Work type: Symphony

Beethoven scholars provide evidence that the gestation period of the D minor Symphony was a long one, dating back at least to 1799. Notes in the composer’s sketchbooks refer to the poem “Ode to Joy” by the German poet and dramatist Friedrich von Schiller (1759-1805). In 1817 the newly-inaugurated Philharmonic Society of London invited Beethoven … Read more

Borodin was a highly respected professor of chemistry at the Imperial Medical-Surgical Academy in St Petersburg, then the Russian capital. We know him better as a Russian romantic composer. He had received piano lessons as a boy but only began taking composition lessons at the age of 29. His composition teacher was Mily Balakirev, with … Read more