8 of the Best Young Classical Musicians of the 21st Century (So Far)

 by Emily E. Hogstad  January 5th, 2026

The 21st century has ushered in an exceptionally visible and accomplished new generation of classical musicians.

Born in the 2000s, these eight performers have already proven their mettle, winning major international competitions, signing with top global labels, and appearing with leading orchestras across Europe, Asia, and America.

Their early careers are providing a real-time glimpse into the future of the art and answering the age-old question: Is classical music in good hands?

The evidence suggests the answer is yes.

Today, we’re looking at eight of the most exciting young classical talents of the century – so far.

Nicolò Foron (b. 2000) – Conductor    

German-Italian musician Nicolò Foron is best-known for his conducting, but he is also a pianist and composer.

In 2021, at the age of 21, he won the Jeunesses Musicales Conducting Competition in Bucharest.

The following year, he was named a conducting fellow at the Tanglewood Festival.

Two years after that, he won the Donatella Flick Conducting Competition, a prestigious event previously won by young star conductors Fabien Gabel and Elim Chan.

Nicolò Foron

As part of his Flick Competition win, he was named the Assistant Conductor at the London Symphony Orchestra.

In 2025, he conducted both the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra. More prestigious debuts are on the horizon.

Critics have taken note of Foron’s unusual but effective stage presence. During the Donatella Flick competition, reviewer Lawrence Dunn wrote for Bachtrack: https://bachtrack.com/feature-pressure-intoxication-donatella-flick-lso-conducting-competition-march-2023

“Foron doesn’t look like the typical conductor. He is more a mixture of a mathematics graduate student and a bank manager’s son. But he has a clear charisma of his own… He is going places.”

María Dueñas (b. 2002) – Violin    

María Dueñas was born in 2002 in Granada, Spain. Although there are no musicians in her family, she went with them to concerts from an early age and began playing the violin at the age of seven.

She studied in Dresden before enrolling at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna and at the University of Graz.

In 2021, she won the first prize and audience prize in the Senior Division at the Menuhin Competition.

The following year, she was signed to the prestigious Deutsche Grammophon label. Since signing, she has recorded an impressively wide range of repertoire.

María Dueñas

Her recordings include the Beethoven violin concerto with multiple cadenzas from a variety of composers, virtuosic caprices by Paganini and other Romantic Era violin greats, and a concerto by contemporary composer Gabriela Ortiz.

In addition to her violin career, she is also a talented pianist and composer.

Yoav Levanon (b. 2004) – Piano    

Yoav Levanon was born in Israel. His mother was a professional violinist and had an upright piano at home that Levanon began to play when he was three.

As a child, he made his orchestral debut with the Israel Chamber Orchestra, and in 2018, he performed Rachmaninoff’s second concerto with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.

In the summer of 2019, when he was just fifteen, Levanon appeared at the prestigious Verbier Festival in Switzerland. He was the youngest pianist to ever appear there and was nicknamed “the little prince of the piano” by Le Temps.

Yoav Levanon

In 2021, he signed a record deal with Warner Classics. He has since released albums with repertoire by Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Chopin, Mendelssohn, and Schumann.

We talked to Yoav Levanon in late 2024 about his background, what Liszt’s music means to him, and what it’s really like recording with an orchestra.

Yunchan Lim (b. 2004) – Piano    

Korean pianist Yunchan Lim began piano lessons at the age of seven, entering the Music Academy of Seoul Arts Center the following year.

He attended the Yewon School and the Korea National University of Arts, studying under pianist Minsoo Sohn. Later, he followed Minsoo Sohn to the New England Conservatory of Music, where, as of 2025, he still takes lessons.

He won or placed at a number of competitions during his teens, including the Second Prize at the Cleveland International Piano Competition in 2018 when he was just fourteen.

Yunchan Lim

However, his big break came in the summer of 2022, when he won the gold medal at the Van Cliburn Competition. He was just eighteen and became the youngest person to ever achieve this feat.

