Celebrating the Music of Gunther Schuller! (November 22, 1925 – June 21, 2015) American composer, teacher, author, horn player, flutist, jazz artist, and much more, Here's an immensely intriguing movement, Adagio, from his 1947 Quartet for Double Basses: youtu.be/zhdCnxa8V5I?...

More Celebration of the Music of Carl Maria von Weber! (November 18, 1786 – June 5, 1826) …you might think that of this great Overture were written by Wagner or Johann Strauss II – thus giving us an idea of how influential Weber’s operas were… Overture to Oberon www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2Eg...

Celebrating the Music of Carl Maria (Friedrich Ernst, Freiherr) von Weber! (November 18, 1786 – June 5, 1826) German composer, conductor, music critic, pianist, guitarist and lithographer. Here is his Clarinet Quintet in B-flat major, op.34 – 3. Menuetto: Capriccio Presto youtu.be/7wnRjNhXvOQ?...

And More Celebration of the Music of Fanny Mendelssohn (Hensel)! (November 14, 1805 – May 14, 1847) … and a lovely, brooding lied: Das Meer erglanzte weit hinaus www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JUV...

More Celebration of the Music of Fanny Mendelssohn (Hensel)! (November 14, 1805 – May 14, 1847) … and a fantastic string quartet: String Quartet in E-flat – 1. Adagio ma non troppo www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sps...

Fanny Mendelssohn (Hensel)! (November 14, 1805 – May 14, 1847) German composer and virtuoso pianist. Here, a great piano work, September: At the River, from Das Jahr www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_zZ...

Celebrating the Music of Johann Nepomuk Hummel! (November 14, 1778 – October 17, 1837) Austrian composer and piano virtuoso. Here is a little known piece that shows Hummel’s wonderful talent: Introduction & Rondo Brillant on a Russian Folk Theme, Op.98 (1824) www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Vf5...

Remembering Elam Ray Sprenkle – (Born in 1948 in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania – died on November 11, 2025) Elam Ray Sprenkle was a cherished voice in Maryland’s music world for decades. Here, his moving work set to a text by James Weldon Johnson – Go Down Death: www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeM4...

Celebrating the Music of Paul Hindemith! (November 16, 1895 – December 28, 1963) German composer, conductor, and Man-for-All-Seasons. Here is one of his most popular, and exciting, works – the March from his Symphonic Metamorphoses: www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2lZ...

More Celebration of the Music of Aaron Copland! (November 14, 1900 – December 2, 1990) … and here, the breathtaking moment, when Copland introduces the Shaker hymn, “Simple Gifts,” into his great ballet, Appalachian Spring (1944): youtu.be/8e3rVcSy3IQ?...

More Celebration of the Music of Aaron Copland! (November 14, 1900 – December 2, 1990) However, it’s hard not to be in love with his absolute classics, and here, almost unarguably the most iconic “American” piece of “Classical” music ever written: www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGpY...

Celebrating the Music of Aaron Copland! (November 14, 1900 – December 2, 1990) American composer. Here is a somewhat serial piece, Inscape, composed in 1967. The sounds are Copland, the harmonies are more modern … but it’s a stirring piece: www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PDM...

More Celebration of the Music of George Whitefield Chadwick! (November 13, 1854 – April 4, 1931) … a less frisky, but wonderfully lovely Andantino from his Serenade for Strings: youtu.be/EnVjwk_KRKQ?...

Celebrating the Music of George Whitefield Chadwick! (November 13, 1854 – April 4, 1931) American composer and teacher. Here’s his frolicking finale to his Symphony No. 3, IV. Allegro molto energico: www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2qd...

More Celebration of the Music of Alexander Porfirievich Borodin! (November 12, 1833 – February 27, 1887) This curious yet wonderful piece began around 1879 as a kind of musical jolly, eventually becoming a Requiem thanks to Leopold Stokowski: www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUPg...

Celebrating the Music of Alexander Porfirievich Borodin! (November 12, 1833 – February 27, 1887) Russian composer, also research chemist, physician and professor. Here, his “Notturno” movement from his masterful String Quartet No. 2: www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKsC...

More Celebration the Music of Frederick Stock! (November 11, 1872 – October 20, 1942) Not to forget that Stock was also a talented composer, here is his own Symphonic Waltz, No. 8: www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pBS...

