There was a time not long ago in the classical music world when melody was considered passé. Young composers making their way through academia were encouraged to leave hummable tunes behind in favor ...

For moviegoers of a certain age, there is one musical snippet even more famous than the four opening notes of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony: the deep, bowed strings that announce the arrival of Bruce, ...

Joan Tower's first major orchestral work, Sequoia, from 1981, opens with the boom of a massive gong and a fusillade of deafening cowbells. Like the statuesque redwoods of the title, the music looms ...