His performance of Rachmaninoff’s third piano concerto from the final stage of the Cliburn went viral, earning millions upon millions of views.

He has since become one of the leading soloists in the classical music world. His style merges a modern machine-like virtuosity with a deep love of the instrument and an obsessive fascination with early twentieth-century performance traditions.

Jaemin Han (b. 2006) – Cello   

Jaemin Han, a frequent chamber music collaborator of Yunchan Lim’s, was born in South Korea to a family of musicians.

He began playing cello at the age of five and made his orchestral debut at the age of eight.

He won his first major competition in 2015 when he won first prize at the Osaka International Music Competition.

Jaemin Han

In 2021, he became the youngest person to ever win the Grand Prix of the George Enescu International Competition.

He has also won prizes at the Geneva International Music Competition and I SANGYUN Competition.

Although he’s still in his teens, he has played with major orchestras all around the world, including the Seoul Philharmonic and the Orchestre de Paris, and under the batons of major conductors, including Jaap van Zweden and Myung-Whun Chung.

His tone is muscular and his musicality strikingly mature, while his assured stage presence and clear comfort with performing draw his audiences in.

Chloe Chua (b. 2007) – Violin       

Chloe Chua is the daughter of a music educator, who started her on piano at two and a half and violin at four.

From the age of four until seventeen, she studied at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in Singapore. As of 2025, she studies at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin.

Chloe Chua

In 2018, the year she turned eleven, she won first prize in the Junior division of the Menuhin Competition.

Her performances from the competition went viral on YouTube, boosted by a reaction video by well-known YouTube videomakers TwoSet Violin. (She has since appeared on their channel multiple times.)

Is Ling Ling a GIRL?    

Between 2022 and 2024, she appeared as the Artist-In-Residence at the Singapore Symphony.

She has recorded music by Vivaldi, Locatelli, Paganini, and Mozart.

Her playing is noted for its old-soul maturity, refinement, and sheer beauty of sound.

Amaryn Olmeda (b. 2008) – Violin    

Amaryn Olmeda was born in Melbourne, Australia, before moving to California. As a child, she enrolled at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where, at the age of thirteen, she joined an apprentice program co-sponsored by the Conservatory and Opus 3 Artists.

That same year, she won first prize at the 2021 Sphinx Competition.

In 2022, when she was fourteen, she debuted at Carnegie Hall, performing on the Sphinx Virtuosi tour.

Over the next few years, she appeared with a number of major orchestras.

As of 2025, she is studying at the New England Conservatory of Music.

Amaryn Olmeda

In the words of Classical Voice North America, “Olmeda is clearly on her way to a stellar career. Combining a charismatic stage presence and audience appeal with pinpoint intonation, intense lyricism, and fluid technique…she is here to stay.”

Tianyao Lyu (b. 2008) – Piano    

Tianyao Lyu was born in October 2008 in China.

She studied with Hya Chang at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, and as of 2025, is studying with Katarzyna Popowa-Zydroń at the Poznań Academy of Music in Poland.

In 2024, she won first prize at the International Ettlingen Competition in Germany.

But her biggest success to date came in October 2025, when she competed against pianists nearly twice her age at the Chopin International Competition, arguably the most prestigious piano competition in the world.

She became beloved by viewers internationally for her fearless poise and the skill and purity of her playing.

Tianyao Lyu

After three weeks of intense competition, Tianyao Lyu emerged with a 4th Prize, as well as a Best Concerto Performance prize. The results were delivered on her seventeenth birthday.

Even though she didn’t win, a sizable contingent of fans believes she was the true breakout star of the event. And because of her youth, she has the chance to come back multiple times in the future to try to nab first prize, should she ever wish to try.

Conclusion

These remarkable musicians underscore how classical music’s future is both vibrant and international.

Each of them – whether they’re winning major competitions, signing major recording contracts, or captivating millions online in their viral videos – has already established a distinctive artistic identity, and they’re only getting started.

Following their careers is going to be a major thrill and honour for every classical music lover.

