Amusical instrument is a device created or adapted to makemusical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person who plays a musical instrument is known as aninstrumentalist.

The history of musical instruments dates to the beginnings of human culture. Early musical instruments may have been used for rituals, such as ahorn to signal success on the hunt, or adrum in a religious ceremony. Cultures eventually developed composition and performance ofmelodies for entertainment. Musical instruments evolved in step with changing applications and technologies. (Full article...)

Ich lasse dich nicht, du segnest mich denn (I will not let you go, unless you bless me),BWV 157, is achurch cantata byJohann Sebastian Bach. He composed it inLeipzig in 1726/27 to a libretto byPicander. The first known performance was on 6 February 1727 during a memorial service forJohann Christoph von Ponickau inPomßen near Leipzig. The work was later assigned to the feast of thePurification celebrated on 2 February.

Picander included a quotation fromGenesis 32:26–32 in the first movement, and the last stanza of Christian Keymann's "Meinen Jesum laß ich nicht" in the closing chorale. The contemplation begins with theOld Testament quotation being applied to Jesus, and leads to the last aria expressing an eager wish for death to arrive soon. The closingchorale picks up the first line. (Full article...)

Historically informed performance (also referred to asperiod performance,authentic performance, orHIP) is an approach to the performance ofclassical music which aims to be faithful to the approach, manner and style of themusical era in which a work was originally conceived.

It is based on two key aspects: the application of the stylistic and technical aspects of performance, known asperformance practice; and the use ofperiod instruments which may be reproductions of historical instruments that were in use at the time of the original composition, and which usually have differenttimbre andtemperament from their modern equivalents. A further area of study, that of changing listener expectations, is increasingly under investigation. (Full article...)

TheNational Conservatory of Music of America was an institution for higher education in music founded in 1885 inNew York City byJeannette Meyers Thurber. The conservatory was officially declared defunct by the state of New York in 1952, although for all practical pedagogical purposes, it had ceased to function much earlier than that. Between its founding and about 1920, however, the conservatory played an important part in the education and training of musicians in the United States, and for decades Thurber attempted to turn it into a federally-supported national conservatory in a European style. A number of prominent names are associated with the institution, including that ofVictor Herbert andAntonín Dvořák, director of the conservatory from September 27, 1892 to 1895. It was at the conservatory that Dvořák composed his famousE minor Symphony and subtitled it, at Thurber's suggestion,From the New World. (Full article...)

Theviolin, sometimes referred to as afiddle, is a woodenchordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in theviolin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including theviolino piccolo and thepochette, but these are virtually unused. Most violins have a hollow wooden body, and commonly have fourstrings (sometimesfive), usually tuned inperfect fifths with notes G3, D4, A4, E5, and are most commonly played by drawing abow across the strings. The violin can also be played by plucking the strings with the fingers (pizzicato) and, in specialized cases, by striking the strings with the wooden side of the bow (col legno).

Violins are important instruments in a wide variety of musical genres. They are most prominent in theWestern classical tradition, both in ensembles (fromchamber music toorchestras) and as solo instruments. Violins are also important in many varieties offolk music, includingcountry music,bluegrass music, and injazz.Electric violins with solid bodies andpiezoelectric pickups are used in some forms ofrock music andjazz fusion, with the pickups plugged intoinstrument amplifiers and speakers to produce sound. The violin has come to be incorporated in many non-Western music cultures, includingIndian music andIranian music. The namefiddle is often used regardless of the type of music played on it. (Full article...)

Joseph Anton Bruckner (/ˈbrʊknər/;German:[ˈantoːnˈbʁʊknɐ]^ⓘ; 4 September 1824 – 11 October 1896) was an Austrian composer and organist best known for hissymphonies andsacred music, which includesMasses,Te Deum andmotets. The symphonies are considered emblematic of the final stage ofAustro-GermanRomanticism because of their rich harmonic language, stronglypolyphonic character, and considerable length. Bruckner's compositions helped to define contemporary musical radicalism, owing to theirdissonances, unpreparedmodulations, and rovingharmonies.

Unlike other musical radicals such asRichard Wagner andHugo Wolf, Bruckner showed respect, even humility, before other famous musicians, Wagner in particular. This apparentdichotomy between Bruckner the man and Bruckner the composer hampers efforts to describe his life in a way that gives a straightforward context for his music. The German conductorHans von Bülow described him as "half genius, half simpleton". Bruckner was critical of his own work and often reworked his compositions. There are several versions of many of his works. (Full article...)

