hank Archive

The Hammerklavier Sonata, written in 1818, was one of two Sonatas that Beethoven titled “Große Sonate für das Hammerklavier” to indicate that these works were for piano (“hammerklavier” in German), not harpsichord. It was this …

This concerto, composed in 1777, was Mozart’s first fully mature piano concerto.  In its size, its significant technical demands, and its depth of expression, it is alone among his early concertos. It contains unprecedented experiments …

Fauré’s First Piano Quartet opens with the three string instruments announcing the first surging theme against the piano’s syncopated underpinnings. A sense of nervous edginess pervades much of this sonata-form movement, although the second theme—offered …

Today’s post is special for many of you. for some, it will be too long, because it features the entire Operetta, “Die Fledermaus” by Johann Strauss II. The conductor is the greatest conductor of the …

Composer Richard Strauss was a mediocre pianist. He knew how to write dazzling music that took the instruments of the orchestra to new heights, but when it came to the piano, he struggled. The instrument …