Obscure Music Mondays

Erkki Melartin (Feb. 7, 1875 - Feb. 14, 1937) was a Finnish composer, conductor, and teacher. He studied in Helsinki fro 1893 to 1899 with Martin Wegelius, and with Robert Fuchs, in Vienna, from 1899 to 1901. Continue reading →

Sergei Prokofiev (April 23, 1891 - March 5, 1953) was a Russian and Soviet pianist, composer, and conductor.  A graduate of the St. Petersburg Conservatory, Prokofiev is undoubtedly one of the most well known composers of the 20th century, and many of his works are staples in the repertoire, from his concertos for violin, cello, and piano,  seven symphonies, and to his...

Vincent d'Indy (March 27, 1851 - Dec. 2, 1931) was a French composer and teacher born in to an aristocratic family. He took piano lessons from his grandmother at a young age, and studied harmony at 14 from Albert Lavignac. He enlisted in the National Guard during the Franco-Prussian War when he was 19, but came back to music as...

Clara Schumann (Sept. 13, 1819 - May 20, 1896) was a German composer and pianist, born to musical parents in Leipzig. Her father was well-known throughout Leipzig, where he sold and repaired pianos, and gave piano lessons. She took lessons from him, and he also made sure she was educated in music theory, counterpoint, harmony, and composition. She had her first recital...

Reinhold Moritzevich Glière (Jan. 11, 1875 - June 23, 1956) was a Russian/Soviet composer and violinist born in Kiev, of German-Polish descent. Son of a wind instrument maker, Glière showed talent as a child, and entered the Kiev School of Music in 1891, studying the violin. In 1894 he entered the Moscow Conservatory, and graduated in 1900, after composing a one act opera entitled "Earth and Heaven", and winning a gold medal for it. Glière would later go on to teach in many conservatories, including those of Kiev and Moscow. Continue reading →

Toivo Ilmari Hannikainen (Oct. 19, 1892 - July 25, 1955) was a Finnish composer, born in to a musical family. His father Pekka Junani Hannikainen was a composer, as was his  brother Väinö Hannikainen. His brother Tauno Hannikainen was a conductor. Ilmari studied music at the University of Helsinki, and went on to study in Vienna, St. Petersburg, and Paris. He taught piano at the Helsinki Conservatory, and was later a professor at the Sibelius Academy.  Continue reading →

Alexander von Zemlinsky (Oct. 14, 1871 - March 15, 1942) was born in Vienna, Austria, and played the piano from a young age. Admitted to the Vienna Conservatory in 1884, and won the school's piano prize in 1890. He began writing in1892, when he started studying theory with Robert Fuchs, and composition with Johann Nepomuk Fuchs and Anton Bruckner. Continue reading →

Amanda Maier (February 19, 1853 - July 15, 1894) was born in the Swedish town of Landskrona, and was quite an accomplished violinist, cellist, organist, and composer. Her initial studies in piano and violin were with her father, and later studied at the Royal School of Music at Stockholm, and was their first female music graduate.  While she was there, she won...

Charles Ignatius Sancho (c. 1729 - Dec. 14, 1780) was a composer, writer, and actor born on a slave ship in the Middle Passage. Not long after he was born, his mother passed away, and his father took his own life rather than live as an enslaved person. Sancho's owner took him to England when he was two years old...

Giselle Galos (commonly known as C. Galos) was an obscure 19th century pianist and composer, born in France.  Very little is known about her; she didn't perform in public, and mainly published her works under the name "C. Galos" and no one knew if they were a woman or man. Some earlier works were found however, with the name "Madmoiselle Giselle...