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (between 3 February 1525 and 2 February 1526 – 2 February 1594) was an Italian composer of lateRenaissance music. The central representative of theRoman School, withOrlande de Lassus andTomás Luis de Victoria, Palestrina is considered the leading composer of late 16th-century Europe. Palestrina was one of the few Renaissance composers never entirely forgotten, but it was the so-called "Palestrinian style" of counterpoint—especially as codified byJohann Joseph Fux—rather than his individual compositions that exerted the greatest influence.

Born in the town ofPalestrina in thePapal States, Palestrina moved to Rome as a child and underwent musical studies there. In 1551,Pope Julius III appointed himmaestro di cappella of theCappella Giulia atSt. Peter's Basilica. He left the post four years later, unable to continue as a layman under the papacy ofPaul IV, and held similar positions atSt. John Lateran andSanta Maria Maggiore in the following decade. Palestrina returned to the Cappella Giulia in 1571 and remained at St Peter's until his death in 1594. (Full article...)

Musical notation is any system used to visually represent music. Systems of notation generally represent the elements of apiece of music that are considered important for its performance in the context of a given musical tradition. The process of interpreting musical notation is often referred to asreading music.

Distinct methods of notation have been invented throughout history by various cultures. Much information aboutancient music notation is fragmentary. Even in the same time frames, different styles of music and different cultures use different music notation methods. (Full article...)

Johann Sebastian Bach (31 March [O.S. 21 March] 1685 – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the lateBaroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the orchestralBrandenburg Concertos; solo instrumental works such as thecello suites andsonatas and partitas for solo violin; keyboard works such as theGoldberg Variations andThe Well-Tempered Clavier; organ works such as theSchübler Chorales and theToccata and Fugue in D minor; and choral works such as theSt Matthew Passion and theMass in B minor. Since the 19th-centuryBach Revival, he has been widely regarded as one of the greatest composers in the history of Western music.

TheBach family had already produced several composers when Johann Sebastian was born as the last child of a city musician,Johann Ambrosius, inEisenach. After being orphaned at age 10, he lived for five years with his eldest brother,Johann Christoph, then continued his musical education inLüneburg. In 1703 he returned toThuringia, working as a musician forProtestant churches inArnstadt andMühlhausen. Around that time he also visited for longer periods the courts inWeimar, where he expanded hisorgan repertory, and thereformed court atKöthen, where he was mostly engaged withchamber music. By 1723 he was hired asThomaskantor (cantor with related duties atSt Thomas School) inLeipzig. There he composed music for the principalLutheran churches of the city andLeipzig University's student ensemble,Collegium Musicum. In 1726 he beganpublishing his organ and other keyboard music. In Leipzig, as had happened during some of his earlier positions, he had difficult relations with his employer. This situation was somewhat remedied when his sovereign,Augustus III of Poland, granted him the title of court composer of the Elector of Saxony in 1736. In the last decades of his life, Bach reworked and extended many of his earlier compositions. He died due to complications following eye surgery in 1750 at the age of 65. Four of his twenty children,Wilhelm Friedemann,Carl Philipp Emanuel,Johann Christoph Friedrich, andJohann Christian, became composers. (Full article...)

Symphonie fantastique: Épisode de la vie d'un artiste … en cinq parties (Fantastic Symphony: Episode in the Life of an Artist … in Five Sections)Op. 14, is aprogrammatic symphony written byHector Berlioz in 1830. The first performance was at theParis Conservatoire on 5 December 1830.

Berlioz wrote semi-autobiographicalprogramme notes for the piece that allude to theromantic sufferings of a gifted artist who has poisoned himself withopium because of his unrequited love for a beautiful and fascinating woman (in real life, the Shakespearean actressHarriet Smithson, who in 1833 became the composer's wife). The composer, who reveredBeethoven, followed the latter's unusual addition in thePastoral Symphony of a fifth movement to the normal four of a classical symphony. The artist's reveries take him to a ball and to a pastoral scene in a field, which is interrupted by a hallucinatory march to thescaffold, leading to a grotesque satanic dance (Witches' Sabbath). Within each episode, the artist's passion is represented by arecurring theme called theidée fixe. (Full article...)