Taken together, all eight of these musicians prove that the future of classical music is in capable, inspiring, and unnervingly talented hands.

A Look Back at 2025: Your 10 Most-Read and Beloved Articles

 by Interlude Contributors  January 6th, 2026

As we step into a new year, it’s a time for reflection, celebration, and, of course, great music. Last year, our contributors delved into the lives of composers, the magic of performers, and the timeless power of classical music in their writings. Here we’ve compiled our definitive list of the year’s top ten.

From the personal struggles of legendary figures to the electrifying rise of new stars, these are the stories that resonated most deeply with you. We invite you to dive back into these favorites or discover for the first time what made them the most loved reads of 2025.

Are you ready? Here is the countdown of our most popular articles from the past year.

10. Mitsuko Uchida (Born on December 20, 1948)
The Art of Listening

Full article: https://interlude.hk/mitsuko-uchida-born-on-december-20-1948-the-art-of-listening/

Mitsuko Uchida © Geoffroy Schied

Kicking off our list is a profound look into the mind of a piano legend. This article celebrated Mitsuko Uchida‘s unique artistic philosophy. It’s the act of listening that defines her interpretations and makes her performances of Mozart, Schubert, and Beethoven so deeply resonant:

“In a sense, Mitsuko Uchida embodies an alternative model of musical greatness. Not the conqueror of the keyboard, not the charismatic hero, but the attentive listener. Her artistry suggests that music-making, at its highest level, is an ethical practice.”

9. The Tastes and Smells of the Holiday Season

Full article: https://interlude.hk/the-tastes-and-smells-of-the-holiday-season/

The Spanish Dance – Chocolate, 2013 (New York City Ballet)

From the crisp, bright fanfares that evoke the scent of pine to the warm, rich orchestrations that feel like a sip of hot chocolate, this delightful holiday feature paired the festive tastes and aromas of the season with their perfect musical counterparts. It’s a wonderfully imaginative article that enhances the appreciation of both food and music, making the holiday season feel richer and more vibrant.

8. 15 Pieces of Classical Music about Animals

Full article: https://interlude.hk/15-pieces-of-classical-music-about-animals/

Image created by FLUX-dev

From the grand to the whimsical, the animal kingdom has always been a rich source of inspiration for composers. This article went far beyond Saint-Saëns’s famous Carnival of the Animals to uncover a whole menagerie of musical creatures:

“Composers have written about their own pets, such as Chopin, who wrote a waltz inspired by his dog chasing its tail, or Scarlatti, whose cat walking over the keyboard gave him a theme for a fugue. Other composers have been inspired by the sounds of nature, from the songs of birds to the buzzing of insects. Let’s look at some of the best classical music about animals.”

7. Dmitri Shostakovich’s Three Fascinating Wives

Full article: https://interlude.hk/dmitri-shostakovichs-three-fascinating-wives/

Shostakovich and his wife Nina

The life of Dmitri Shostakovich was a tightrope walk between artistic genius and political terror. This gripping article illuminated his world through the eyes of the three women he married: Nina Varzar, Margarita Kainova, and Irina Antonovna Spunskaya. The stories of these relationships provide valuable insight into Shostakovich’s psychology, work, and music.

6. Get to Know Yunchan Lim With These Ten Video Clips

Full article: https://interlude.hk/get-to-know-yunchan-lim-with-these-ten-video-clips/

Yunchan Lim

The classical world was set ablaze by the arrival of Yunchan Lim, the young pianist who stunned the world with his historic win at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. This article curated the essential video moments that capture his phenomenal talent and endearing personality:

“Together, these clips sketch a portrait of Yunchan Lim as not just another competition winner, but as someone who has the capacity to be one of the greatest pianists of his generation.”

If you’re just discovering him, these videos are the perfect introduction to why the world is paying attention!”