Celebrating the Music of Frederick Stock (born Friedrich August Stock)! (November 11, 1872 – October 20, 1942) German conductor and composer - best known for his exceptional conducting - Here is Brahms’ Third, movement three, with his Chicago Symphony: www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7Zj...

Celebrating the Music of Henri Rabaud! (November 10, 1873 – September 11, 1949) French composer and conductor. Here is a lovely and curiously non-French work for orchestra based on Renaissance English tunes. Suite anglaise No. 2: III. Allegro maestoso: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELGL...

Celebrating the Music of Ferenc Erkel! (November 7, 1810 – June 15, 1893) Hungarian composer and conductor - wrote “Himnusz” which was adopted as Hungary’s national anthem in 1844. Here is a splendid Hungarian Dance from his 1862 opera Sarolta: www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTc-...

More Celebration of the Music of John Philip Sousa! (November 6, 1854 – March 6, 1932) …probably Sousa’s finest, certainly his most famous, March, and arguably the greatest piccolo solo of all time: www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-7X...

Celebrating the Music of John Philip Sousa! (November 6, 1854 – March 6, 1932) American composer and conductor. Here is a winsome march from one of his Operettas – The Man Behind the Gun from his 1899 Operetta “Chris and the Wonderful Lamp”: www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHdV...

Celebrating the Music of Vincenzo Ugolini! (ca. 1580 – May 6, 1638) Italian singer, church music director and composer. Here is Ugolini’s wonderful Kyrie from his (Missa) Beata es Virgo Maria: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6bP...

Celebrating the Music of Nicholas Maw! (November 5, 1935 – May 19, 2009) British composer. Here is the truly mesmerizing third movement, Romanza – Lento e calmo, with Bell performing (See more of my music writing on my website): www.youtube.com/watch?v=-q-l...

Celebrating the Music of Dawn Avery! (Undisclosed birthday) From her website: “Composer of Mohawk descent, Dawn Avery's Indian name is Ieriho:kwats and she wears the turtle clan.” Here is the third movement, to Avery’s inventive Duo Concertante - Ohnekha'shòna Yakònkwe: youtu.be/yrv0GkrnOxs?...

Celebrating the Music of Faruk Méhić! (Undisclosed birthday) (From his LinkedIn Profile): “... composer from Bosnia and Herzegovina.” Here is Méhić’s many faceted, and endlessly interesting, Suite for Pianoforte, as performed here by the talented Serene Yu: www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCqZ...

More Celebration of the Music of Carl Tausig! (November 4, 1841 – July 17, 1871) Here is an important work for Tausig, and for pianists… it’s a true powerhouse of a piece, musically and technically: www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuoP...

Celebrating the Music of Carl Tausig! (November 4, 1841 – July 17, 1871) Polish piano virtuoso and composer. Here is his melting Nocturne No. 3, L’Esperance (Hope) (See more of my music writing on my website): www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwdk...

Celebrating the Music of Vladimir Alexeevich Ussachevsky! (November 3, 1911– January 2, 1990) Born in China, Russian composer Ussachevsky emigrated to the United States in 1930. Here is his Rhapsodic Variations for Tape Recorder and Orchestra: www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKrC...

Celebrating the Music of Vicenzo Bellini! (November 3, 1801 – September 23, 1835) Italian composer Bellini was, as poet Heinrich Heine said, “… a sigh”. Here is one of the most lovely arias, and a wonderful capture on film: Casta Diva (from the opera Norma, 1831) www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-Tw...

More Celebration of the Music of John Foulds! (November 2, 1880 – April 25, 1939) Here is some of his lighter music, though gorgeous and seriously lovely, the Lament (movement 2) from his Keltic Suite, Op. 29: www.youtube.com/watch?v=-B1o...

More Celebration of the Music of John Foulds! (November 2, 1880 – April 25, 1939) Here is one of those pieces where Foulds amalgamates Indian and Western musical aesthetics, his very lovely Kashmiri Wedding Procession: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lc79...

Celebrating the Music of John Foulds! (November 2, 1880 – April 25, 1939) British composer. Here is his revived, and extraordinary, World Requiem: www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPU2...

Celebrating the Music of Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf! (November 2, 1739 – October 24, 1799) Austrian composer. Here is a fantastic performance of his fine work: Concerto for Double Bass No. 2 (for Ken Harper): www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYpk...

