Debussy wrote these two short dances to a commission from the instrument-making firm of Pleyel, which was keen to use famous names in the marketing of its newly-developed chromatic harp. The dances are also

It is almost impossible to tell from listening to them that Bach's extremely popular concerti for harpsichord were probably his own transcriptions of solo concerti which had originally been composed for

Joseph Bodin de Boismortier was highly successful in his lifetime, but many of his more than 100 works are forgotten today. His Duo Sonatas for string or wind instruments, however, continue to enjoy great

Brahms completed his Violin Sonata in d minor op. 108 in 1888. It was the culmination of several years of work, and his final contribution to the genre. This Third Sonata is his only one in a minor key, and

Brahms early on engaged with the violin sonata genre. As early as 1853 he wrote a sonata in a minor, which - like so many other youthful works of this self-critical composer - no longer survives. Thus the

Violinist Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst, a friend of Mendelssohn, was one of the great virtuosi of his age, standing alongside Paganini, Vieuxtemps and Wieniawski. Like them, he left behind a series of

Debussy wrote these two short dances to a commission from the instrument-making firm of Pleyel, which was keen to use famous names in the marketing of its newly-developed chromatic harp. The dances are also

Brahms composed a whole series of chamber music works, including his Second Violin Sonata in A major, during a summer visit to Thun in Switzerland in 1886. This wonderfully lyrical work is one of his most

It is almost impossible to tell from listening to them that Bach's extremely popular concerti for harpsichord were probably his own transcriptions of solo concerti which had originally been composed for

Only a few of Haydn's piano sonatas are in the minor mode, and they are all sombre and defiant in tone. This famous sonata in e minor opens with an impatient, throbbing motif in what is surely one of the

Among the many works that Richard Strauss wrote for his wife Pauline de Ahna, these four songs occupy a special position, for the composer gave these "to my beloved Pauline" as a wedding present on

Like Elgar's Salut d'Amour, these two chansons are among his most popular melodies. The dreamy Chanson de nuit and its cheerful counterpart Chanson de

Liszt's piano rhapsodies are in the same tradition as his transcriptions of opera or song themes, but in this case the point of departure is folk dances and songs. Liszt described no. 2 of his Hungarian

The three volumes of the “Années de pèlerinage” (Years of Pilgrimage) are a core part of Liszt's pianistic output. While the first two collections comprise travel impressions from

This chamber music work, composed in 1907-08, marks a turning point not only in Schönberg's output but also in the history of modern music in general. Major-minor tonality, obligatory for centuries, is