Klaus Döring's Classical Music/Klaus Döring's Klassische Musik

  by  Frances Wilson    April 24th, 2026 Browse streaming platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube, as well as broadcasters like the BBC, and you will find curated playlists of music for relaxation, calm, winding down, nighttime, and sleep. That Max Richter’s   Sleep   – his landmark 2015 concept album and “eight-hour lullaby” designed to be listened to while sleeping – has surpassed 2 billion streams across all platforms is a testament to the popularity of this genre of music. Susan Tomes Why has the night inspired composers for so many years? In her new book  Nocturnes and the Fascination of Night Music , pianist and writer Susan Tomes looks for answers, exploring one of classical music’s most expressive forms. The nocturne is closely linked to the piano and the quiet, thoughtful moods of the evening. Susan Tomes calls the nocturne “ the origin of today’s sleep music….a short, lyrical and usually tranquil piece evoking night .” When we thi...

  Vienna International Virtuoso Festival Calling all musicians! Submit your video to the Vienna International Virtuoso Music Competition 2026 and gain global recognition! • Solo Open Category: Piano, Strings, Winds & more! • Chamber Music: Duos, Trios, Quartets & Ensembles Registration Deadline: May 15th, 2026. Apply now at www.viennavirtuosofestival.com/apply Will you be our next virtuoso? Vienna International Virtuoso Festival Send message All reactions: 1.3K 1.3K

  by  Emily E. Hogstad    March 28th, 2026 Before modern concert halls and subscription series, classical music performances in Europe mostly took place behind closed doors at courts, in churches, or in private salons. But by the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, a new idea began to take shape: audiences paying musicians to play music for them. This evolution from sacred service to ticketed performance changed European culture forever and laid the groundwork for the modern concert tradition we still enjoy today. Today, we’re asking the question, how did paid public classical music concerts start? Italy and the Ospedales It took longer than you might think for the concept of public concerts to flourish in Europe. Each country came to the idea in a different way. Chronologically, the earliest paid public concerts probably took place in Italy, especially in Venice, where a network of orphanages and music schools developed during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuri...

  by  Maureen Buja    March 29th, 2026 They’re the only member of the orchestra who stands with their back to the audience; nonetheless, every member of the orchestra keeps an eye on them…just in case. It’s the conductor, of course. The English historian Charles Burney quotes Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who said: Maurice Quentin de La Tour:  Jean-Jacques Rousseau , 1753 (Musée Antoine-Lécuyer) The more time is beaten, the less it is kept… This is a wonderful way of both condemning conductors who wave their arms too much and describing the attention their orchestras pay them. Rousseau then goes on to explain what happens when everything falls apart: …and it is certain that when the measure is broken, the fury of the musical general, or director, increasing with the disorder and confusion of his troops, becomes more violent, and his strokes and gesticulations are more ridiculous in proportion to their disorder. Liszt  saw the role of the conductor as very hands-of...