5. Mozart’s Piano Masterpieces: 10 Most Popular Piano Sonatas

Full article: https://interlude.hk/mozarts-piano-masterpieces-10-most-popular-piano-sonatas/

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Here’s a guide to Mozart’s most beloved piano sonatas, an essential resource for pianists, students, or simply admirers of Mozart’s genius.

“The piano sonatas of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart are some of the most recognizable and well-known pieces of classical music… Mozart composed his piano sonatas between 1775 and 1789, during the height of his creative powers. While he only wrote 18 of them, they are all masterpieces in their own right. Here are 10 of his most popular piano sonatas, which are a great introduction to his solo piano music.”

4. Three Pianists Who Survived the Nazi Concentration Camps

Full article: https://interlude.hk/three-pianists-who-survived-the-nazi-concentration-camps/

Lena Stein-Schneider, Alice Herz-Sommer and Marian Filar

This article paid tribute to Alice Herz-Sommer, Lena Stein-Schneider, and Marian Filar, who endured the unimaginable horrors of the Holocaust, using music as a shield, a solace, and a reason to live.

“Even without a piano I always had music in my heart, which is why I never thought of suicide, no matter how bad things got. Plus, I wouldn’t have wanted to give those SS bastards the satisfaction of thinking they had triumphed over me.”

3. Seven of Leonard Bernstein’s Lovers

Full article: https://interlude.hk/seven-of-leonard-bernsteins-lovers/

David Oppenheim and Leonard Bernstein

While Bernstein was publicly a family man, married to Felicia Montealegre, he also navigated a life of secret relationships with men. This article respectfully examines seven of these significant relationships, shedding light on the personal conflicts and emotional turmoil Bernstein faced in an era when such a life had to be hidden.

2. Untangling Hearts: Klaus Mäkelä and Yuja Wang

Full article: https://interlude.hk/untangling-hearts-klaus-makela-and-yuja-wang/

Yuja Wang and Klaus Mäkelä

When two of classical music’s most dynamic young superstars form a personal and professional partnership, the world pays attention. This article tapped directly into the zeitgeist, exploring the electrifying collaboration between conductor Klaus Mäkelä and pianist Yuja Wang.

1. Yuja Wang: Electrifying Artistry

Full article: https://interlude.hk/yuja-wang-electrifying-artistry/

Yuja Wang

And at number one, it’s no surprise that our most-read article of 2025 is a deep dive into the artist who has captured the imagination of the entire world: Yuja Wang. This definitive profile celebrated everything that makes her a true phenomenon—her staggering virtuosity, her fearless stage presence, and her revolutionary spirit. Sample some of her most iconic recordings here again!

And there you have it—the ten articles that sparked the most conversation and captured your attention in 2025. We wish you a wonderful 2026, filled with breathtaking performances and beautiful discoveries.

What stories do you want to read this year? Are there composers, musicians, or musical topics you’re eager for us to explore? Let us know in the comments below.

Pablo Picasso (Born on October 25, 1881) Fragmented Melodies

by Hermione Lai 

Can you imagine a world where jagged geometric shapes dance to the swelling strings of a symphony orchestra? That’s the unlikely yet captivating intersection of Pablo Picasso and classical music.

Picasso, the Spanish maestro of modern art, revolutionised painting with his Cubist explosions, but his life was equally tuned to the rhythms of Stravinsky, the melodies of Satie, and the operatic arias of his era.

Pablo Picasso

Far from a mere backdrop, music was Picasso’s muse, collaborator, and even co-conspirator in defying artistic norms. To celebrate his birthday on 25 October, let’s explore how his canvases echoed symphonic structure and what composers inspired his brushstrokes.   

Erik Satie: Parade

Cabaret Rhythms and Salon Symphonies

Picasso’s relationship with music began in his bohemian youth in late 19th-century Barcelona and Paris. Born on 25 October 1881, he grew up in a Spain where flamenco guitars twanged alongside Wagnerian operas seeping in from Europe.

As a young artist in the Montmartre cabarets, Picasso immersed himself in the sounds of his time, listening to the ragtime jazz creeping from America, but more profoundly to the classical repertoire that filled Parisian salons.

