sonata

Mélanie Hélène Bonis, known as Mel Bonis, (Jan. 21, 1858 - March 18, 1937) was a French late Romantic composer. Bonis wrote an incredible amount of music for many genres. Growing up in a strict Catholic household, Bonis' parents did not encourage her musical interests, though she did teach herself the piano. When she was twelve, a professor at the...

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 →

Frank Bridge (Feb. 26, 1879 - Jan. 10, 1941) was an English composer, violist and conductor. Born in Brighton, he attended the Royal College of Music in London from 1899 to 1903, and was active as a violist in several string quartets. He also did a bit of conducting for awhile before devoting himself to composition, with one of his most famous students being Benjamin Britten. Bridge was prolific in his output, but his music is still comparatively little known, and nowhere near as programmed as you'd think. It's especially vexing as what is written about him is glowing; he's nowhere near the household name one would think he'd be. Continue reading →

Ferdinand Ries (Nov. 28, 1784 - Jan. 13, 1838) was born to a musical family in Bonn. He received piano lessons from his father, and also played the cello and organ. In the early 1800s, Ries became a pupil of Ludwig van Beethoven, and later on his secretary and close friend. Continue reading →

Mikhail Glinka (June 1, 1804 - Feb. 15, 1857)  has often been called the father of Russian classical music; his works were strong influences on Mussorgsky, Borodin, and Rimsky-Korsakov, just to name a few. HIs output as a composer was considerable; he wrote operas, symphonic works, chamber pieces, and more. Today we are looking at  his Viola Sonata, a work that is often forgotten about among his large number of works. Continue reading →