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Twenty Trivia Questions About Classical Music
Need some trivia questions about classical music? We’ve got you covered! Today we’re looking at the history of classical music for trivia inspiration. Learn about everything from a composer who murdered his wife, to a Venetian orchestra of talented orphans,
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Heino Eller (1887-1970)
Father of Modern Estonian Music
There is nothing I like better than getting to know and explore lesser-known classical music and composers. Of course, notoriety and fame are completely relative, but I haven’t been exposed to the vast musical universes outside the conventional mainstream. Have
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On This Day
23 March: Delius’ Requiem Was Premiered
On 23 March 1922, Albert Coates conducted the premiere performance of Frederick Delius’ Requiem in Queen’s Hall, London. The origin of the work, subsequently dedicated “to the memory of all young artists fallen in the war,” emerged during a holiday
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Indian Music
The presence of Indian classical music in Western classical music is more than evident, although one might not notice it at first, it is undeniably here. Often disguised, and peppered in works and identities, Indian classical music’s way of functioning
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On This Day
21 March: Modest Mussorgsky Was Born
The Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky, whose family name survives in an astonishingly diverse number of spellings, was largely self-taught. Yet he discovered a way of writing for the voice that was both lyrical and true to the inflections of speech.
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On This Day
20 March: Yunchan Lim Was Born
As the youngest pianist ever, South Korean pianist Yunchan Lim won the prestigious Van Cliburn International Piano Competition at the age of eighteen. His gold medal performance showcased a “magical ability” and “a natural, instinctive quality.” Jury Chair Marin Alsop
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Are Piano Keys Made of Ivory?
Have you ever wondered where the phrase “tickling the ivories” comes from? Is it just a colloquialism, or is it meant literally? Is making piano keys out of ivory legal? And is ivory the preferred material for piano-builders today? If
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Songs of Travel
Gustav Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Songs of a Wayfarer)
In November 1918, Arnold Schoenberg founded the Verein für musikalische Privataufführungen (the Society for Private Musical Performances) as a way for his pupils and others to get to know modern music. Although this was Schoenberg’s idea, it was really organized
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