On 5 April 1803 Beethoven conducted an concert of his own works: the First and Second Symphonies; The Third Piano Concerto, and his oratorio Christ on the Mount of Olives. It is likely that the he directed the piano concerto (which he played) from the piano. Ignaz von Seyfried gave an account of Beethoven’s conducting […]

Title: Feeling Fine Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: Piano duet Level: 1 (5 finger position) Product medium: PDf score & MP3 accompaniment track (Audio sample of accompaniment track only)

Brahms formed a Ladies Choir of about fifty singers: “Fix oder Nix” was the motto he coined for them – “Bang up or nothing”; and he promised to write all the music they could sing if they would meet regularly, and always on time.  He even drew up a set of humorous rules.  “Avertimento” it […]

Title: The Stars Looked Tenderly Upon Us (Нам звезды кроткие сияли), op. 60, no.12 Composer: Pytor Il'yrich Tchaikovsky (arr. Greg Smith) Instrumentation: Cello and piano Product medium: PDF score and part Sample:

From 1882, nine-year-old Rachmaninoff moved to St Petersburg to study at the conservatoire. In the comfortable knowledge that, even if he did not practice, his efforts were more successful than those of his classmates, young Sergei grew lazier and lazier. In the end he did nothing at all, showed a marked preference for shirking his […]

“I think that one way toward a more intelligent and involved appraisal is through a connection with the pieces, and that one way to develop that connection is to talk about what the pieces mean to people who have spent a lot of time with them: the content, if you will. This approach can also […]

Music sets up a certain vibration which unquestionably results in a physical reaction. Eventually the proper vibration for every person will be found and utilized. I like to think of music as an emotional science. — George Gershwin Daniel Albright. Modern and Music: An Anthology of Sources. Chicago, The University of Chicago Press, p. 388.

My love for Schubert is a very serious one, probably because it is no fleeting fancy. Where is genius like his, which soars heavenwards so boldly and surely, where we see the few supreme ones enthroned. He is to me like a son of the gods, playing with Jupiter’s thunder, and also occasionally handling it […]

“I am not satisfied with any man who despises music. For music is a gift of God. It will drive away the devil, and makes people cheerful. Occupied with it, man forgets all anger, unchastity, pride, and other vices. Next to theology, I give music the next place and highest praise.” – Martin Luther Cited […]

To mark the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson's voyage up the Hudson river in New York, composer Joseph Bertolozzi sampled sounds of percussively hitting various parts of the bridge.  He now has his sights set on using the Eiffel Tower.  Wakin, Daniel, ""After Music from a Bridge, Why Not A Tower?"", Arts Beat, 8 July […]