Tom Turpin (1871-1922) was a composer, saloon-owner, and powerful man in the black community of St. Louis at the turn of the century - even earning the nickname "Father of St. Louis Ragtime." Famously, his piano had to be raised on cement blocks for him to play as he was exceptionally tall and rotund, making his stomach an obstacle to ..read more

William Yeates Hurlestone (1876-1906) was a student of Charles Villiers Stanford, who considered him his finest student - above such luminaries as Vaughan Williams and Holst, who also studied with Stanford. Hurlestone's talent was seen at an early age - his earliest compositions were published at the age of nine! Unfortunately, he suffered from bronchial asthma, ending his first musical ..read more

Composer Riccardo Drigo (1846-1930) was an Italian composer and conductor who spent much of his career working in the opera and ballet theaters of St. Petersburg, though his career began and ended in Padua, Italy in the Veneto region. It is that region that inspires his beautiful work for viola (or cello) & piano (or organ) Serenatina Veneziana all'Antica. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYjiJamc78s ..read more

British composer Maria Hester Park (née Reynolds) was a classical era performer and composer of some renowned, a rarity for the time. Ms. Park performed a number of well received recitals as a pianist before her marriage, at which time she retreated to a life of teaching and composition. We're fortunate to have a number of her works that have ..read more

Thanks to one of our loyal customers, we've discovered the works of Leonhard von Call (also known as Leonhard de Call). A talented guitar and mandolin player, Call became known for his works written for his student ensembles. Today we look at one of those for the unique combination of Flute, Viola, & Guitar, the Sérénade, Op. 66. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k83cB6DGifA Call ..read more

Giselle Galos, a French composer whom we know little of, is someone we've covered works of before on Obscure Music Mondays, but today we look at her La Baie des Anges, a beautiful work for solo piano. Galos, sometimes listed as Galas, was a mysterious figure who little is known about. Her works were generally published as C. Galos, with ..read more

Théodore Akimenko (also known as Feodor, Fedir, and Fyodor) has been featured long ago on Obscure Music Mondays, but we're visiting another work of his, this time the Idylle for Flute & Piano, Op. 14. Akimenko was born in Ukraine, near the currently troubled city of Kharkiv, before studying in St. Petersburg, relocating to Paris, teaching in Prague, and returning ..read more

Helen Hopekirk (1856-1945) was a talented pianist, composer, and teacher born in Scotland, though later became an American citizen after moving to the United States in 1897 to take on a teaching position at the New England Conservatory of Music. She traveled extensively during her career, touring Europe and America as a concert pianist and studying in diverse cities like ..read more

This week we move back much further in time to the 17th Century and a composition by Barbara Strozzi, Che si può fare. This lovely aria is part of a series of Arias, Cantatas, & Sernatas first published in 1664 as her Arie, Op. 8. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1F458aC_FUM Strozzi, born as Barbara Valle, was a self-made force of music in Italy in ..read more

Many of the composers we feature in Obscure Music Mondays come from the Romantic and Modern eras, simply as a result of wider publication of music during those times. Today we move back to a much lesser known composer of the Classical era, Maria Hester Park. Her Piano Sonata in C Major, Op. 7 was first published in 1796 at ..read more