A Look At Musical Treasures of Bygone Eras

This edition includes a discussion of the operas of Richard Wagner. It also features an detailed presentation of “The Hard Nut,” which explains how the nutcracker in Tchaikovsky’s ballet became a nutcracker. Also treated are various operas, hymns, and classical music compositions. One article treats musical works inspired by Alexander Pushkin. Another treats the "mighty handful," of whom Mussorgsky, Borodin, and Rimsky Korsakov are the best known. Special works treated are "Pictures at an Exhibition," Handel's "Serse," Mozart's "The Magic Flute," all the symphonic poems of Franz Liszt,Humperdinck's "Hansel and Gretel," Gounod's "Faust," "Ode to Joy," "Carmina Burana" by Carl Orff, "Tantum Ergo" by Thomas Aquinas and Franz Schubert, "Giselle" by Adolphe Adam, a cantata by J.S. Bach. There are biographical articles on Francesco Maria Veracini, Paul Gerhardt, and several Mexican composers. A separate article discusses and translates a Latin hymn attributed to Saint Secundus.