Jos van de Braak

Le Nozze di Figaro' is one of the three opera's which Mozart composed on libretto's of Lorenzo da Ponte (1749-1838) the famous Viennese theaterdirector and courtpoet. The aria 'Voi che sapete' is sung...

'Revelge' (Reveille) belongs to the finest of the military 'Wunderhornlieder' and was written in 1899: The military bugle call develops in a demonic marcia funebre for the lost soldier. (Higher Voice...

The 'Missa Solemnis in B flat' was Anton Anton Bruckner's first major work for choir and orchestra. In this transcription of the Agnus Dei, a brass choir of horns, Trumpets and trombones replaces the...

Carmen' is probably the most famous opera in the whole opera-repertoire, although its premiere in 1875 was a great disappointment. The aria 'L'amour est un oiseau rebelle', also named the Habanera is...

In the third act of Charles Gounod's Opera Faust, Marguerite sings her famous Jewel Song 'Ah! Je ris' when she looks satisfied to herself in the mirror and to the box with jewels which Faust gave her...

At the very end of the opera Otello sings Nium mi tema: he bids farewell to the chill corpse of Desdemona before stabbing himself. (Tenor and Concert Band)

Until nowadays, La Traviata is still one of the most successful opera's in the music-literature. Giuseppe Giuseppe Verdi composed this opera in 1853 and it belongs to the top of Giuseppe Verdi's middl...

Giuseppe Verdi's Nabucco was first produced in the Teatro alla Scala in 1842. Its triumph was total: the public went mad insisting of an 'encore' of the chorus Va pensiero! that became the second nati...

The aria with chorus Del futuro nel bujo discerno is sung at the very end of the third act of the opera Nabucco just after the famous Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves. Zaccaria, a Jewish high priest, encou...

The chorus Che faceste? Dite su! from the opera Macbeth is sung at the very beginning of the opera. Three strings of witches are waiting for the generals Macbeth and Banquo to prophesy their futures:...

Ralph Vaughan Williams completed the Five Mystical Songs for baritone, chorus and orchestra in 1911. In the second song I got me Flowers there are incessant changes of time-signature, though the vocal...

Nielsen's Rhapsodic Overture (1927) represents the romantic musical element in orchestral composition. The sub-title A fantasy journey to FaroÙr belies the imaginative character of the piece, which is...

Symphony No. 2, known as "Die Auferstehung" ("The Resurrection"), was written between 1888 and 1894, and first performed in 1895 and became one of Mahler's most popular and successful works during his...

Georges Bizet composed 'L'Arlésienne' as incidental music to Alphonse Daudet's play of the same name, usually translated as 'The Girl from Arles'. The incidental music has survived and flourished, how...

Georges Bizet composed 'L'Arlésienne' as incidental music to Alphonse Daudet's play of the same name, usually translated as 'The Girl from Arles'. The incidental music has survived and flourished, how...

Giacomo Puccini's opera "Tosca" might be described as a thriller with political overtones. Set in Rome in 1800 at a time when the Police Chief Scarpia is conducting a reign of terror, it shows its her...

The Toy Symphony, (Kinder-Sinfonie) was also published as Sinfonia Berchtolsgadensis because it was written for instruments that were manufactured in the toy industry of Berchtensgaden that flourished...

Josef Strauss (1827-1870) was an Austrian composer, son of Johann Strauss ('Vater') and brother of Johann jr. and Eduard. Josef Strauss was arguably the most talented of the Strauss dynasty, although...

Cantique de Noël (O Holy Night) is a Christmas carol composed by French composer Adolphe Adam in 1847 to the poem "Minuit, Chrétiens" (Midnight, Christians) by Placide Cappeau (1808-1877), a wine merc...

German composer Peter Cornelius composed his song cycle "Weihnachtslieder" ("Christmas Songs"), Opus 8, in 1856. Cornelius, who also was a gifted writer and had first pursued a career as an actor, wro...

Richard Wagner's Fliedermonolog Was duftet doch der Flieder is sung in the second act of the Opera Die Meistersinger: Sitting outside his house on a sultry Midsummer's Eve, Hans Sachs tries to concent...

The Wahnmonolog Wahn! Wahn! Uberall Wahn! is sung by Hans Sachs in the first scene of the third and last act of Richard Wagner's Opera Die Meistersinger. On a sunny morning Sachs is sitting in his wor...

Johan Wagenaar (1862 -1941) was a Dutch composer and organist. His compositions include operas, cantatas, organ music, and orchestral works. The music of Hector Berlioz had a modest influence on his w...

George Gershwin no escribió mucha música de cine, pero ¿qué habría pasado si no hubiera muerto a una edad temprana? Una de las excepciones es la música para la película de 1937 "Shall We Dance". De es...

French composer Charles Gounod (1818-1893) regained great successes as a composer of operas, oratorios, masses and as an organist soon after graduating at the Paris Conservatory. When Gounod's Opera '...