New stories on MusicTales

1. 

   Saxophone

   Chu Berry: finest tenor sax voice of the '30s silenced by fatal car crash

   Leon 'Chu' Berry (1908-1941), perhaps one of the most brilliant American tenor sax players, found interest in music at…

   July 21, 2018

2. 

   Piano

   Influential music teacher Nadia Boulanger considered her music worthless

   Juliette Nadia Boulanger (1887–1979) was conductor, composer, and one of the most influential teachers of musical…

   July 20, 20181 comment

3. 

   Film

   Accordion for Amélie was discovered by a lucky accident

   Amélie is a 2001 French romantic comedy classic directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet that depicts a contemporary yet dream…

   July 19, 2018

4. 

   Sarod

   100 years for 1 career: the great artist and teacher Allauddin Khan

   Allauddin Khan was the great Bengali multi-instrumentalist and composer who, to this day, remains one of the most…

   July 18, 2018

5. 

   Fiddle

   Fresh take on the The Isle of Man folk tradition

   The Isle of Man, or Mann, is an island in the Irish Sea which small but proud nation can boast a vast cultural heritage…

   July 17, 2018

6. 

   Songwriter

   Ghosts of past wars alive in the Lowlands of Holland

   The Lowlands of Holland is a popular British folk song that depicts a young widow mourning her husband whose ship was…

   July 16, 2018

7. 

   Orchestra

   Modern jazz trumpet for gifted Mozart scholar

   Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778–1837) was an Austrian composer and outstanding virtuoso pianist during the transition…

   July 15, 2018

8. 

   Orchestra

   Obscured by Vivaldi, an Italian virtuoso found fans in England

   Francesco Saverio Geminiani—influential Italian violinist, composer, and theorist—was born in 1687 in the scenic town…

   July 14, 2018

9. 

   Modern Jazz Quartet

   Bebop meets baroque in memorable Collaboration

   Modern Jazz Quartet (MJQ) is an American musical ensemble noted for their innovations in jazz forms and consistently…

   July 13, 2018

10. 

    Film

    Full-method approach to the score for Shakespeare's play

    The classic Shakespeare play The Merchant of Venice had seen many adaptations, one of them a 2004 venture for the big…

    July 12, 2018

11. 

    Sitar

    Humid Kolkata air sways with Nikhil Banerjee's sitar

    Nikhil Banerjee (1931–1986) was an Indian classical musician who emerged as one of the leading masters of the sitar. In…

    July 11, 2018

12. 

    Classical Guitar

    Spanish guitar maestro who invented footstool wrote the Nokia tune

    Spanish maestro Francisco Tárrega had a colossal influence on the guitar development—in terms of both technical…

    July 10, 2018

13. 

    Orchestra

    The most performed contemporary composer grew up with Bob Marley music

    Jennifer Higdon is a contemporary composer and winner of the Pulitzer Prize and Grammy Awards. According to a recent…

    July 9, 2018

14. 

    Songwriter

    There were no bluebirds over the White Cliffs of Dover

    (There'll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover is an iconic song composed in 1941 by the American songwriting…

    July 8, 20184 comments

15. 

    Orchestra

    Alessandro Scarlatti: Italian opera innovator was lost in history for two centuries

    Alessandro Scarlatti (1660-1725) was among the most important Italian composers of the late Baroque period. His huge…

    July 7, 2018

16. 

    Film

    Easy Living owes Billie Holiday for giving it voice

    A tender ballad Easy Living has forthright lyrics that declare just how wonderful life can be when living for someone…

    July 6, 2018

17. 

    Film

    Sicario's desert pulsates in Jóhannsson's score

    Sicario tells the story of an idealistic FBI agent Kate Macer (Emily Blunt) who is enlisted by a government official to…

    July 5, 2018

18. 

    Violin

    Scottish fiddle tradition elevated by guitar ornamentation

    Duncan Chisholm is a contemporary Scottish fiddle composer whose interpretations of traditional Highland music are…

    July 4, 2018

19. 

    Classical Guitar

    The world's first gramophone record for Paraguayan guitar

    South American guitar maestro Agustín Barrios Mangoré (1885-1944) was born into a large family with seven sons in the…

    July 3, 2018

20. 

    William Blake

    Prog rock version of Jerusalem was banned by BBC

    Jerusalem is a British national song based on a poem by William Blake printed in 1808. At the heart of the poem is the…

    July 2, 20184 comments