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Claude Debussy
…in the small French town of Saint-Germain-en-Laye. He was the eldest of five children in a working-class family. His father, Manuel-Achille Debussy, worked as a salesman and ran a local…
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America’s First Orchestra
…of Leonard Bernstein, the NY Phil appeared in Young People’s Concerts, the first televised classical music series for children. In a remarkable run, the series aired on CBS from 1958…
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Edward Elgar
…a quaint village near Worcester, England, Edward William Elgar was the fourth of seven children. Elgar’s father, William, was a professional violinist and a piano tuner who owned a music…
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Claudio Monteverdi
…court musician Claudia de Cattaneis in 1599, and they had three children together. However, he also endured the loss of his wife and two of his children to the plague,…
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Antonín Dvořák
…Nelahozeves, a small village north of Prague, Antonín Leopold Dvořák was the eldest of fourteen children. His father was a professional zither player, an innkeeper, and a butcher. The young…
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Aaron Copland
…and Education Born into a family of Lithuanian Jewish descent, Copland was the youngest of five children. Although his father did not harbor any musical interests, his mother played the…
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Golliwogg’s Cakewalk by Debussy, Played by Aloysio Rachid
“Golliwogg’s Cakewalk” is the final piece in Claude Debussy’s Children’s Corner Suite. It is a joyful and playful classical composition that incorporates elements of jazz. The piece is also known…
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Does Classical Music Really Make You Smarter?
…to classical music, learning to play a musical instrument has been shown to have long-term benefits on cognitive skills. In one study, young children who took keyboard lessons for six…
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Leopold Mozart
…a sense of isolation, exacerbated by the death of his wife in 1778 and his children’s departure from Salzburg. Despite these hardships, he continued to influence the musical scene through…
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Clara Schumann
…artist. The couple had eight children, and Clara often had to take responsibility for the finances and general domestic issues due to Robert’s mental instability. However, she did not let…
