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

By Rosie Pentreath, ClassicFM London @rosiepentreath   As ‘The Lark Ascending’ tops the Classic FM Hall of Fame a record eleventh time, a new film has been released featuring classical musicians sharing their personal experiences of the popular piece. The enduringly popular  Lark Ascending  has topped the  Classic FM Hall of Fame  for another year. But why  do  we love it so much? Inspired by the piece’s enduring place at the top of our  Hall of Fame , the Royal Philharmonic (RPS) has created a film exploring just this. The RPS asked famous musicians and dedicated music lovers to talk about what the piece means to them, in a beautiful  new film . We see several personalities from different corners of the music profession – including violinist  Tasmin Little OBE  and composer  Sally Beamish OBE  – each sharing, from lockdown, their own impressions of  Vaughan Williams ’ beloved masterpiece, telling us about what it mea...

  Clara Schumann née Clara Wieck (1819 – 1896) Biography Clara Schumann née Clara Wieck (1819 – 1896) was a German composer-pianist and wife to Robert Schumann. They formed a beautiful musical business partnership until his untimely death. From an early age Clara's prodigious talent at the piano was esteemed throughout Europe. Her talent at the keyboard attracted fellow composer Robert Schumann, and the pair married in 1840. Clara also shared many years of close friendship with Brahms, who said she inspired all his best melodies. Clara continued to perform throughout her life, championing many works by her husband and Brahms, but her skills as a composer were never fully realized. Balancing her husband's mental instability, the pressures of a solo career, and a family of eight children put pressure on her time, but she still managed to create many important works: her Piano Concerto, Piano Trio and songs set her apart as one of the most talented - if not one of the most overloo...

... and saved thousands of Beluga whales The time a Russian icebreaker played classical music, and saved thousands of Beluga whales.  Picture: Getty By Sian Moore, ClassicFM London   By playing classical music through a loud speaker, the ice-breaking ship Moskva was able to guide 2,000 beluga whales to safety. In 1985, a herd of beluga  whales  found themselves in a life-threatening predicament: they were trapped by a wall of ice and were at risk of suffocating or starving to death as breathing pools began to shrink. Facing a race against the clock, a ship called Moskva – the world’s toughest icebreaker at the time – was called in to help the mammals by breaking through the thick ice. But when the 13,000-tonne vessel reached the whales, they were too frightened by the roar of its engine and deafening propellers to follow it to their freedom. The ship’s crew members were at a loss for what to do, until someone made a wild suggestion... to play  classical music . ...

by Robert Requintina, Manila Bulletin OPM icon Claire dela Fuente passed away due to cardiac arrest this morning, March 30. She was 62. Dela Fuente’s passing was confirmed by composer/producer Jonathan Manalo who is close to the family, according to a report by ABS-CBN. Dela Fuente is the popular singer behind the immortal OPM songs “Sayang,” “Nakaw Na Pag-Ibig,” and “Minsan Minsan” in the 1980s. During an exclusive interview in 2017, Dela Fuente said that she was thrilled to hear her songs on the radio on weekends. “Naririnig ko yan. Proud ako dahil ilang arttist ba ang may ganyan? Kokonti lang talaga kami.” Dela Fuente also said that while her song “Sayang” is very popular, her biggest-selling record is “Minsan Minsan.” “Yung ‘Minsan Minsan’ yun talaga ang nagconfirm sa akin sa stardom bilang sikat na singer,” she said. Dela Fuente was discovered by noted composer George Canseco when she joined a singing contest at the age of 15. “Member ng board of judges si George nun sabi nya gus...

  Nico Dostal (full name: Nikolaus Josef Michael Dostal) (27 November 1895 – 27 October 1981) was an Austrian composer who later specialised in operetta and film music. Dostal was born in Korneuburg, Lower Austria, and was the nephew of composer Hermann Dostal. He initially studied law at the University of Vienna, but turned to studying music at the Academy for Church Music in Klosterneuburg, and made a name for himself when his Great Mass in D major premiered in Linz in 1913. After participating in World War I, Dostal worked as the theatre Kapellmeister in Innsbruck, St. Pölten, Vienna, Chernivtsi and Salzburg, before moving to Berlin in 1924, where he turned his hand to secular music. He worked in music publishing and as a freelance arranger for Oscar Straus, Franz Lehár and Robert Stolz, among others. Whilst working as a Kapellmeister and composer, Dostal wrote the music for the film The Emperor's Waltz (1933) and enjoyed great success with his first operetta Clivia. This was fo...

  ... in his garden. Now, it lives again. Polish wartime composer's music lay hidden in suitcase for years.  Picture: iStock By Maddy Shaw Roberts, ClassicFM London   Until after his death, the score for Polish composer Ludomir Różycki’s forgotten violin concerto lay buried in a suitcase in the garden of his deserted Warsaw home. Amid the countless horrors of the Second World War were policies designed to try to extinguish Poland’s cultural identity, from its thriving music scene to its treasured artworks. During the Nazi occupation, thousands of Polish artists were killed, several historical artefacts were looted, and many musicians and  orchestras  were forced to go underground in the face of a cultural genocide. Ludomir Różycki, a Polish composer, belonged to a group of music-makers who, after the First World War, sought to reinvigorate their country’s music. He found great success with his  ballet   Pan Twardowski,  which became the first ...