He was no passive listener as music shaped his creative process. Friends recalled him humming arias while sketching, his studio often alive with phonograph records spinning Debussy’s impressionistic waves or Mozart‘s playful minuets.   

Montmartre Rag – Mitchell’s Jazz Kings (1922)

Fractured Harmonies

Pablo Picasso: Three Musicians, 1921

In his own words, “Music is something I mistrust intensely. It goes too fast, or perhaps my mind can’t keep up,” yet he could not stay away and doodled musical instruments in notebooks and painted violinists as alter egos.

Around 1907, together with Georges Braque, Pablo Picasso stumbled upon the idea of cubism. This wasn’t just a visual disruption, but it mirrored the fractured harmonies of contemporary music.

Picasso attended the premiere of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, and the primal rhythms and dissonant clashes are captured in his canvases. Just take his “Three Musicians,” with an angular guitar and clarinet fragments pulsing like atonal motifs.   

Visual Echoes

Self portraits of Pablo Picasso

Picasso painted the sound of disruption itself, turning harmony into controlled chaos. He was fascinated by the fusion of art, dance, and music into grand spectacles, and he collaborated with Erik Satie in Parade and with Igor Stravinsky in Pulcinella.

Despite his deep immersion in musical culture, designing sets for various ballets and depicting guitars, harps, and musicians, there is no evidence of Picasso playing a musical instrument.

His engagement with music was primarily auditory, visual, and collaborative rather than performative. And in his own statement, he emphasised his role as a listener and visual   y

Synesthetic Rebellion

Pablo Picasso: Mandolin and Guitar

He once described music as “another dimension” of creativity but deferred to specialists, saying in a 1935 interview, “I paint what music sounds like.” Picasso’s instrument was the canvas, as he claimed to hear colours and forms as musical equivalents. As he related to his friend Guillaume Apollinaire, “music and art are the same thing… I start a painting with a rhythm in my head, like a jazz tune.”

There is no evidence that Picasso had a liking for the structured counterpoint of Bach, the elegant gallantries of Mozart, or the heroic symphonism of Beethoven. These impressions clashed with his preference for raw emotion and fragmentation.

He did draw on ancient Greco-Roman forms visually, but musically he stuck to contemporaries over the “old masters.” He certainly did dislike traditional classical ballet and prioritised Spanish vitality over high European canon.    

Visceral Visions

Scene design for Stravinsky’s Pulcinella, 1920

Both Picasso and classical music were rule-breakers in eras craving change. Their innovations of dissonance and fragmentation demanded that audiences reassemble the pieces, much like a Rubik’s Cube of sound and sight.

In Picasso’s synesthetic vision, music wasn’t mere accompaniment but a structural force. He orchestrated forms on canvas, layering auditory echoes into visual polyphony. Picasso’s dislike for conventional classical giants like Beethoven stemmed not from disdain but from irrelevance. For him, they lacked the visceral disruption he craved.

Instead, he championed music’s revolutionary edge, suggesting that true creation thrives in sensory rebellion. As Picasso once quipped, “I paint objects as I think them, not as I see them,” much like composers hearing inner symphonies. Picasso didn’t just appreciate classical music; he repainted its soul.

Ten Saddest Works Written by Grieving Composers

by Emily E. Hogstad

When composers grieve, they often turn to music to express what words can’t.

Some of the most powerful works of classical music ever are connected to the deaths of loved ones: spouses, siblings, friends, and others.

From Johann Sebastian Bach’s Chaconne, composed after the sudden death of his wife, to John Corigliano’s Symphony No. 1, a searing response to the AIDS crisis, all of these works demonstrate how grief has inspired composers over generations.

Today we’re looking at just a few of these unforgettable classical compositions.

Johann Sebastian Bach: Chaconne (c. 1720)

For his wife, Maria Barbara Bach  

Given the limited amount of documentation that survives about his life, there is a lot we don’t know about Johann Sebastian Bach.

