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Albert Charles Paul Marie Roussel (April 5, 1869 - Aug. 23, 1937) was a French composer, who started his musical journey as an adult. As a child, Roussel was interested in mathematics, and then went went in to the French Navy. After resigning in 1894, he turned to music, and attended the Scholar Cantorum de Paris until 1908. He worked...

Louise Farrenc (May 31, 1804 - Sept. 15, 1875) was a French pianist, teacher, and composer. Born in Paris, she started the piano at an early age, and later on also showed a knack for composition. At the age of fifteen, her parents let her study composition with Anton Reicha at the Paris Conservatory. Later on she embarked upon a...

Paul Abraham Dukas (Oct. 1, 1865 - May 17, 1935)  was a French composer, professor, and critic, born in to a Jewish family. The second of three children, Dukas didn't show any extraordinary musical talent, despite taking piano from a young age, until his teenage years, when he started to compose while recovering from an illness. When he was 16 years old, he entered the Paris Conservatory, studying piano with George Mathias, harmony with Théodore Dubois, and composition with Ernest Guiraud. While he was there, he won several prizes, including second place for the coveted award Prix De Rome. He was upset he didn't win the top prize however, and left the university in 1889. After compulsory military service, he devoted himself to composing and has a career as a critic as well. He later on became Professor of Composition at the Paris Conservatory and also taught at the École Normale de Musique.  Continue reading →

Nikolai Nikolayevich Tcherepnin was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor. Born to important wealthy parents, his father insisted he study law, which he did at the University of St. Petersburg, and received his degree in 1895. He composed during this time as well however, and earned a degree in composition in 1898 under Rimsky-Korsakov, and a degree in piano with K.K. Fan-Arkh. Continue reading →

Zdeněk Fibich (Dec. 21, 1850 - Oct. 15, 1900) was a Czech composer and pianist. Having a Czech father and German Viennese mother, Fibich grew up bilingual. Because of his father's work (a forestry official), he spent a lot of time moving around and living on various wooded estates, and the woods would become a source of inspiration for some of his compositions.  Continue reading →

Hedwige Chrétien (July 15 - 1859 - 1944) was a French composer, and not a great deal is known about her.  She studied at the Paris Conservatory with Ernest Guiraud starting in 1874, and became a professor there in 1889. While she was a student, she won several awards for piano, counterpoint, harmony, and fugue, and she would go on to write around 150 compositions, of various genres. Continue reading →

Franz Ignaz Danzi (June 15, 1763 - April 13, 1826) was a German composer and conductor, and like his father Innocenz Danzi, a cellist. Continue reading →

Felix August Bernhard Draeseke (Oct. 7, 1835 - Feb. 25, 1913) was a German composer and teacher who was drawn to music very early in life; his first composition was at the age of 8. Continue reading →

Known foremost as a pianist in his time, Friedrich Kalkbrenner was also an accomplished composer. Looking through his output, one sees a significant amount of solo piano music, with a few chamber works (and a very limited selection of vocal works). Today we turn to Kalkbrenner's chamber output, with his Septet, Op. 132, also known as the Grand Septet. Continue reading →