TheMessa da Requiem is amusical setting of theCatholic funeral mass (Requiem) for four soloists, double choir and orchestra byGiuseppe Verdi. It was composed in memory ofAlessandro Manzoni, whom Verdi admired, and is therefore also referred to as theManzoni Requiem. The first performance, at theSan Marco church in Milan on 22 May 1874, conducted by the composer, marked the first anniversary of Manzoni's death. It was followed three days later by the same performers atLa Scala. Verdi conducted his work at major venues in Europe.

Verdi composed the last part of the text,Libera me, first, as his contribution to theMessa per Rossini which he had begun afterGioachino Rossini had died already contained the music that later begins theDies irae sequence. (Full article...)

Antonín Leopold Dvořák (/d(ə)ˈvɔːrʒɑːk,-ʒæk/d(ə-)VOR-zha(h)k;Czech:[ˈantoɲiːnˈlɛopoldˈdvor̝aːk]^ⓘ; 8 September 1841 – 1 May 1904) was aCzech composer. He frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of thefolk music ofMoravia and his nativeBohemia, following theRomantic eranationalist example of his predecessorBedřich Smetana. Dvořák's style has been described as "the fullest recreation of a national idiom with that of the symphonic tradition, absorbing folk influences and finding effective ways of using them", and Dvořák has been described as "arguably the most versatile... composer of his time".

Dvořák displayed his musical gifts at an early age, being a talented violin student. The first public performances of his works were inPrague in 1872 and, with special success, in 1873, when he was 31 years old. Seeking recognition beyond the Prague area, he submitted scores of works including symphonies to competitions in Germany and Austria. He did not win a prize until 1874, withJohannes Brahms on the jury of the Austrian State Competition. In 1877, after his third win, Brahms recommended Dvořák to his publisher,Simrock, who commissioned what became theSlavonic Dances, Op. 46. The sheet music's high sales and critical reception led to his international success. ALondon performance of Dvořák'sStabat Mater in 1883 led to many other performances in the United Kingdom, the United States, and eventually Russia in March 1890. TheSeventh Symphony was written for London in 1885. (Full article...)

Frederik Reesen Magle (Danish pronunciation:[ˈfʁeðˀʁekˈmɑwlə,ˈfʁæðˀʁæk-]; born 17 April 1977) is a Danishcomposer,concert organist, andpianist. He writescontemporary classical music as well asfusion of classical music and other genres. His compositions include orchestral works, cantatas, chamber music, and solo works (mainly fororgan), including several compositions commissioned by theDanish royal family. Magle has gained a reputation as an organ virtuoso, and as a composer and performing artist who does not refrain from venturing into more experimental projects – often with improvisation – bordering jazz, electronica, and other non-classical genres.

His best-known works include his concerto for organ and orchestraThe Infinite Second, his brass quintet pieceLys på din vej (Light on your path), composed for the christening ofPrince Nikolai,The Hope for brass band and choir, hissymphonic suiteCantabile, a collection of improvisations for organ titledLike a Flame, and his fanfare for two trumpets and organThe Fairest of Roses. (Full article...)

Witold Roman Lutosławski (Polish:[ˈvitɔldlutɔˈswafski]^ⓘ; 25 January 1913 – 7 February 1994) was a Polish composer and conductor. Among the major composers of20th-century classical music, he is "generally regarded as the most significant Polish composer sinceSzymanowski, and possibly the greatest Polish composer sinceChopin".His compositions—of which he was a notable conductor—include representatives of most traditional genres, aside from opera:symphonies, concertos, orchestralsong cycles, other orchestral works, andchamber works. Among his best known works are his four symphonies, theVariations on a Theme by Paganini (1941), theConcerto for Orchestra (1954), and hiscello concerto (1970).

During his youth, Lutosławski studied piano and composition inWarsaw. His early works were influenced byPolish folk music and demonstrated a wide range of rich atmospherictextures. His folk-inspired music includes the Concerto for Orchestra (1954)—which first brought him international renown—andDance Preludes (1955), which he described as a "farewell to folklore". From the late 1950s he began developing new, characteristic composition techniques. He introduced limitedaleatoric elements, while retaining tight control of his music's material, architecture, and performance. He also evolved his practice of buildingharmonies from small groups ofmusical intervals. (Full article...)

