Features

Gustav Mahler once famously declared, “the symphony must be like the world, it must embrace everything.” In this introduction to Mahler’s symphonies, trace his lifelong creative path from the exuberant Romanticism of his First Symphony to the haunted music of his last.

André Previn has had an astonishingly diverse and eminently successful career: He has created award-winning scores for Hollywood and Broadway, has performed to rave reviews as both a jazz and a classical pianist, has conducted all over the world, and has composed beautiful and moving music for the concert stage. This season, Carnegie Hall celebrates the 80th birthday of this multi-faceted artist with a number of events that touch upon the remarkable breadth of his art.

Beethoven composed remarkable music in a variety of genres, but his 32 piano sonatas rank alongside his symphonies and string quartets as an extraordinary achievement that transformed an entire genre …

Like his great friend and contemporary György Ligeti, György Kurtág was born in the 1920s into a Hungarian Jewish family living in Romania. Both Györgys began their studies close to home, and both moved after the war to the Liszt Academy in Budapest, where they eventually met …

Born the same year that Henry Ford produced the Model T automobile (1908), Elliott Carter has composed an impressive catalog of ground-breaking works. Now in his second century, he’s writing as much as ever. Learn more about this American treasure, with essays, audio clips, slide shows, and videos.

Listen to a guided audio tour through Messiaen’s transcendent tribute to love—his Turangalîla-symphonie; watch archival footage from Olivier Mille’s, The Crystal Liturgy: A Portrait of Olivier Messiaen; and read an appreciation about the life of Olivier Messiaen.

New and innovative work has long been a part of Carnegie Hall’s fabric—the world premieres of such now-standard works as Dvořák’s “New World” Symphony and Gershwin’s An American in Paris took place at the Hall.

Every season, Carnegie Hall commissions new works from today’s most promising and talented composers; many of these compositions are now available for listening online and for download.

Trace the composition of some of Shostakovich’s influential works in the context of his life and the world around him in our interactive timeline.

Members of the Emerson String Quartet explore Beethoven’s string quartets, discussing his struggles, his deafness, his musical achievements, and his legacy.

Discover the rich musical traditions of Mali—a country that has produced some of Africa’s most famous musicians.

Discover two of the techniques Steve Reich employs that allow him to construct complex sounds out of simple materials in interactive excerpts from his Music for Pieces of Wood.