Classical Music

An anonymous watercolor portrait of Francis Johnson holding an early 19th-century horn

Long Before Jazz, Frank Johnson Was Playing the Hottest Music in America

The innovations of a forgotten genius who laid the groundwork for the nation's signature music

In November 1955 at Carnegie Hall, Anderson performed Mozart, Schubert, spirituals and more.

How Marian Anderson Took the World by Storm

Her mighty contralto propelled her across color lines

Beethoven’s handwritten manuscript for the fourth movement of his String Quartet in B-flat Major

Nazi-Looted Beethoven Manuscript Returned to Original Owners

The Czech Republic's Moravian Museum gave the document to the heirs of the Petschek family

The “Ole Bull” Stradivarius, made in 1687, photographed with flowers and props reminiscent of a Dutch still life from the period.

When It Comes to String Instruments, Stradivariuses Are Still Pitch Perfect

Even after three centuries of their existence, the violins spark debate over what makes their sound special

One reader wonders: Since purple dye was scarce, why didn’t people just combine blue and red?

Why Was Purple the Color of Royalty? And More Questions From Our Readers

You've got questions. We've got experts.

Residents of Billionaire's Row's newest building enjoy stunning views of Central Park.

The World's Skinniest Skyscraper Has a Storied Musical Past

At 1,428 feet tall and just 60 feet wide, Steinway Tower is so slender that its top floors may sway in the wind

Throughout the project, Beethoven’s genius loomed.

How Artificial Intelligence Completed Beethoven's Unfinished Tenth Symphony

On October 9, the work will be performed in Bonn, Germany, and a recording will be released

Trumpet players create about 2,500 aerosol particles per liter of air that flows through their instrument.

New Research

To Reduce Covid-19 Risks in Orchestras, Move Wind Instruments to the Sidelines

A study that simulated airflow and aerosol production in a concert hall suggests moving brass and woodwinds near air vents

A previously unknown Thomas Gainsborough portrait of composer Antonín Kammel

Cool Finds

Newly Discovered Gainsborough Portrait Reveals Likeness of Overlooked Composer

The acclaimed British artist's painting of Czech musician Antonín Kammel may be worth upward of $1.3 million

Musician Lara Downes aims to highlight the work of composers like Harry T. Burleigh, photographed c. 1938.

How Black Composers Shaped the Sound of American Classical Music

A new project seeks to elevate artists like Harry T. Burleigh and Florence Price, whose work has been ignored by white audiences

A portrait of Ludwig van Beethoven by August Klober, circa 1818

How Young America Came to Love Beethoven

On the 250th anniversary of the famous composer’s birth, the story of how his music first took hold across the Atlantic

Russian physicist and engineer Lev Sergeyevich Termen—who later came to be widely known as Léon Theremin—invented his namesake instrument around 1920. Here, he's pictured in 1928.

Art Meets Science

The Soviet Spy Who Invented the First Major Electronic Instrument

Created by a Russian engineer, the theremin has delighted and confounded audiences since 1920

This 2016 image shows one of the instruments included in Amnon Weinstein's Violins of Hope collection, which features pre-World War II violins once owned by Jewish musicians and music lovers.

Pandemic Temporarily Silences Violins That Survived the Holocaust

Organizers found ways to make the instruments' voices heard after the cancellation of planned concerts in California

Following the Monday performance, the Barcelona opera house donated its 2,292 houseplants to local health care workers.

Covid-19

Audience of Plants Roots for Barcelona Opera House on Opening Night

The leafy crowd enjoyed a string quartet's performance of Puccini's "Crisantemi"

Debate over Beethoven's race sparked once again on Twitter last week. He is depicted here in a portrait by August Klober from 1818.

Was Beethoven Black? Probably Not, but These Unsung Composers Were

A music scholar examines the history of the decades-old theory, and what its permanence tells us about who is considered 'canon' in classical music

General view of the audience and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra

Education During Coronavirus

After Closure, the Met Opera Offers Free Streaming of Past Performances

Each night, the institution will post an encore showing of an opera from its "Met Live in HD" series

A Beethoven monument stands in Vienna's Beethovenplatz.

Following Beethoven’s Footsteps Through Vienna

For the composer’s 250th birthday, visit the apartments where he lived, the theaters where he worked and his final resting place

A Veronese official commissioned the portrait while hosting the young musician and his father during their stay in the city.

Rare Portrait of Teenage Mozart Heads to Auction

"This charming likeness of him is my solace," wrote Pietro Lugiati, the Italian nobleman who commissioned the artwork, in a letter to Mozart’s mother

Nina Simone's childhood home in Tryon, North Carolina

Nina Simone’s Childhood Home Is Under Threat. This Campaign Aims to Save It

The National Trust is hoping to preserve the North Carolina house where Simone first learned to play piano

Trending Today

Scientists Played Music to Cheese as It Aged. Hip-Hop Produced the Funkiest Flavor

Researchers played nonstop loops of Led Zeppelin, A Tribe Called Quest and Mozart to cheese wheels to find out how sound waves impacted flavor

loading icon