However, we do know that Bach’s monumental Chaconne – the final movement to his Partita No. 2 for solo violin – was written around the time of the death of his first wife, Maria Barbara Bach.

A silhouette of Maria Barbara Bach

Her death occurred in the summer of 1720 while Bach was traveling to Carlsbad with his employer, Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Köthen. After two months away, he returned home to find her dead and buried.

The theory has been floated that the Chaconne was Bach’s response to her death: a heartbreaking outcry for solo violin that is technically demanding and lasts for a full quarter of an hour.

We’ll never know for sure, but it’s tempting to believe that this was his musical response to his grief.

Felix Mendelssohn: String Quartet No. 6 (1847)

For his sister, Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel   

Felix Mendelssohn and his older sister Fanny were artistic soulmates. Both were astonishing child prodigies who aided in each other’s musical development. But because of their gender, Felix was encouraged to pursue a career as a composer, while Fanny was prevented from doing so.

Felix Mendelssohn

Fanny’s sudden death in 1847 from a stroke devastated Felix. In response, he composed this fierce, raw quartet in the throes of grief, clearly trying to find a way to make sense of a world without her. The music veers manically from fury to heartbroken lamentation.

This is Felix’s last major work. He died just a few months later…also from a stroke.

Fanny Mendelssohn

Johannes Brahms: A German Requiem (1865-68)

For his mother   

Johannes Brahms was famously tight-lipped about what specific events inspired his music. However, it is widely accepted that at least portions of his German Requiem were a response to the death of his mother in 1865, as well as the death of his mentor Robert Schumann in 1856.

When writing his Requiem, Brahms chose not to use the text of the traditional Latin Requiem Mass. Instead, he compiled passages from the German Bible, focusing on passages that provide comfort to the living.

Johannes Brahms

As a result, this Requiem is less about the wrath (or beauty) of the afterlife, and more about addressing the emotional needs of the mourners left behind.

Modest Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition (1874)

For his friend Viktor Hartmann   

Composer Modest Mussorgsky met artist Viktor Hartmann in 1868. Both men were passionate about the idea of creating overtly Russian art, and they became good friends.

Tragically, Hartmann died in 1873 of an aneurysm. After his death, Mussorgsky visited a massive tribute exhibition of Hartmann’s artwork. The experience inspired him to recreate Hartmann’s art in a piece of music.

Modest Mussorgsky

The piano suite that resulted, Pictures at an Exhibition, took just three weeks to write.

Every movement in Mussorgsky’s piano suite portrays a different piece of art. In between, variations on a “Promenade” theme appear again and again, symbolising Mussorgsky walking from one image to the next, contemplating the work of his dead friend in a new way each time.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Piano Trio (1881-82)

For his friend and colleague Nikolai Rubinstein   

Tchaikovsky initially resisted composing a piano trio, doubting his ability to write for this particular instrumentation.

Despite those doubts, he began writing one in December 1881, nine months after the death of his friend and colleague, pianist Nikolai Rubinstein.

Nikolai Dmitrievich Kuznetsov: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, 1893

The first movement begins with one of Tchaikovsky’s most melancholy melodies.

The second movement is a set of variations, each passing by like pages of a photo album. In the end, the last variation fades into a heartbreaking version of the opening theme, now cast as a funeral march.

Tchaikovsky inscribed the score with “À la mémoire d’un grand artiste” (“To the memory of a great artist”).

It was premiered at a private performance on 23 March 1882, the first anniversary of Rubinstein’s death.

Franz Liszt: La Lugubre Gondola I (1882-85)

For his son-in-law Richard Wagner   

Franz Liszt had a complex relationship with Richard Wagner, who married his daughter Cosima in 1870. (Both Richard and Cosima had been married to other people when they began their relationship.)

Hermann Biow: Franz Liszt, 1943

Despite occasional personal friction between them, Liszt’s respect for Wagner’s music predated the marriage by many years.

