Although the source of the name is clear, the history of the dance itself is not. The Saltarello takes its name from the Italian verb saltare, meaning ‘to jump’, and it was the peculiar jumping step used in the saltarello

It was the hot new instrument in town – eventually combining a seemingly traditional keyboard with the modern valve/tube technology developed in the first world war. Maurice Martenot (1898-1980) developed his ‘Ondes Musicales’ (musical waves) instrument in 1928, first as

In his 1913 children’s book, The Patchwork Girl of Oz, L. Frank Baum added a bit of music criticism into his text. His characters disapprove of classical music, ragtime, and ‘popular’ music, and, in fact, you sense a slight disapproval

In 1944, Leonard Bernstein wrote music for the musical On the Town. It tells the story of three sailors on shore leave for their 24 hours of adventures and romance in New York City. The song “New York, New York,”

After Brahms wrote his two brilliant string sextets, Dvořák, Erwin Schulhoff, Schoenberg, Tchaikovsky, Reger, Rimsky-Korsakov, Franck, Korngold, Martinů, and others followed suit. I’d like to feature two Czech composers’ sextets. Antonín Dvořák (1841-1903) the first of 14 children, showed exceptional

The 20th century normalized doctors – we now see them in their more accustomed roles as healers or consultants to the ill. The occasional black magician / doctor still appears, but that role is increasingly rare. We open the century

João IV / John IV (1604-1656) of Portugal, got the nickname of ‘John the Restorer’ for his freeing of Portugal from Spanish rule. Beginning in 1580, Portugal and Spain were ruled together by the Habsburg Spanish court. Under João, the

The combination of two violins, two violas, and two cellos is a lush and almost orchestral sound. Most musicians I know relish the opportunity to play string sextets. Even so, these works are not played as often as other chamber