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The recorder doesn’t have a reputation for being the coolest instrument in the world, but everyone from William Shakespeare to Paul McCartney has turned to it for inspiration.

Michele Debczak
















Discogs

Because no holiday music playlist would be complete without William Hung’s rendition of ... “We Are the Champions.”

Garin Pirnia








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Composers have long pushed the boundaries of classical music by writing parts for new and innovative instruments—but not all of them have ended up a permanent fixture in the orchestra …

Paul Anthony Jones
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Liszt reportedly used his synesthesia to help with his orchestrations, telling the musicians, “O please, gentlemen, a little bluer, if you please!"

Kathleen Elise