André Charles Prosper Messager (French:[mɛsaʒe]; 30 December 1853 – 24 February 1929) was a French composer, organist, pianist and conductor. His compositions include eight ballets and thirtyopéras comiques,opérettes and other stage works, among which his balletLes Deux Pigeons (1886) andopéra comiqueVéronique (1898) have had lasting success;Les p'tites Michu (1897) andMonsieur Beaucaire (1919) were also popular internationally.

Messager took up the piano as a small child and later studied composition with, among others,Camille Saint-Saëns andGabriel Fauré. He became a major figure in the musical life of Paris and later London, both as a conductor and a composer. Many of his Parisian works were also produced in theWest End and some onBroadway; the most successful had long runs and numerous international revivals. He wrote two operatic works in English, and his later output includedmusical comedies forSacha Guitry andYvonne Printemps. (Full article...)

Giacomo Meyerbeer (bornJakob Liebmann Meyer Beer; 5 September 1791 – 2 May 1864) was a German opera composer, "the most frequently performed opera composer during the nineteenth century, linkingMozart andWagner". With his 1831 operaRobert le diable and its successors, he gave the genre ofgrand opera 'decisive character'. Meyerbeer's grand opera style was achieved by his merging of German orchestra style with Italian vocal tradition. These were employed in the context of sensational and melodramaticlibretti created byEugène Scribe and were enhanced by the up-to-date theatre technology of theParis Opéra. They set a standard that helped to maintain Paris as the opera capital of the nineteenth century.

Born to a wealthyJewish family, Meyerbeer began his musical career as a pianist but soon decided to devote himself to opera, spending several years in Italy studying and composing. His 1824 operaIl crociato in Egitto was the first to bring him a Europe-wide reputation, but it wasRobert le diable (1831) which raised his status to great celebrity. His public career, lasting from then until his death, during which he remained a dominating figure in the world of opera, was summarized by his contemporaryHector Berlioz, who claimed that he 'has not only the luck to be talented, but the talent to be lucky.' He was at his peak with his operasLes Huguenots (1836) andLe prophète (1849); his last opera (L'Africaine) was performed posthumously. His operas made him the most frequently performed composer at the world's leading opera houses in the nineteenth century. (Full article...)

Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc (French:[fʁɑ̃sisʒɑ̃maʁsɛlpulɛ̃k]; 7 January 1899 – 30 January 1963) was a French composer and pianist. His compositions includesongs,solo piano works, chamber music, choral pieces, operas, ballets, and orchestral concert music. Among the best-known are the piano suiteTrois mouvements perpétuels (1919), the balletLes biches (1923), theConcert champêtre (1928) forharpsichord and orchestra, theOrgan Concerto (1938), the operaDialogues des Carmélites (1957), and theGloria (1959) forsoprano, choir, and orchestra.

As the only son of a prosperous manufacturer, Poulenc was expected to follow his father into the family firm, and he was not allowed to enrol at a conservatoire. He studied with the pianistRicardo Viñes, who became his mentor after the composer's parents died. Poulenc also made the acquaintance ofErik Satie, under whose tutelage he became one of a group of young composers known collectively as "Les Six". In his early works Poulenc became known for his high spirits and irreverence. During the 1930s a much more serious side to his nature emerged, particularly in the religious music he composed from 1936 onwards, which he alternated with his more light-hearted works. (Full article...)

Ferruccio Busoni (1 April 1866 – 27 July 1924) was an Italiancomposer,pianist, conductor, editor, writer, and teacher. His international career and reputation led him to work closely with many of the leading musicians, artists and literary figures of his time, and he was a sought-after keyboard instructor and a teacher of composition.

From an early age, Busoni was an outstanding, if sometimes controversial, pianist. He studied at theVienna Conservatory and then withWilhelm Mayer andCarl Reinecke. After brief periods teaching inHelsinki,Boston, andMoscow, he devoted himself to composing, teaching, and touring as a virtuoso pianist in Europe and the United States. His writings on music were influential, and covered not onlyaesthetics but considerations ofmicrotones and other innovative topics. He was based in Berlin from 1894 but spent much ofWorld War I in Switzerland. (Full article...)

Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet,OM, GCVO (/ˈɛlɡɑːr/ ^ⓘ; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestral works including theEnigma Variations, thePomp and Circumstance Marches, concertos forviolin andcello, and twosymphonies. He also composed choral works, includingThe Dream of Gerontius, chamber music and songs. He was appointedMaster of the King's Musick in 1924.

Although Elgar is often regarded as a typically English composer, most of his musical influences were not from England but from continental Europe. He felt himself to be an outsider, not only musically, but socially. In musical circles dominated by academics, he was a self-taught composer; in Protestant Britain, hisRoman Catholicism was regarded with suspicion in some quarters; and in the class-conscious society ofVictorian andEdwardian Britain, he was acutely sensitive about his humble origins even after he achieved recognition. He nevertheless married the daughter of a seniorBritish Army officer. She inspired him both musically and socially, but he struggled to achieve success until his forties, when after a series of moderately successful works hisEnigma Variations (1899) became immediately popular in Britain and overseas. He followed the Variations with a choral work,The Dream of Gerontius (1900), based on a Roman Catholic text that caused some disquiet in theAnglican establishment in Britain, but it became, and has remained, a core repertory work in Britain and elsewhere. His later full-length religious choral works were well received but have not entered the regular repertory. (Full article...)

Leoš Janáček (Czech:[ˈlɛoʃˈjanaːtʃɛk]^ⓘ; 3 July 1854 – 12 August 1928) was a Czech composer,music theorist,folklorist, publicist and teacher. He was inspired byMoravian and otherSlavic music, including Eastern European folk music, to create an original, modern musical style.

Born inHukvaldy, Janáček demonstrated musical talent at an early age and was educated inBrno, Prague,Leipzig, and Vienna. He then returned to live in Brno, where he married his pupil Zdenka Schulzová and devoted himself mainly to folkloristic research. His earlier musical output was influenced by contemporaries such asAntonín Dvořák, but around the turn of the century he began to incorporate his earlier studies of national folk music, as well as his transcriptions of "speech melodies" of spoken language, to create a modern, highly original synthesis. The death of his daughter Olga in 1903 had a profound effect on his musical output; these notable transformations were first evident in the operaJenůfa (often called the "Moravian national opera"), which premiered in 1904 in Brno. (Full article...)

Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi (baptized 15 May 1567 – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer,choirmaster andstring player. A composer of bothsecular andsacred music, and a pioneer in thedevelopment of opera, he is considered a crucialtransitional figure between theRenaissance andBaroque periods of music history.

Born inCremona, where he undertook his first musical studies and compositions, Monteverdi developed his career first at the court ofMantua (c. 1590–1613) and then until his death in theRepublic of Venice where he wasmaestro di cappella at the basilica ofSan Marco. His surviving letters give insight into the life of a professional musician in Italy of the period, including problems of income, patronage and politics. (Full article...)

Khosrovidukht (Armenian:Խոսրովիդուխտ,lit. 'daughter of Khosrov';fl. early 8th century) was an Armenianhymnographer andpoet who lived during the early 8th century. After her slightly earlier contemporarySahakdukht, she is the first known woman ofArmenian literature and music, and among the earliest woman composers in thehistory of music.

Daughter of the ruler ofGoghtn,Khosrov Goghtnatsi [hy], her father was killed and she was imprisoned in a fortress of Ani-Kamakh (modern-dayKemah) for twenty years. Her brother was imprisoned and eventually killed; Khosrovidukht's only surviving work, thesharakan (chant) "Zarmanali e indz" (More astonishing to me) was dedicated to him. Its authenticity has occasionally been doubted, with some scholars attributing it to Sahakdukht. The work did not enter the general repertory ofsharakan liturgy but was eventually approved by theArmenian Church for religious use. (Full article...)

Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (French pronunciation:[ʒylemilfʁedeʁikmasnɛ]; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of theRomantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged areManon (1884) andWerther (1892). He also composedoratorios,ballets, orchestral works,incidental music, piano pieces, songs and other music.

While still a schoolboy, Massenet was admitted to France's principal music college, theParis Conservatoire. There he studied underAmbroise Thomas, whom he greatly admired. After winning the country's top musical prize, thePrix de Rome, in 1863, he composed prolifically in many genres, but quickly became best known for his operas. Between 1867 and his death forty-five years later he wrote more than forty stage works in a wide variety of styles, fromopéra-comique to grand-scale depictions of classical myths, romantic comedies,lyric dramas, as well as oratorios,cantatas and ballets. Massenet had a good sense of the theatre and of what would succeed with the Parisian public. Despite some miscalculations, he produced a series of successes that made him the leading composer of opera in France in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. (Full article...)

