We always seek mentors and look for the pearls of wisdom that drop from their lips. The composer and conductor, Richard Strauss, created 10 Golden Rules in 1922 for conductors. As you read this, think of images of Strauss as

Béla Bartók: Mikrokosmos It must have been a wondrous sight! With an Edison recording machine strapped to his back, Béla Bartók traveled throughout remote regions of Eastern Europe and North Africa to record, and subsequently transcribe the folk music expressions

Giacomo Puccini and the Automobile Giacomo Puccini had a penchant for fine cigars, quality spirits and every woman he could possibly get his hands on! And did I mention excessive gambling and hunting with country friends in the Florentine marshes

Like many composers past and present, Erik Satie was in constant financial troubles. To escape his creditors he frequently changed his lodgings, ending up in a tiny room at 6 rue Cortot in the spring of 1890. Like a monk

Frédéric Chopin was not only one of the greatest pianists the world has ever known, he also left the finest body of music for his instrument. “In my music,” he once remarked, “one can divine the restlessness of the artist.”

“Giacomo Puccini and Elvira Gemignani” Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) (in)famously described himself as “a mighty hunter of wild fowl, operatic librettos and attractive women.” Bravado self-assessment aside, his entire musical career hinged on the success of his second opera Edgar, began

How do we really know what a composer looked like? Do we trust paintings and etchings? Do we believe people’s images as mediated through another’s hand? Before photography came into widespread use in the mid-19th century, the only way of

During his initial years in Vienna, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart made the acquaintance of Franz Anton Mesmer. Mesmer was a trained physician who hypothesized that it was essential to maintain equilibrium between the natural magnetic fluid that filled all living things,