Very few people are actually born to become composers, and composers frequently struggle financially in society. In fact, the starving artist was a popular trope in the late 18th and 19th centuries. It was suggested that artists lived in poverty

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The illicit child of Pasiphaë, wife of King Minos of Crete, and a snow-white bull intended for sacrifice to Poseidon, the Minotaur, half-man half-bull, actually had the given name of Asterius (star). He was ungovernable, so Minos created a labyrinth

The saxophone is a relatively young instrument in the world of classical music. (It was originally invented in 1846.) But its unique sound and versatility have captured the hearts of composers and audiences alike. Today we’re spotlighting twenty essential pieces

A musical hoax is sometimes described as a musical forgery or mystification. It basically refers to a work of music composed by an individual and intentionally misattributed to someone else. Most frequently, such music hoaxes are attributed to historical figures

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The 20th century really fell in love with the clarinet. I always get goosebumps listening to the opening of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, with the clarinet sounding the delicious penetrating low trill followed by that long glissando. The technical demands