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Articles, biographies and essays on composers, performers and great recordings, first published in our Facebook groups.

2 October 2026Chapter 4: The Conductor Is Born in the Small Theatres (1880–1885)When Gustav Mahler completed his academic training, the legendary conductor who, decades later, would transform the Vienna Opera and be received in New York as one of Europe’s great musical…1 October 2026Mannerisms, Rituals and Obsessions of the Great ConductorsThe history of conducting is full of gestures, habits, superstitions, routines and obsessions which, seen from the outside, may seem like simple eccentricities, but which in many of the…1 October 2026Biography Of Mahler By Jens Malte FischerWhen Gustav Mahler arrived in Vienna in September 1875, he was barely fifteen years old, came from a provincial town of fewer than twenty thousand inhabitants, and was about to confront an…30 September 2026Yehudi Menuhin and David Oistrakh: When Two Worlds Met in Four StringsFew encounters in twentieth-century violin history possess the symbolic resonance of the relationship between Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999) and David Oistrakh (1908–1974). They were…30 September 2026Wozzeck in Berlin, 1925Erich Kleiber, Alban Berg and Leo Schützendorfer, from right to left, shortly before the world premiere of Berg’s opera Wozzeck at the Berlin State Opera in 1925. Erich Kleiber conducted…30 September 2026Alban Berg's Violin Concerto: A Requiem Written in Twelve TonesFew works of the twentieth century reconcile modernism, memory and grief as completely as the Violin Concerto of Alban Berg (1885–1935), composed in 1935 during the final months of his…30 September 2026Alban Berg: Secrets, Passions and Paradoxes of the Most Romantic of the ModernistsAlban Berg (1885–1935) occupies one of the most fascinating and paradoxical positions in twentieth-century music. A pupil of Arnold Schoenberg and, together with Anton Webern, one of the…30 September 2026Mahler: Childhood in a BorderlandTo truly understand Gustav Mahler, it is not enough to begin with his studies in Vienna, his great symphonies, or the extraordinary career that would lead him to conduct in some of the most…30 September 2026Arnold Schoenberg and the Masters: The Revolutionary Who Refused to Break with the PastFew composers have been portrayed more misleadingly as enemies of tradition than Arnold Schoenberg (1874–1951). Because he was one of the decisive figures in the dissolution of traditional…30 September 2026Kandinsky and Schoenberg: When Painting Learned to Listen and Music Learned to SeeFew encounters in the history of modernism seem as inevitable in retrospect as the meeting of Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944) and Arnold Schoenberg (1874–1951). One was helping painting free…30 September 2026The Children of Arnold Schoenberg — What Became of Them?Arnold Schoenberg had five children in total, two with his first wife, Mathilde Zemlinsky, and three with his second wife, Gertrud Kolisch. According to currently available sources, the…29 September 2026Why We Don't All Listen to the Same Music: Sex, Personality, Age and Affinities Among the Great ComposersMusical taste has been seriously investigated, although a very important distinction emerges when reviewing the literature: we know quite a lot about which musical characteristics tend to…29 September 2026A Fascinating Interpretation of the First Movement of Bruckner's ThirdDespite the negative criticism that some of Rémy Ballot’s interpretations of Bruckner’s symphonies have received, I find this performance of the first movement of the Symphony No. 3 in D…29 September 2026Bruckner: Symphony No. 3 (Original 1873 Version) — BallotDespite the negative criticism that some of Rémy Ballot’s interpretations of Bruckner’s symphonies have received, I find this performance of the first movement of the Symphony No. 3 in D…29 September 2026Biography Of Mahler By Jens Malte FischerBefore following Gustav Mahler from his birth in 1860 to his death in 1911, Jens Malte Fischer makes a particularly intelligent decision: he does not begin by asking what Mahler composed,…29 September 2026Gustav Mahler According to Jens Malte Fischer: The Man, the Conductor and the ComposerThe biography of Gustav Mahler written by Jens Malte Fischer is not simply a chronological account of the composer’s life, but a work of enormous intellectual breadth that attempts to…29 September 2026Mathilde, Gerstl And Schoenberg — Love, Betrayal And The Birth Of A Musical RevolutionHis first wife was Mathilde Zemlinsky. Her mother was a Sephardic Jew. She was the sister of the composer Alexander Zemlinsky, who was two years older than Schoenberg. He is one of the most…29 September 2026Arnold Schoenberg: Family Life, Analysis and SummaryArnold Schoenberg’s family life was marked by strong attachments, repeated bereavement, marital crisis, displacement, and eventual reconstruction in exile. His private life was not separate…29 September 2026George Gershwin painting a portrait of Arnold SchoenbergAmerican composer and pianist George Gershwin (1898–1937) painting a portrait of Arnold Schoenberg (1874–1951) in December 1936. Gershwin and Schoenberg became friends after both settled in…29 September 2026Arnold Schoenberg: ChronologyArnold (Hebrew: Avraham) Schönberg is born in Vienna, the son of Samuel and Pauline Schönberg (née Nachod). His sister Adele, born in 1872, dies of meningitis. His sister Adele dies of…29 September 2026Epilogue: Bruckner After Bruckner — His Impact on Twentieth-Century MusicWhen Anton Bruckner died in Vienna on 11 October 1896, his historical position was anything but settled. Some of his symphonies had finally entered the repertory, the Seventh and Eighth had…29 September 2026Biography Of Anton BrucknerThe final five years of Anton Bruckner’s life were marked by an extraordinary contradiction. The composer who had spent decades struggling for recognition was now receiving honours almost…29 September 2026Bruckner's Ninth Symphony: The Final Musical Testament (1891–1896)By the beginning of the 1890s, Anton Bruckner had finally achieved much of what had eluded him for most of his life. His Seventh Symphony was internationally established, the revised Eighth…28 September 2026Gabriel Fauré and Claude Debussy: Admiration, Distance and Convergence in French MusicThe relationship between Gabriel Faure (1845–1924) and Claude Debussy (1862–1918) was far more complex than their frequent association as two of the great representatives of French music at…28 September 2026Claude Debussy And His Daughter Chouchou — A Father's Tenderness And A Tragic EpilogueClaude Debussy (1862–1918), his only child, Claude-Emma Debussy (1905–1919), known within the family as "Chouchou"... see the original Spanish text above for the full translation context.28 September 2026Claude Debussy at the Piano in Luzancy, 1893Claude Debussy (1862–1918) at the piano during the summer of 1893, at the country house in Luzancy, where he was staying with his close friend and fellow composer Ernest Chausson…28 September 2026Claude Debussy: La Mer by Celibidache and the Münchner Philharmoniker (1992)A small but important correction to the date: the documented live recording is from 13 September 1992, not 13 August. The Bibliothèque nationale de France catalogue, the Celibidache…28 September 2026Debussy: Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun According to DutoitFew orchestral works mark such a decisive turning point in musical history as Prelude a l'apres-midi d'un faune. Written between 1892 and 1894 and inspired by Stephane Mallarme's poem…28 September 2026Claude Debussy — La Boite A JoujouxAmong Debussy's late works, La Boîte à joujoux — The Toy Box occupies a particularly charming and unusual place. Conceived in 1913, it is a children's ballet based on a scenario and…28 September 2026Death on the Podium: Conductors Who Died While ConductingThere is something uniquely dramatic about the death of a conductor at work. Unlike a pianist or violinist, the conductor performs through continuous physical movement combined with extreme…28 September 2026Dimitri Mitropoulos: The Ascetic of the Podium. Anecdotes and Curiosities of His LifeDimitri Mitropoulos (1896–1960) was one of the most extraordinary conductors of the twentieth century: a musician of phenomenal memory, formidable intellectual powers and an almost…27 September 2026Ippolit Tchaikovsky (1843–1927) — The Sailor Brother Who Ended His Life Guarding Tchaikovsky’s MemoryAmong the brothers of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, perhaps none led a life further removed from conservatories, opera houses and concert halls than Ippolit Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1843–1927).…27 September 2026Nikolay Tchaikovsky (1838–1911), 'Kolya', the Composer's Elder BrotherAmong the members of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s family, his elder brother Nikolay Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1838–1911) represents a fascinating contrast to the composer. While Pyotr abandoned the…27 September 2026The Sisters of Pyotr Ilyich TchaikovskyThe family of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840–1893) was large and emotionally important throughout his life. Alongside his brothers Nikolay, Ippolit, Anatoly and Modest, there were two…27 September 2026Anatoly Tchaikovsky (1850–1915) — 'Tolya', the Composer's Younger BrotherAmong the people who belonged to the intimate family circle of Pyotr Iiyich Tchaikovsky, his younger brother Anatoly Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1850–1915) occupied an important place. A lawyer and…27 September 2026Tchaikovsky Among the Masters: The Encounters That Shaped a ComposerThe life of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840–1893) intersected with an extraordinary gallery of nineteenth-century composers. Some encounters lasted only minutes; others developed into…27 September 2026James Levine: The Maestro Who Made the Metropolitan Opera His KingdomJames Lawrence Levine (1943–2021) was one of the defining conductors of American musical life in the second half of the twentieth century. For more than four decades his name was virtually…27 September 2026Liszt And Bruckner — Two Visions Of The Monumental: Encounters, Admiration And The Possible Influence Of Franz Liszt On Anton BrucknerThe relationship between Franz Liszt (1811–1886) and Anton Bruckner (1824–1896) is much more difficult to reconstruct than the relationship between Bruckner and Richard Wagner. In Wagner’s…26 September 2026Johannes Brahms in a Viennese Garden: An Intimate Image of His Final YearsJohannes Brahms (1833–1897), photographed in a private setting during his final years in Vienna, accompanied by two women from his close circle. The image belongs to the group of…26 September 2026Brahms in the Fellinger Garden — 15 June 1896This photograph shows Johannes Brahms in Vienna on 15 June 1896, surrounded by members of the Fellinger family, one of the families with whom he maintained a particularly close personal…