Stories
Articles, biographies and essays on composers, performers and great recordings, first published in our Facebook groups.
20 July 2025Mariahilfer Kirche, ViennaThe Mariahilfer Kirche, also known as the Church of Mariahilf, is one of the oldest and most emblematic baroque churches in Vienna. It is located in the 7th district (Neubau), at the heart…
20 July 2025The houses where the most famous composers lived in Vienna, with emphasis on those that are now preserved as museums or…The houses of the most famous composers in Vienna, with emphasis on those now preserved as museums or memorial sites. The list includes addresses, historical context, highlights of each…
20 July 2025The Vienna State Opera â A Living Monument to MusicIn the mid-19th century, Vienna stood at the heart of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, already one of the most important centers for music in the world. Emperor Franz Joseph I initiated a…
17 July 2025Here is a detailed overview of Paul McCreeshâs recording of Venetian Vespersâone of the most celebrated…Here is a detailed overview of Paul McCreeshâs recording of Venetian Vespersâone of the most celebrated reconstructions of early Baroque liturgical music: This project is not a setting…
17 July 2025Basilica di San Marco in Venice: History and Its Profound Connection with Renaissance and Baroque MusiciansThe Basilica di San Marco (St. Markâs Basilica) stands not only as the spiritual heart of Venice but also as the epicenter of its musical glory during the Renaissance and Baroque periods.…
17 July 2025San Giovanni e Paolo (Venice): Its Musical and Cultural Connections in the Renaissance and Baroque PeriodsThe Basilica of Santi Giovanni e Paolo (often called San Zanipolo in Venetian dialect) is one of the largest and most majestic churches in Venice. Located in the Castello district, not far…
17 July 2025The Church of San Zaccaria in Venice: Its Relationship with Renaissance and Baroque MusiciansThe Church of San Zaccaria, located in the Castello district of Venice near the Riva degli Schiavoni, is one of the city's most striking examples of a transition between late Gothic and…
17 July 2025ð1⁄4 Florence and the Musicians of the Baroque: A Cradle of Musical RevolutionFlorence, long celebrated as the birthplace of the Renaissance, played an equally vital role in the emergence of Baroque music. By the late 16th and early 17th centuries, the city became…
15 July 2025ð1⁄4 History of the Conservatorio Giovanni Battista Martini, BolognaFounded on December 3, 1804, as the Liceo Filarmonico di Bologna, it was the first municipal music school in Italy, housed in the former Convent of San Giacomo Maggiore. Its early faculty…
14 July 2025Vincenzo Galilei - (father of Astronomist Galileo) Passamezzo Moderno - Tone II, Book 2, No.3 - Performer: Å1⁄2ak Ozmo (Lute)Vincenzo Galilei (1520 - 1591) was an Italian lutenist, composer, and music theorist. His children included the astronomer and physicist Galileo Galilei and the lute virtuoso and composer…
11 July 2025The Deep Benefits of Classical Music for the Human BeingClassical music, across centuries of evolution, has proven to be far more than an expression of beauty, genius, and artistic complexity. It is a powerful transformative force that touches…
8 July 2025Bruno Walter , Thomas Mann and Arturo Toscanini - 1935 - Photographie von Atelier Ellinger.Bruno Walter, Thomas Mann and Arturo Toscanini, 1935 - Photograph from the Ellinger studio. This iconic photograph, taken in 1935, captures a rare and deeply symbolic meeting between three…
16 February 2024Eduard Hanslick,(1825-1904) Famous quotesMusicologist, critic, negative in his reviews of Bruckner and his music. "Music has no subject beyond the combinations of notes we hear, for music speaks not only by means of sounds; it…
6 February 2024The Vienna Conservatory was already a well-respected institution in the cityâs musical life even before Gustav Mahler…The Vienna Conservatory was already a well-respected institution in the cityâs musical life even before Gustav Mahler began his studies there in September 1875.. It had been founded as…
4 February 2024Year 1880. Card received by Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) from Anton Bruckner (1824-1896). Unsigned card, with two lines of…Year 1880. Card received by Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) from Anton Bruckner (1824-1896). Unsigned card, with two lines of music: a fragment of the trio in the march in Franz von Suppe…
4 February 202425-10-1892, Year 1892. Letter received by Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) from Hans von Bulow (1830-1894). Bülow asks Mahler…25-10-1892, Year 1892. Letter received by Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) from Hans von Bulow (1830-1894). Bülow asks Mahler to coach and conduct his own songs for the concert on 07-11, since he…
4 February 202406-06-1911: Letter from Bruno Walter (1876-1962) in Bad Gastein (Austria) to Justine (Ernestine) Rose-Mahler…06-06-1911: Letter from Bruno Walter (1876-1962) in Bad Gastein (Austria) to Justine (Ernestine) Rose-Mahler (1868-1938): Walter tries to console both himself and Justine over the death of…
