Wolfgang Birtel

A 'Last Night of the Proms' without this march - unthinkable! 'Pomp and Circumstance Military March No. 1' with its middle section, the hymn-like 'Land of Hope and Glory' by Edward Elgar (1857-1934),...

The 19th century was not only the era of great forms, monumental symphonies and melodious sonatas, no, the Romantic composers proved to be versatile and highly imaginative on the field of little music...

A wedding without a famous wedding march - unimaginable! Wagner's 'Bridal Chorus' from 'Lohengrin' and Mendelssohn's 'Wedding March' from the incidental music of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' vie for th...

The music world became aware of Erik Satie (1866-1925) with a bang: when his ballet 'Parade' was premiered on May 18, 1817, it caused a scandal. The production, which also involved Sergei Djagilew wit...

Wer kennt es nicht, das Lied 'Guantanamera'? Auf eine Melodie des kubanischen Musikstils Guajira und einen Text des dortigen Nationalhelden José Martí zurückgehend, wurde sie von José Fernández Díaz i...

Wer kennt es nicht, das Lied 'Guantanamera'? Auf eine Melodie des kubanischen Musikstils Guajira und einen Text des dortigen Nationalhelden José Martí zurückgehend, wurde sie von José Fernández Díaz i...

Peter Ludwig ist als Pianist, Komponist, Arrangeur und Kabarettist ein bayrisches Multitalent. Er schreibt Filmmusik, Chansons, Kammermusik, Klaviermusik und vor allem: wunderschöne, inspirierte Tango...

The tremolo study 'Recuerdos de la Alhambra' composed in 1896 is, without doubt, the most famous piece by the Spanish composer and guitarist Francisco Tárrega, bringing back memories of the fortified...

Overcoming the boundaries between 'serious' and entertaining music was what mattered to the musician Eduard Pütz (1911-2000). His compositions therefore include stylistic features of jazz and pop musi...

There is hardly a violinist who has not dealt with some or even all 42 'Kreutzer etudes' sometime or other: Études ou caprices form part of the standard repertoire. Rodolphe Kreutzer (1766-1831) has n...

The fourth volume of the Violinissimo series features the most important studies for the early years of violin lessons. Violin Studies contains selections from the standard works by Kayser, Dont, Wohl...

The studies by Charles Dancla (1817-1907) are more than mere technical exercises. They demand a special sense of tone, an elegant, softly flowing and swinging way of playing. They challenge the violin...

Who would have thought that the ragtime was to undergo such a renaissance! But more than 50 years after the death of its main representative Scott Joplin the film 'The Sting' made this once popular mu...

With this double concerto, the Reger pupil Johanna Senfter (1879-1961) is entirely in the tradition of Antonio Vivaldi and J.S. Bach, although she combines the concerto form with the classical four-mo...

The composer and violinist Johanna Senfter from Oppenheim wrote concert works, such as chamber music works for violin, her whole life. Being a pupil of Reger, who held her in high esteem, she composed...

Friedrich August Kummer (1797-1879) came from a family of musicians, studied violoncello with the renowned solo cellist Friedrich Dotzauer of the Dresden Court Chapel and then worked as a cellist firs...

The only work still known today by Noack, 'Heinzelmännchens Wachtparade' [Parade of the Brownies] Op. 5 was called a 'character piece' by the composer himself, and this 'marche en miniature' conveys w...

Wer kennt es nicht, das Lied 'Guantanamera'? Auf eine Melodie des kubanischen Musikstils Guajira und einen Text des dortigen Nationalhelden José Martí zurückgehend, wurde sie von José Fernández Díaz i...

The 'Air' by Johann Sebastian Bach at best can rival his setting 'Jesus bleibet meine Freude' for popularity: The final chorus from the cantata BWV 147 'Heart and Mouth and Deed and Life' is really ca...

The 19th century was not only the era of great forms, monumental symphonies and melodious sonatas, no, the Romantic composers proved to be versatile and highly imaginative on the field of little music...

The 19th century was not only the era of great forms, monumental symphonies and melodious sonatas, no, the Romantic composers proved to be versatile and highly imaginative on the field of little music...

The American composer and pianist Edward MacDowell (1860-1908) is rather unknown in Germany although he had his artistic roots there for he was trained as a pianist in Paris, Stuttgart, Wiesbaden and...