In late 1882, Liszt came to visit Wagner and his daughter at their home in Venice. The first version of his piece “La lugubre gondola” (“The Gloomy Gondola”) was written that December. It’s a grim work that seems to portend catastrophe.

Catastrophe struck a couple of months later, when Richard died suddenly. His death sent shockwaves across the European music world.

Richard Wagner

After Richard’s death, Liszt returned to “La lugubre gondola” and rewrote it. This version is known as “La lugubre gondola I.”

The music is strange, dark and stark, and filled with an uneasy, uncomfortable sense of dread.

Maurice Ravel: Le Tombeau de Couperin (1914-17)

For six friends who died in World War I    

Each movement of Le Tombeau de Couperin is dedicated to a different friend lost in the war, but you’d never guess it: this is light, airy, seemingly carefree music.

Ravel believed that paying tribute to the fallen with joyful music was the best way to honour them.

Maurice Ravel

The suite was premiered by pianist Marguerite Long, the widow of the man portrayed in the work’s Toccata movement.

By writing in a style reminiscent of French Baroque composer François Couperin, Ravel promoted French cultural identity during wartime…while also creating an emotional outlet for pianists and audiences struggling during the epidemic of wartime grief.

Dmitri Shostakovich: Piano Trio No. 2 (1943-44)

For his friend Ivan Sollertinsky     

Critic, musicologist, and all-around polymath Ivan Sollertinsky was a dear friend of composer Dmitri Shostakovich. Reportedly, he spoke around thirty languages.

In February 1944, Sollertinsky died in his sleep at the age of 41. Officially, the cause was heart trouble, but dark rumours have circulated suggesting that he was murdered by the Soviet secret police.

Dmitri Shostakovich

Shostakovich wrote to his widow:

“I cannot express in words all the grief I felt when I received the news of the death of Ivan Ivanovich. Ivan Ivanovich was my closest and dearest friend. I owe all my education to him. It will be unbelievably hard for me to live without him.”

Shostakovich had begun working on his second piano trio in December 1944. He turned the second movement into a dance both exuberant and macabre (Sollertinsky’s sister thought it was a musical portrait of her late brother). That was followed by a Largo: a heartbreaking goodbye to a beloved friend.

John Corigliano: Symphony No. 1 (1988-89)

For his friends who died of AIDS    

John Corigliano’s searing first symphony is a monument to the lives lost during the AIDS crisis.

In the program notes for the premiere, he wrote:

“During the past decade, I have lost many friends and colleagues to the AIDS epidemic, and the cumulative effect of those losses has, naturally, deeply affected me. My First Symphony was generated by feelings of loss, anger, and frustration. A few years ago, I was extremely moved when I first saw ‘The Quilt,’ an ambitious interweaving of several thousand fabric panels, each memorialising a person who had died of AIDS, and, most importantly, each designed and constructed by his or her loved ones. This made me want to memorialise in music those I have lost, and reflect on those I am losing.”

John Corigliano

The first movement (called “Apologue: Of Rage and Remembrance”) is dedicated to a pianist friend, the second to a music executive, and the third to a cellist.

Anna Clyne: Within Her Arms (2008-09)

For her mother   

In 2008, composer Anna Clyne’s mother died. That same year, she began a fifteen-part string work she’d call Within Her Arms.

The work received rave reviews from critics across America. The New Yorker’s Alex Ross described it as “a fragile elegy for fifteen strings; intertwining voices of lament bring to mind English Renaissance masterpieces of Thomas Tallis and John Dowland, although the music occasionally breaks down into spells of static grief, with violins issuing broken cries over shuddering double-bass drones.”

Anna Clyne

In the work’s official program notes, Clyne chose not to write any explanation herself, but rather to quote a poem by the poet Thich Nhat Hanh. That fragment includes the lines:

Earth will keep you tight within her arms dear one—
So that tomorrow you will be transformed into flowers-
This flower smiling quietly in this morning field—
This morning you will weep no more dear one—
For we have gone through too deep a night…