon musicians from Aaron Copland to Astor Piazzolla to Daniel Baremboim, Lili’s short life is remembered only by her surviving works.

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Clarinet Trio Op. 28 (1810)

Flute Quartet in C Major Op.145 No.1 (1830)

Cello Sonata in G Minor, Op.125 (1799)

March 1, 2011

Ferdinand Ries (1784 – 1838) was a German composer and the most notable friend and pupil of Ludwig van Beethoven.

Born in 1784, he was blinded in one eye from smallpox. Raised in a musical family, Ries’ father was a pianist and violinist, younger brother a notable violinist of his days (who studied with Louis Spohr), and Ries himself learned the piano, violin and cello.
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Cancons i danses (1962)

12 Preludes (1960)

Variations sur un theme de Chopin (1957)

February 1, 2011

Federico (Frederic) Mompou (1893-1987) was one of the greatest Spanish composers of the 20th century. A Catalan by birth, he studied and appeared on stage in Barcelona since young. Later he studied piano in Paris Conservatory under Isidor Philipp, a distinguished pianist and schoolmate of Debussy.

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Piano Quintet Op.51 (1908)

La Tragedie de Salome Op.50 (1907)

January 1, 2011

Florent Schmitt (September 28, 1870 – August 17, 1958) is one of the most fascinating French composers active in the first half of the 20th century. A Lorrainer, born in Meurthe-et-Moselle, Schmitt originally took music lessons in Nancy with the local composer Gustave Sandré. At the age of 19, he entered the Paris Conservatory, and studied composition with Gabriel Fauré, Jules Massenet, Théodore Dubois, and Albert Lavignac. In 1900, he won the prestigious Prix de Rome.

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December 1, 2010

Piano Trio no.1 in D minor Op. 32 (1894)

Arabesques Op. 67

4 Pieces, Op.30 No 2 : Serenade

Anton Stepanovich Arensky (1861 – 1906) was a Russian composer of Romantic classical music, a pianist and a professor of music. Little known today, Arensky was one of the brightest stars of the late nineteenth century music scene.

Born in Novgorod, Russia to a pair of devoted amateur musicians, Arensky began his training in piano and composition since childhood. He was musically precocious, and had composed a number of songs and piano pieces by the age of nine.

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November 1, 2010

Rigoletto Fantaisie, Op.38

Valse di Bravura Op.33

6 Hungarian Rhapsodies No.3 in D Major Liszt Arranged by F.Doppler

Franz Doppler

Albert Franz Doppler (October 16, 1821 – July 27, 1883) was a flute virtuoso and a composer. Born in Lemberg, Franz received flute lessons from his father Joseph Doppler, who was an oboist, and made his debut as a flautist at the age of 13. Franz formed a flute duo with his brother Karl, and they became quite a sensation throughout Europe.

In 1838, both became members of the orchestra of the German Theater in Budapest. At the age of 18, Franz was already the first flautist at the opera. Three years later, the two brothers moved to the Hungarian National Theater, where five of Franz’s operas were staged with success.

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October 1, 2010

Works for String Quartet : Meditation (1887)

Poemes : No.3 Nocturne: version for soprano and piano quintet (1892)

Cello Sonata

Guillaume Lekeu (January 20, 1870 – January 21, 1894) was a Belgian (Wallon) composer. Born in Verviers, Lekeu took his first lessons at the conservatory in the city. At the early age of six, he began to learn the rudiments of music, as well as having piano and violin lessons. In March 1879, his family moved to Poitiers where Lekeu went to a local grammar school, and continued with his music studies.

In 1884, Lekeu was introduced to the works of Bach and Beethoven. This was the beginning of his vocation as a composer.

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