Classical Music

Russian physicist and engineer Lev Sergeyevich Termen—who later came to be widely known as Léon Theremin—invented his namesake instrument around 1920. Here, he's pictured in 1928.

The Soviet Spy Who Invented the First Major Electronic Instrument

Created by a Russian engineer, the theremin has delighted and confounded audiences since 1920

This 2016 image shows one of the instruments included in Amnon Weinstein's Violins of Hope collection, which features pre-World War II violins once owned by Jewish musicians and music lovers.

Pandemic Temporarily Silences Violins That Survived the Holocaust

Organizers found ways to make the instruments' voices heard after the cancellation of planned concerts in California

Following the Monday performance, the Barcelona opera house donated its 2,292 houseplants to local health care workers.

Audience of Plants Roots for Barcelona Opera House on Opening Night

The leafy crowd enjoyed a string quartet's performance of Puccini's "Crisantemi"

Debate over Beethoven's race sparked once again on Twitter last week. He is depicted here in a portrait by August Klober from 1818.

Was Beethoven Black? Probably Not, but These Unsung Composers Were

A music scholar examines the history of the decades-old theory, and what its permanence tells us about who is considered 'canon' in classical music

General view of the audience and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra

After Closure, the Met Opera Offers Free Streaming of Past Performances

Each night, the institution will post an encore showing of an opera from its "Met Live in HD" series

A Beethoven monument stands in Vienna's Beethovenplatz.

Following Beethoven’s Footsteps Through Vienna

For the composer’s 250th birthday, visit the apartments where he lived, the theaters where he worked and his final resting place

A Veronese official commissioned the portrait while hosting the young musician and his father during their stay in the city.

Rare Portrait of Teenage Mozart Heads to Auction

"This charming likeness of him is my solace," wrote Pietro Lugiati, the Italian nobleman who commissioned the artwork, in a letter to Mozart’s mother

Nina Simone's childhood home in Tryon, North Carolina

Nina Simone’s Childhood Home Is Under Threat. This Campaign Aims to Save It

The National Trust is hoping to preserve the North Carolina house where Simone first learned to play piano

Scientists Played Music to Cheese as It Aged. Hip-Hop Produced the Funkiest Flavor

Researchers played nonstop loops of Led Zeppelin, A Tribe Called Quest and Mozart to cheese wheels to find out how sound waves impacted flavor

This year marks the 333rd anniversary of J.S. Bach's birth

Are Classical Music Performances Speeding Up?

For Johann Sebastian Bach's 333rd birthday, a team looked at recordings of the composer's work over the last 50 years

Recordings are available via Soundcloud and the Google Arts & Culture platform

How to Hear the Met’s Historic Instruments' Singular Sounds

New audio recordings by the museum feature roughly 40 instruments, from Ming dynasty lute to the world’s oldest surviving piano

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Dazzle Your Senses in Thuringia

Situated in the heart of Germany, the state of Thuringia is home to more than one thousand years of history.

A typical day for three musicians in the Medici Court. This portrait, of three unnamed musicians, was painted circa 1687.

Three Things to Know About Francesca Caccini, the Renaissance Musical Genius You’ve Never Heard Of

The first female opera composer, Caccini worked for the super-rich-and-powerful Medici family

Got Writer's Block? Try Listening to Happy Music

A new study suggests that an upbeat tune can boost creativity

A page from Holst's lost "Folk Songs From Somerset"

Lost Manuscripts From Composer of “The Planets” Found in New Zealand

No one is sure how the handwritten scores by Gustav Holst ended up in the archives of the Bay of Plenty Symphonia

A portrait of Fanny Mendelssohn, by her husband Wilhelm Hensel.

Sonata by Fanny Mendelssohn, Mistakenly Attributed to Her Brother, Premieres Under Her Name

The Royal College of London performed the Easter Sonata in honor of International Women's Day

Abstract artist Wassily Kandinsky, who may have been a synesthete, once said: "Color is the key. The eye is the hammer. The soul is the piano with its many chords. The artist is the hand that, by touching this or that key, sets the soul vibrating automatically."

Feel the Music—Literally—With Some Help From New Synesthesia Research

How one artist created a show inspired by the neurological experience of synesthesia

This Strad's wood is different from modern-day maple.

Mineral Baths May Have Given Stradivari Their Signature Sound

Turns out the famous violins really are different from modern instruments

How Mozart Outsold Beyonce in CD Sales in 2016

A massive new box set catpulted the classical superstar to the top of the charts

You, Too, Could Own a Copy of the Voyager Golden Record

Ozma records is producing a box set of the album sent into the cosmos to reach out to potential extraterrestrial life

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