Erik William Chisholm (4 January 1904 – 8 June 1965) was a Scottishcomposer, pianist, organist and conductor sometimes known as "Scotland's forgotten composer". According to his biographer, Chisholm "was the first composer to absorb Celtic idioms into his music in form as well as content, his achievement paralleling that ofBartók in its depth of understanding and its daring", which led some to give him the nickname "MacBartók". As composer, performer and impresario, he played an important role in the musical life of Glasgow between the two World Wars and was a founder of the Celtic Ballet and, together withMargaret Morris, created the first full-length Scottish ballet,The Forsaken Mermaid. After World War II he was Professor and Head of theSouth African College of Music at theUniversity of Cape Town for 19 years until his death. Chisholm founded the South African College of Musicopera company inCape Town and was a vital force in bringing new operas to Scotland, England and South Africa. By the time of his death in 1965, he had composed over a hundred works. (Full article...)

Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (30 September 1852 – 29 March 1924) was anAnglo-Irish composer, music teacher, and conductor of the lateRomantic era. Born to a well-off and highly musical family inDublin, Stanford was educated at theUniversity of Cambridge before studying music inLeipzig and Berlin. He was instrumental in raising the status of theCambridge University Musical Society, attracting international stars to perform with it.

While still an undergraduate, Stanford was appointed organist ofTrinity College, Cambridge. In 1882, aged 29, he was one of the founding professors of theRoyal College of Music, where he taught composition for the rest of his life. From 1887 he was alsoProfessor of Music at Cambridge. As a teacher, Stanford was sceptical aboutmodernism, and based his instruction chiefly on classical principles as exemplified in the music ofBrahms. Among his pupils were rising composers whose fame went on to surpass his own, such asGustav Holst andRalph Vaughan Williams. As a conductor, Stanford held posts with theBach Choir and theLeeds Triennial Music Festival. (Full article...)

Johann Baptist Strauss II (/straʊs/;German:[ˈjoːhanbapˈtɪstˈʃtʁaʊs]; 25 October 1825 – 3 June 1899), also known asJohann Strauss Jr.,the Younger orthe Son (German:Johann Strauß Sohn), was anAustrian composer oflight music, particularlydance music andoperettas, as well as a violinist. He composed over 500waltzes,polkas,quadrilles, and other types of dance music, as well as several operettas and a ballet. In his lifetime, he was known as "The Waltz King", and was largely responsible for the popularity of the waltz in the 19th century. Some of Johann Strauss's most famous works include "The Blue Danube", "Kaiser-Walzer" (Emperor Waltz), "Tales from the Vienna Woods", "Frühlingsstimmen", and the "Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka". Among his operettas,Die Fledermaus andDer Zigeunerbaron are the best known.

Strauss was the son ofJohann Strauss I and his first wife Maria Anna Streim. The two younger brothers,Josef andEduard Strauss, also became composers of light music, although they were never as well known as their brother. (Full article...)

Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov (18 March 1844 – 21 June 1908) was a Russian composer, a member of the group of composers known asThe Five. His best-known orchestral compositions—Capriccio Espagnol, theRussian Easter Festival Overture, and the symphonicsuiteScheherazade—are staples of the classical music repertoire, along with suites and excerpts from some of his fifteen operas.Scheherazade is an example of his frequent use offairy-tale andfolk subjects.

Rimsky-Korsakov believed in developing anationalistic style of classical music, employingRussian folk song andlore along with exotic harmonic,melodic andrhythmic elements in a practice known as musicalorientalism, and eschewing traditional Western compositional methods. Rimsky-Korsakov appreciated Western musical techniques after he became a professor of musical composition,harmony, and orchestration at theSaint Petersburg Conservatory in 1871. He undertook a rigorous three-year program of self-education and became a master of Western methods, incorporating them alongside the influences ofMikhail Glinka and fellow members ofThe Five. Rimsky-Korsakov's techniques of composition and orchestration were further enriched by his exposure to the works ofRichard Wagner. (Full article...)

