Composers William Byrd (1543-1623) and Thomas Tellis were granted a monopoly on music publishing by Queen Elizabeth. This gave them the exclusive right to print any music "either played or sung" in any language. They were also the only people who were allowed to print the ruled paper upon which music is composed.

Mozart's sister, Nannerl, became a piano teacher and often played her brother's music. She was four years older than Wolfgang, but outlived him by forty years.

Dizzy Gillespie’s trademark bent trumpet came about by accident. In 1953, a fellow musician tripped over Dizzy’s horn and the bell ended up at a 45-degree angle. Gillespie liked the sound and used bent horns for the rest of his career.

While he was in college, Robert Schumann had a vision that was sadly prophetic: "The moon was shining on the water. I fell asleep and dreamt that I had drowned in the Rhine." Several years later, he went out for an evening walk and unsuccessfully tried to drown himself in that same river.

The first documented reference to a harpsichord was in 1397.

Composers GF Handel and Johann Matheson were very good friends. They had a big argument once and settled it with a sword fight. Music history could have been changed when Handel was stabbed, but Matheson's sword was stopped by a button on Handel's coat.

GF Handel had a rather unique way of dealing with the singers in his operas. When one of them disagreed with the way he wanted her to sing one of his arias, he held her out a window until she saw it his way.

The first jazz club was founded in Frankfurt, Germany in 1935, during the Nazi regime.

Anselm Hettenbrenner, who was at Beethoven's bedside when he died, said that in his final moments, Beethoven roused himself from his coma to shake an angry fist at the heavens. There was a dramatic clap of thunder and a flash of lightning, and the composer was dead.

Around 1940, John Cage developed what he called the "prepared piano." He put all sorts of different objects on the strings of the piano to change its sound. Some of the things he tried were pie plates, nails, bolts and screws, rubber weatherstripping, and pieces of paper.

Unlike Mozart, who almost never made a correction to his music once he wrote it down, Beethoven often worked on pieces for years, making many changes and corrections.

"Chopsticks" was written as a piano exercise in 1877 by Arthur de Lully. The title was the pen-name of a 16-year-old girl named Euphemia Allen.

People in Mozart's time believed that regular bathing was unhealthy and used perfumes to cover up their body odors. One bath every six months or so was considered to be enough, so the stench in a crowded room must have been overwhelming!

Tchaikovsky was working on The Nutcracker when he came to New York to conduct the opening concert at Carnegie Hall (May 5, 1891).

When Beethoven was 8, his father arranged a concert to show off the boy’s talents. To make his playing even more impressive, Mr. Beethoven advertised that his son was only six.

Johann Nepomuk Maelzel was an inventor. His most famous invention was the metronome. Among his other inventions were a mechanical bugler who played flat and an automatic chess player that always lost.

Until about 1890, women were not allowed to study music theory. They were thought to be incapable of understanding music theory and were not allowed into classes.

Along with his books of exercises for pianists and organists, Hanon composed more serious music for all levels of advancement. His piano exercises are what made him famous, however, and he won a silver medal for them in 1878 at the Exposition Universelle. Editions of the work appeared in the USA and Russia in 1900, and today it is available throughout the world. There are also adaptations available for guitar, accordion, and xylophone!

When a musicians’ strike threatened to cancel a performance of Verdi’s opera “La Traviata” in Rome, Italy in June 1995, the maestro announced that he would play the score himself on the piano. Conductor Riccardo Muti conducted from the keyboard and the singers performed the arias and ensemble pieces. The audience, in turn, gave the performers wild ovations.

A story is told about Beethoven, a man not known for social grace. Because of his deafness, he found conversation difficult and humiliating. When he heard of the death of a friend’s son, Beethoven hurried to the house, overcome with grief. He had no words of comfort to offer, but he saw a piano in the room. For the next half hour he played the piano, pouring out his emotions in the most eloquent way he could. When he finished playing, he left. The friend later remarked that no one else’s visit had meant so much.

Harry S. Truman was America’s first pianist/president. He often played in public, and played on a televised tour of the newly-renovated White House.