Celebrating the Music of William Mathias! (November 1, 1934 – July 29, 1992) Welsh composer ... commissioned to write for Charles and Diana’s 1981 Royal Wedding. Here is that lovely result, “Let All the People Praise Thee, O God”: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldPA...

Happy Halloween (for those who celebrate it – otherwise, it’s just another excuse to hear a great work by Berlioz: Dance of the Witches Sabbath (from Symphonie fantastique – but By God… those Bells!!): youtu.be/cao6WyF-61s?...

Celebrating the Music of Henri-Jerome Bertini! (October 28, 1798 – October 1, 1876) French piano virtuoso, composer and teacher. Here is one of Bertini’s famous, and lovely, etudes: Etude in B minor, Op. 32 www.youtube.com/watch?v=BT0p...

More Celebration of the Music of Philip Arnold Heseltine (also known as Peter Warlock)! (October 30, 1894 – December 17, 1930) Here, his truly sehnsucht-laden Bethlehem Down: www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQnu...

More Celebration of the Music of Philip Arnold Heseltine (also known as Peter Warlock)! (October 30, 1894 – December 17, 1930) Warlock had a fine sense of lyricism. Here is his very popular Capriol Suite (1926): www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFwt...

Celebrating the Music of Philip Arnold Heseltine (also known as Peter Warlock)! (October 30, 1894 – December 17, 1930) English composer and music critic. Here is a particularly beguiling one from 1922: Sleep www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGA9...

Celebrating the Music of Alexander Tikhonovich Gretchaninov! (October 25, 1864 – January 3, 1956) Russian composer - here is a portion of one of his gorgeous chant-influenced sacred works from 1911: Behold, The Bridegroom from Passion Week, Op. 58 (1911) www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuND...

More Celebration of the Music of Howard Hanson! (October 28, 1896 – February 16, 1981) Here is his Chorale & Alleluia, conducted by Fennell: (See more of my music writing on my website.) youtu.be/khFP8UepTn0?...

Celebrating the Music of Howard Hanson! (October 28, 1896 – February 16, 1981) American composer and professor Hanson was an important figure in American music in the 20th Century. Here is the buttery middle movement to his very popular Symphony No. 2 “Romantic”: www.youtube.com/watch?v=8H6a...

Celebrating the Music of Julius Eastman! (October 27, 1940 – May 28, 1990) American composer Eastman was also a pianist, vocalist, and performance artist. He was absolutely avant-garde and inventive as any composer I’ve run across. Here, a fascinating work, Buddha: www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIO1...

More Celebration of the Music of Dominick Argento! (October 27, 1927 – February 20, 2019) Here’s an engaging and delightfully creative work for bells (of all sorts) and orchestra…. cued to the last movement, Winter, from Argento’s suite/symphony A Ring of Time (1972) youtu.be/p6gkuMGKrOo?...

Celebrating the Music of Dominick Argento! (October 27, 1927 – February 20, 2019) American composer. He had a knack for beauty and tunefulness, and especially for musical colors. Here is a lovely spinning, wandering-into-sub-conscious song, Sleep: www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCBf...

More Celebration of the Music of Paganini! (October 27, 1782 – May 27, 1840) .. a fine performance of one of Paganini’s more poetic moments. Here is his lovely 2nd movement to his Violin Concerto No. 1 (written for himself): www.youtube.com/watch?v=9d7j...

Celebrating the Music of Happy Birthday, Niccolo Paganini! (October 27, 1782 – May 27, 1840) Italian violinist and composer. The famous Caprice No. 24 (especially at about 2:45, you’ll understand some of what Paganini was so famous for): www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cfW...

Celebrating the Music of, and Happy Birthday to, Keith Barnard! (October 26, 1950 - ) Organist C. Cooman wrote: “English composer Keith Barnard explores a deep emotional terrain through a personal musical language." The Universal Harmony of Light (2005) for organ: www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFUY...

More Celebration of the Music of Dom. Scarlatti! (October 26, 1685 – July 23, 1757) … here is another, rather harmonically adventuresome, and altogether beautiful, sonata... Here is Scarlatti’s Sonata K. 458 (the Youtube title indicates K. 457r): www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHu-...