4 February 202413-09-1883, Year 1883. Letter received by Gustav Mahler from Franz Liszt (1811-1886) (in Weimar). Waldmarchen (from Das…13-09-1883, Year 1883. Letter received by Gustav Mahler from Franz Liszt (1811-1886) (in Weimar). Waldmarchen (from Das klagende Lied) is rejected. Writing in formal style: Your composition…
2 February 2024Listening to Bruckner's symphonies can be described as metaphysical experiences that elevate you to a superior level of…Listening to Bruckner's symphonies can be described as metaphysical experiences that elevate you to a superior level of understanding and emotional depth. The grandeur and complexity of his…29 January 2024Epstein, Julius* August 7, 1832 Agram/Croatia-Slavonia (Zagreb/HR), â March 2, 1926 Vienna/A. Pianist and music teacher. Private student of Anton Halm (1789â1872, piano) and Johann Rufinatscha…29 January 2024Bruckner, familyThe name Bruckner is widespread in Upper Austria and, together with vague traditions, led some bearers of this family name to refer to a relationship with the composer. To date, no positive…29 January 2024Bruckner's training and teacherDuring the period between 1830 and 1865, which was probably uniquely long for a composer, Bruckner was a learner - he absorbed and processed knowledge throughout his life. In this article,…
29 January 2024Auer, MaxMax Auer (Vöcklabruck, Upper Austria, 6 May 1880 – Bad Ischl, Upper Austria, 24 September 1962). Teacher and writer, one of the most important Bruckner researchers alongside August…
28 January 2024Krenn, Franz* 26 February 1816 in Droß, Lower Austria/A, † 19 June 1897 in St. Andrä-Wördern, Lower Austria/A. Music teacher, composer and organist. Initially a teacher, Krenn came to Vienna in 1834,…28 January 2024Life: Vienna III. (1890 â 1896)Compiled by Alexandra Jud and Damaris Leimgruber (from: Hans-Joachim Hinrichsen (ed.): Bruckner-Handbuch, Stuttgart 2010, pp. XIII-XXIII). – Establishment of a patron consortium for…28 January 2024Life: Vienna II (1878 â 1889)Compiled by Alexandra Jud and Damaris Leimgruber (from: Hans-Joachim Hinrichsen (ed.): Bruckner-Handbuch, Stuttgart 2010, pp. XIII-XXIII). 1 February: Bruckner becomes a real (full) member…28 January 2024Life: Vienna I. (1868 â 1877)Compiled by Alexandra Jud and Damaris Leimgruber (from: Hans-Joachim Hinrichsen (ed.): Bruckner-Handbuch , Stuttgart 2010, pp. XIII-XXIII). 1868â October: Move to Vienna (first apartment:…28 January 2024Life: Linz (1856 â 1868)Compiled by Alexandra Jud and Damaris Leimgruber (from: Hans-Joachim Hinrichsen (ed.): Bruckner-Handbuch , Stuttgart 2010, pp. XIII-XXIII). 1856â January 25th: audition in the Old…28 January 2024Life: St. Florian (1845 â 1855)Compiled by Alexandra Jud and Damaris Leimgruber (from: Hans-Joachim Hinrichsen (ed.): Bruckner-Handbuch, Stuttgart 2010, pp. XIII-XXIII). 25 September: School assistant in St. Florian for…28 January 2024Life: Childhood and Youth (1824-1845)Compiled by Alexandra Jud and Damaris Leimgruber (from: Hans-Joachim Hinrichsen (ed.): Bruckner-Handbuch , Stuttgart 2010, pp. XIII-XXIII). â September 4: (Joseph) Anton Bruckner is born…27 January 2024Sex and Religion: The "Case" BrucknerNo doubt his unattractive appearance played a significant role in the successive failures of his romantic passions. And yet, this "imprisoned" bachelor would be haunted by the idea of…
27 January 2024Portraits of Women Who Were Part of Bruckner's LifeThroughout his life, Anton Bruckner attempted to win the hearts of charming young women of modest origin, whether they were Austrian or German. The names include: Margarethe Boucher; Hedwig…27 January 2024Summer Holidays in SwitzerlandEnd of August 1880: Anton Bruckner goes on vacation. It will be the most extensive one he has ever undertaken: Oberammergau, Munich, and then in Switzerland: Schaffhausen, Geneva, Chamonix,…24 January 2024Szell, George: Comments about Anton BrucknerThe following article appeared in the February, 1971 issue of Gramophone: During the 1960s, when he was recording with the Cleveland Orchestra in Severance Hall, George Szell liked to relax…
1 January 2024Alban Berg in Cambridge, 1931The photograph was taken in January 1931, in the rooms of the musicologist E.J. Dent, a Fellow of King’s. Dent is the dapper, Wilfrid Brambell-esque figure seated at the table; alongside…7 November 2023Gustav Mahler's chronology for 190319 January: new production of Euryanthe. 23 January: Fourth Symphony in Wiesbaden. 21 February: new production of Tristan und Isolde with sets by Alfred Roller. 22 February: death of Hugo…7 November 2023Mahler's 1904 Chronology4 January: new production of Der Waffenschmied. 19 January: Euryanthe in Mahler's own version. 1 February: conducts the Third Symphony in Heidelberg. 2 February: conducts the Third Symphony…
5 November 2023On October 13, 1887, Mahler and Richard Strauss metOn October 13, 1887, Richard Strauss presented his Second Symphony in Leipzig, and through Max Steinitzer (1864-1936), Strauss met Mahler, who was then the second conductor at the municipal…
29 October 20231906 Concert Antwerp 05-03-1906 â Symphony No. 5Composition Mahler:
25 October 2023"The Ring of the Nibelung"Mahler's invitation to Vienna, for the performance of the Nibelung cycle that Richter had entrusted entirely to him, reached me in the wooded solitude of Knittelfeld, where I had been for…