2. While being enrolled at the Conservatoire in Moscow, both Tchaikovsky and Saint Saens used to have fun imitating ballet dancers. It was hilarious to them, but scandalous to other students and teachers, who could not accept that two future musicians could find pleasure in such a futile waste of time. 3. Did you know that the London Symphony Orchestra was due to travel on the ill-fated Titanic? Fortunatelly they changed the day of their leaving, at first much to the fury of some of it's members. And so they saved their lives.
4. Beethoven is famous especially for his nine symphonies, the last one being by far the most popular one. Considered to be one of the most important composers in music history, he was also a character of his time, highly original and strongly believing in his talent and work. For example he (most of the time) refused to listen to the works of the composers of his era, for fear that they might influence his works.
5. George Frideric Handel wrote some of his most important compositions for kings. In 1717 he presented "Water Music" to King George I of England, and his Royal Highness loved it so much that he reportedly asked the orchestra to play it three times from start to finish. Another "royal" composition had somewhat of a not so lucky fate. In 1749 King George II of England was presented with the "Fireworks Suite". The performance went splendidly, but the whole wooden structure which was supposed to launch the fireworks collapsed and caught fire, making it all somewhat of a failure.
6. Alexander Glazunov enjoyed an early success as a composer, far beyond what many of his coleagues could have hoped for, yet for a long time he simply refused to leave his home. He would live with his mother well into his 40s, a strange choice by any means.
7. He had a short life, yet Mozart managed to write about 600 pieces of music, and about 40 of these were symphonies.
Photo: wikipedia.org
