Czech bassist-composer, Rudolf Tuláček (1885-1954) studied at Prague Conservatoire with František Černý, was solo double bass of Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra for many years and in 1937 moved to Brno (Czech Republic) where he was appointed Professor of double bass at the Academy of Music. Tuláček wrote a number of lyrical and characteristic works for double…
Wolfgang Wagenhäuser – pianist, organist, composer – was born in Frankfurt am Main (Germany) in 1953. At his insistence the four-year-old Wolfgang asked his father to taught him piano and theory, and his first concert appearance was at the age of five. He was organist in his hometown from the age of nine and, as…
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian composer, one of the most influential figures in the world of opera, and a key figure in the development of the Italian Romantic movement. He was born on either October 9 or 10, 1813, in Roncole, near Busseto, in the Duchy of Parma, Italy, and passed away on…
Robert Wylkynson [Wilkinson] (c.1450-1515?) was at Eton Chapel from 1496 to 1515, first as parish clerk and then from 1500 as master of the choristers. His nine-part Salve Regina and his Apostles’ Creed (Jesus Autems Transiens) for 13 voices are the last entries in the manuscript and possibly were copied by him. Wylkynson’s work has…
Jeffery Wilson is one of the country’s foremost composers and educators in music, especially in the field of jazz. He studied composition at the Royal College of music with John Lambert and Herbert Howells, later with Aladar Majorossy, Gordon Jacob and Olivier Messiaen. From 1986 until recently he was visiting lecturer in composition, improvisation and…
Maurice Ravel was a renowned French composer, pianist, and conductor, born on March 7, 1875, in Ciboure, France, and passed away on December 28, 1937, in Paris1. He is often associated with Impressionism, a movement he shared with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, though both composers rejected the term. Ravel’s music is celebrated for its…
John Taverner was an English composer and organist, regarded as one of the most important English composers of his era. He was born around 1490 and passed away on October 18, 15451. Taverner is best known for his Missa Gloria tibi Trinitas, The Western Wynde Mass, and Missa Corona Spinea, which are often viewed as…
Robert Schumann was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic of the Romantic era, born on June 8, 1810, in Zwickau, Saxony, Germany. He passed away on July 29, 1856, in Endenich, near Bonn, Prussia, Germany. Schumann is renowned particularly for his piano music, songs (lieder), and orchestral music. Many of his best-known piano…
Jean Sibelius, born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius, was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic and early-modern periods. He was born on December 8, 1865, in Hämeenlinna, Grand Duchy of Finland, and passed away on September 20, 1957, in Järvenpää, Finland1. Sibelius is widely regarded as Finland’s greatest composer, and his music is often credited…
Born: March 18, 1844, in Tikhvin, Russia.Died: June 21, 1908, in Lyubensk, near St. Petersburg, Russia. A highly influential Russian composer, teacher, and member of the “Mighty Handful” (also known as “The Five”), a group dedicated to creating a distinctively Russian style of classical music. He is particularly renowned for his mastery of orchestration, his…
