Where does the word ‘sonata’ come from, and what does it mean? We take a deep dive to explore its meaning and evolution. However, some Baroque sonatas in were written for solo instruments without it, ...

When a chipping sparrow trills, it could be that spring has arrived. When women’s voices ululate, they do so, in different regions of the world, to celebrate, to mourn, to pray, to warn, to seduce.

Swann, one of the main characters in the novel, is a rich young man living in Paris who is connected with the highest Parisian aristocracy. At a musical soirée one evening he hears a sonata played by ...

Beethoven's second compositional phase, often known as his heroic period, is most obviously exemplified in the Eroica Symphony of 1803-4. But, as the slow movement of his Op. 26 Piano Sonata shows, ...

"I would never have believed that I could be so lazy as I am here. If it is followed by an outburst of industry, something worthwhile may be accomplished." So wrote Beethoven from the Austrian spa ...

It’s not actually all Classical (big ‘C’) at all, so why has the name stuck as an umbrella term for Western instrumental, orchestral and choral music? Oxford’s definition is just one example of how ...

The fall concert season begins not just with the customary Beethoven and Bruckner but also with a great polychrome explosion of music from Latin America. The Venezuelan Gustavo Dudamel conducting a ...