One of the Oldest Surviving Operas by a Black American Composer Will Be Performed for the First Time—138 Years After It Was Written
Edmond Dédé’s 1887 magnum opus “Morgiane”—billed as “the most important opera never heard”—will finally get its premiere after languishing in obscurity for more than a century
Music History and Contemporary Art Destroyed in the Deadly Los Angeles Wildfires
An archive of scores by composer Arnold Schoenberg and the collections of countless contemporary artists have been lost in the blaze
Happy Public Domain Day! Popeye, ‘Rhapsody in Blue,’ ‘The Sound and the Fury’ and Thousands of Other Captivating Creations Are Finally Free for Everyone to Use
On January 1, 2025, copyrights will expire for books, films, comic strips, musical compositions and other creative works from 1929, as well as sound recordings from 1924
You Can Listen to a Lost Chopin Waltz That Hasn’t Been Heard for Nearly Two Centuries
The one-minute composition, which dates to the 1830s, was found on a piece of paper about the size of an index card at a museum in New York City
This Lost Mozart Composition Hasn’t Been Heard for Centuries. Now, You Can Listen to It
More than 250 years after a teenage Mozart wrote “Serenade in C,” a copy of the piece has surfaced in the collections of a German library
Locks of Beethoven’s Hair Are Unraveling the Mysteries of His Deafness and Illnesses
Researchers found high levels of lead, mercury and arsenic in the German composer’s hair, which may help explain some of his many ailments
Listen Live to the Total Solar Eclipse, Transformed Into a Real-Time Musical Composition
A composer based at San Francisco’s Exploratorium museum will use data coming from the eclipsed sun to create an out-of-this-world “sonification” on April 8
A Lost Gershwin Musical Has Been Found Nearly 100 Years After It Was Last Performed
A researcher found a box containing 800 pages from the composer’s first musical, “La, La, Lucille”
This Organ Is Playing a 639-Year-Long Song. It Just Changed Chords for the First Time in Two Years
The instrument has been playing composer John Cage’s “ASLSP” since 2001—and it’s scheduled to conclude in 2640
Elton John Just Became an EGOT Winner
With his victory at last night’s Emmy Awards, the celebrated musician is the 19th person in history to take home an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony
The Real History Behind Leonard Bernstein and Felicia Montealegre’s Marriage in ‘Maestro’
The Bradley Cooper-led film is a dramatization of the storied composer and conductor’s complex love life
Skull Fragments Thought to Be Beethoven’s Return to Vienna
The composer asked that, following his death, his physician study the illnesses that plagued him during his life
Listen to Music Made From Yellowstone’s Seismic Data
A scientist and a musician performed a live musical rendition of the park’s underground rumblings
Why Has History Forgotten Joseph Bologne, the Brilliant 18th-Century Composer Showcased in ‘Chevalier’?
A new film dramatizes the story of a Black immigrant to France whose musical talents have long been overlooked
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
The Brief but Shining Life of Paul Laurence Dunbar, a Poet Who Gave Dignity to the Black Experience
A prolific writer, he inspired such luminaries as Maya Angelou and Langston Hughes
Toni Morrison’s Rarely Seen Papers Will Go on View at Princeton
The university is planning a months-long series of exhibitions, programs and performances
Angelo Badalamenti, Who Composed Ethereal Scores for ‘Twin Peaks’ and ‘Blue Velvet,’ Dies at 85
He was one of David Lynch’s closest collaborators—and wrote one of TV’s most memorable themes
Stephen Sondheim’s Lost College Musical Was Found Hidden in Plain Sight
Live recordings from “Phinney’s Rainbow” had been sitting on a journalist’s bookshelf for years
Nazi-Looted Beethoven Manuscript Returned to Original Owners
The Czech Republic’s Moravian Museum gave the document to the heirs of the Petschek family
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