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Abust of the Germancomposer andpianistLudwig van Beethoven (1770–1827), made from hisdeath mask. He was a crucial figure in the transitional period between theClassical andRomantic eras inWestern classical music, and remains one of the most acclaimed and influential composers of all time. Born inBonn, of theElectorate of Cologne and a part of theHoly Roman Empire of the German Nation in present-dayGermany, he moved toVienna in his early twenties and settled there, studying withJoseph Haydn and quickly gaining a reputation as avirtuoso pianist. Hishearing began todeteriorate in the late 1790s, yet he continued to compose,conduct, and perform, even after becomingcompletely deaf.

TheTeatro alla Scala (orLa Scala, as it is known), inMilan,Italy, is one of the world's most famousopera houses. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778, under the nameNuovo Regio Ducal Teatro alla Scala withSalieri'sEuropa riconosciuta.

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The anatomy of a Périnetpiston valve, this one taken from aB♭trumpet. When depressed, the valve diverts the air stream through additional tubing, thus lengthening the instrument and lowering theharmonic series on which the instrument is vibrating (i.e., it lowers thepitch). Trumpets generally use three valves, with some variations, such as apiccolo trumpet, having four. When used singly or in combination, the valves make the instrument fullychromatic, or capable of playing all twelve pitches ofclassical music. Trumpets may also userotary valves instead.

TheRoyal Albert Hall is a concert hall, seating a maximum of 5,272, on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. Constructed beginning in 1867, the hall was inaugurated on 29 March 1871. Since 1941 it has heldThe Proms, an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events.

Jules Massenet (12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of theRomantic era, best known for his operas. Between 1867 and his death, he wrote more than forty stage works in a wide variety of styles, fromopéra comique to grand depictions of classical myths, romantic comedies and lyric dramas, as well as oratorios, cantatas and ballets. Massenet had a good sense of the theatre and of what would succeed with the Parisian public. Despite some miscalculations, he produced a series of successes that made him the leading opera composer in France in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. By the time of his death, he was regarded as old-fashioned; his works, however, began to be favourably reassessed during the mid-20th century, and many have since been staged and recorded. This photograph of Massenet was taken by French photographerEugène Pirou in 1875.

Billy Strayhorn (November 29, 1915 – May 31, 1967) was an Americanjazz composer, pianist, lyricist, and arranger, best remembered for his long-time collaboration with bandleader and composerDuke Ellington that lasted nearly three decades. Though classical music was Strayhorn's first love, his ambition to become a classical composer went unrealized because of the harsh reality of a black man trying to make his way in the world of classical music, which at that time was almost completely white. He was introduced to the music of pianists likeArt Tatum andTeddy Wilson at age 19, and the artistic influence of these musicians guided him into the realm of jazz, where he remained for the rest of his life. This photograph of Strayhorn was taken byWilliam P. Gottlieb in the 1940s.

Sheet music for thePolonaise in A-flat major, Op. 53, a solopiano piece written byFrédéric Chopin in 1842. This work is one of Chopin's most admired compositions and has long been a favorite of the classical piano repertoire. The piece, which is very difficult, requires exceptional pianistic skills and greatvirtuosity to be interpreted. A typical performance of thepolonaise lasts seven minutes.

Johann Christian Bach (5 September 1735 – 1 January 1782) was a composer of the Classical era, the eighteenth child ofJohann Sebastian Bach, and the youngest of his eleven sons. Bach was taught by his father and then, after the latter's death, by his half-brotherC. P. E. Bach. Bach moved to Italy in 1754, and then to London in 1762, where he became known as the "London Bach". Bach's compositions include eleven operas, as well as chamber music, orchestral music and compositions for keyboard music. In 1764 Bach metWolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who was eight at the time, and spent five months teaching him composition. He had considerable influence on Mozart, and was later described by scholars as his "only, true teacher".

This portrait of Bach was painted in 1776 byThomas Gainsborough, as part of a collection started by Bach's former teacherPadre Martini. It now hangs in theNational Portrait Gallery, London.

Ballet is a formalized form ofdance with its origins in the French court, further developed inFrance andRussia as aconcert dance form.

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Stradivarius is one of the violins, violas, cellos and other string instruments built by members of the ItalianStradivari family, particularlyAntonio Stradivari.

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