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Ida Rubinstein: Dancer, Patroness, and Inspiration for Boléro
Dancer, actress, and arts patron Ida Rubinstein was a trailblazing figure in the arts, and her impact on early twentieth century music was profound. A gifted performer, she knew how to captivate audiences with her beauty, stage presence, and creative
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Which Composer Had the Worst Childhood?
It’s not easy to be a composer, and many have had dramatic lives full of pain and struggle. But some composers have had worse times than others, especially in their vulnerable childhood years. Today we’re looking at five composers who
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Untangling Hearts
Klaus Mäkelä and Yuja Wang
In the world of classical music, where precision, passion, and elegance reign supreme, the drama offstage can often rival the intensity of the performances themselves. Enter the unexpected and electrifying love story of two of the genre’s brightest stars: Chinese
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Debussy: Préludes I
A Look at Debussy Piano Music — Preludes Following the model of Bach and his 24 Preludes and Fugues from 1722, Debussy also wrote his own set of Préludes for the piano. Debussy began Book 1 in December 1909, finishing
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Frédéric Chopin and George Sand: The Real Story Behind Their Relationship
It’s one of the most romanticized love affairs in music history: dashing cross-dressing woman novelist George Sand becomes obsessed with, and then seduces, the sickly consumptive pianist-composer Frédéric Chopin. But how much of this story is real, and how much
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What Happened to Mozart’s Children?
Composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and singer Constanze Weber were married on 4 August 1782. Their courtship had been dramatic. They had started dating the summer of the previous year (after Wolfgang had initially fallen in love with Constanze’s sister). They
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Baroque Music
Operas, Concertos, Oratorios, Cantatas & More I know this is absolutely subjective, but for me personally, the Baroque music period produced some of the most intense, dramatic, devotional, appealing, and simply most beautiful music imaginable. In school, we are all
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Classical Music Beyond the Concert Stage PART II: 8 Classical Pieces Used in Commercials
It has been over a year since part one of Classical Music Beyond the Concert Stage was published. One year passed, and I discovered more TV commercials using classical music. Some of them were found and inspired by our readers
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