Jeremiah Clarke (c. 1674-1st December 1707) was an English baroque composer. Thought to have been born in London in 1674, Clarke was a pupil of John Blow at St Paul's Cathedral. He later became organist at the Chapel Royal. "A violent and hopeless passion for a very beautiful lady of a rank superior to his own" caused him to commit suicide by shooting himself. He was succeeded in his post by William Croft.
Frederick Delius (1862 – 1934) was an English composer whose musical style is characterized by chromaticism, although it is still largely tonal with luscious harmonies - mainly slow moving, with the frequent use of leitmotifs and constantly evolving melody. Orchestral excerpts from his operas, for example La Calinda from Koanga — which originated in the 1880's Florida Suite — and The Walk to the Paradise Garden from A Village Romeo and Juliet, are also reasonably often played and recorded, as are orchestral works such as On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring.
Daniel Barenboim, KBE (born 15 November 1942) is an Argentine-born pianist and conductor. He has served as music director of several major symphonic and operatic orchestras and made numerous recordings. Currently, he is general music director of La Scala in Milan, the Berlin State Opera, and the Staatskapelle Berlin; he previously served as Music Director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestre de Paris.
Arcadi Volodos (Russian: Аркадий Володось, Arcadij Volodos) (born February 24, 1972) is a Russian pianist. His first name is sometimes transliterated Arcady or Arkady. Volodos is renowned for his technical mastery of the instrument's virtuosic repertoire; particularly that of Rachmaninoff, Liszt and his recordings of transcriptions by Vladimir Horowitz.
Born in Leningrad in 1972, he began his musical training studying voice, following the example of his parents, who were singers, and later shifted his emphasis to conducting while a student at the Capilla M.
Joshua Bell is an internationally-acclaimed American violinist known for the versatility of his musical understanding as well as his technical skill. He has performed with many of the world's leading orchestras under such conductors as Charles Dutoit. A master of the classical repertoire, Bell has expanded his career to contemporary music and genres such as folk and jazz. He has won Grammy Awards and an Academy Award for his work with John Corgliano on The Red Violin.
Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin(Александр Николаевич Скрябин) (1872-1915, Moscow) was a Russian composer and pianist. Many of Scriabin's works are written for the piano; the earliest pieces resemble Frédéric Chopin and include music in many forms that Chopin himself employed, such as the etude, the prelude and the mazurka. Later works, however, are strikingly original, employing very unusual harmonies and textures.
Four boys from Hereford in the UK. "sounds like it could soundtrack a million slow-motion funerals in blockbusting American teen romps" - PSR! Magazine.
The Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks) is the "internationally renowned orchestra" of the Bayerischer Rundfunk (Bavarian Radio), based in Munich, Germany. It is one of the three principal orchestras in the city of Munich, along with the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra and the Bavarian State Orchestra. Its primary concert venues are the Philharmonie am Gasteig and the Herkulessaal in the Munich Residenz.
Georg Philipp Telemann (14th March 1681–25th June 1767) was a German Baroque composer, born in Magdeburg. Self-taught in music, he studied law at the University of Leipzig. The most prolific composer of his era, he was a contemporary of Johann Sebastian Bach and a life-long friend of Georg Friedrich Händel. While in the present day Bach is generally thought of as the greater composer, Telemann was more widely renowned for his musical abilities during his lifetime.
Born in Hanau in 1895, Paul Hindemith was taught the violin as a child. He entered the Hoch'sche Konservatorium in Frankfurt am Main where he studied conducting, composition and violin under Arnold Mendelssohn and Bernhard Sekles, supporting himself by playing in dance bands and musical-comedy outfits. He led the Frankfurt Opera orchestra from 1915 to 1923 and played in the Rebner string quartet in 1921 in which he played second violin, and later the viola. In 1929 he founded the Amar Quartet, playing viola, and extensively toured Europe.