While putting the finishing touches on the menacing finale of his Sixth Symphony in the summer of 1904, Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) also drafted two central “Nachtmusiken” (Music of the Night) that would eventually become the second and fourth movements of

Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959) has been described as “the single most significant creative figure in 20th century Brazilian art music.” His quest to develop musical compositions using indigenous Brazilian elements fueled a number of ethno-musicological excursions into the northeastern states of

For all his dislike of Italian music, Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) kept returning to Italian subjects. We only need to think of Romeo and Juliette, Harold in Italy, and the opera loosely adapted from the memoirs of the 16th century Florentine

Ferdinand Lukas Schubert (1794-1859)—older brother of Franz Schubert—was a schoolteacher, organist, and composer. He had some compositional talent, but frequently asked for his brother’s help in his daily work. On occasion, he appropriated his brother’s compositions and passed them off

The majority of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s (1756-1791) serious operas were composed for occasions connected to the Austrian ruling house of Habsburg. At the tender age of fourteen, Mozart composed Mitridate, re di Ponto for Milan, a city governed by the

There is considerable debate across the entire scholarly and social spectrum as to what composer was most influential in the field of Western Classical music. It may, or may not surprise you to learn that Glenn Gould considered Arnold Schoenberg

Picturesquely located on the banks of the Danube River, the ecclesiastic basilica at Esztergom is Hungary’s largest church. Stephen I of Hungary erected the foundation of the present building between 1001 and 1010. Various fires and destructions by foreign powers

Visitations by foreign heads of state can be rather lavish affairs. And that was certainly the case when Archduke Ferdinand and Maria Beatrice d’Este, alongside a retinue of well over one hundred servants, visited the former hunting lodge of Prince