Brahms's 1881 Piano Concerto No. 2 opens with a lone horn call before unleashing one of the most demanding piano parts ever written. A beginner's guide to its grandeur, tenderness, and quiet defiance.
The 1999 romantic comedy made you laugh, but Trevor Jones' guitar-and-strings score is what made you ache. A beginner's guide to the quiet, tender main theme of Notting Hill.
The 1966 melody that everyone recognizes but few can name. A beginner's guide to Francis Lai's irresistible bossa-nova love theme and why it never lets go.
How a 1968 ballet adagio about two reunited slaves became one of the most heart-stopping melodies ever written—and why it still makes strangers cry.
In 1934, Rachmaninoff turned a devilish violin tune upside down and accidentally created one of the most romantic melodies ever written. The story behind Variation 18 and how to fall in love with it on first listen.
Tucked between Liszt's most ferocious études from 1851 sits Paysage, a quiet F major landscape in sound. Here's why this gentle pastoral matters more than its difficulty suggests.
A gentle, aching cello melody from Brahms's Symphony No. 3 (1883) that has drifted into films and pop songs for over a century. Here's why this three-minute movement never lets go.
John Barry composed his most beloved love theme for a 1980 film that flopped. Discover the story behind Somewhere in Time, its hidden debt to Rachmaninoff, and how to listen to a melody built entirely from longing.
Liszt's Mephisto Waltz No. 1 (1859–62) turns a tavern seduction scene into one of the most diabolically difficult piano pieces ever written. A beginner's guide to the music, the legend behind it, and where to start listening.
Schubert's Symphony No. 8 (1822) breaks off after two movements—and somehow feels complete. A beginner's guide to the most haunting unfinished masterpiece in classical music.