Composers

"I think this thing will make Beethoven," Disney once said.

Disney's "Fantasia" Was Initially a Critical and Box-Office Failure

More than seventy-five years after its debut, a look back at the animated masterpiece

Russia Wants Rachmaninoff’s Remains Back

Should a composer who abandoned his home forever be returned there 72 years after his death?

This bronze portrait bust of German composer Richard Wagner, sculptured by artist Arno Breker, resides in Bayreuth, Germany, home of the annual festival honoring his work.

The Brilliant, Troubled Legacy of Richard Wagner

As the faithful flock to the Bayreuth Festival in his bicentennial year, the spellbinding German composer continues to fascinate, inspire and infuriate

Leopold Mozart, right, boasted how well his daughter played the piano in a letter in 1764. She was quickly overshadowed by her brother Wolfgang.

Maria Anna Mozart: The Family’s First Prodigy

She was considered to be one of the finest pianists in Europe, until her younger brother Wolfgang came along

George Gershwin's time in the Carolinas launched the musician on such a spree of creativity that it led to what some critics call one of his finest works.

Summertime for George Gershwin

Porgy and Bess debuted 75 years ago this fall, but a visit to South Carolina the year before gave life to Gershwin's masterpiece

"Kids have fantastic ideas," says "wired composer" Tod Machover, holding an instrument from the Beatles version of Rock Band, the computer-based musical toy invented by his students at MIT.

Tod Machover on Composing Music by Computer

The inventor and MIT professor talks about where music and technology will intersect over the course of the next 40 years

George Frideric Handel (at age 64 in 1749) produced works, including Messiah that dazzled even the musical titans who would succeed him.

The Glorious History of Handel's Messiah

A musical rite of the holiday season, the Baroque-era oratorio still awes listeners more than 250 years after the composer's death

Handel House was reopened in 2001. Shown here are musicians practicing on period instruments.

Handel Slept Here

The composer's early-Georgian town house reflects his life and times

Irving Berlin singing at the dedication of the Los Angeles City Hall.

Jewish Songwriters, American Songs

Poet David Lehman talks about the brilliant Jewish composers and lyricists whose work largely comprises the great American songbook

Irving Berlin's piano

Ivory Merchant

Composer Irving Berlin wrote scores of hits on his custom-built instrument

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High Scorer

Composer Nico Muhly wowed them at Carnegie Hall and the New York Public Library

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Memories...

...Of a lost father, an abandoned airplane and a composer's dilemma

Lorenzo Da Ponte

Encore! Encore!

Lorenzo Da Ponte was a hit in Europe: a courtier, a cad, the librettist for Mozart's finest operas. But the New World truly tested his creative powers

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Mozart: In Search of the Roots of Genius

On the 250th anniversary of the composer's birth, the author scours Salzburg and Vienna for traces of the master's mischievous spirit

Francis Scott Key looks out on the namesake of his poem, the Star-Spangled Banner.

Francis Scott Key, the Reluctant Patriot

The Washington lawyer was an unlikely candidate to write the national anthem; he was against America’s entry into the War of 1812 from the outset

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What is This Thing Called Love?

A new movie explores composer Cole Porter's consummate musical gifts and his remarkable, unorthodox marriage

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Sondheim!

A summer festival showcases the wit and artistry of the musical-theater master, drawing "nuts" from all over

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