Who was Tycho Brahe? Tycho Brahe (1546-1601) was a brilliant Danish astronomer. King Frederick II of Denmark was so impressed with his skilled observations of the stars and planets that he gave him an island called Hven, near Copenhagen where Brahe built an observatory. Unfortunately, Tycho Brahe was reputed to have a most unpleasant character, and was much disliked by the inhabitants of the is-land. It is said that he lost...

Why is Indian music never played by orchestras?   Indian music is played by small groups of musicians. Often there is just a solo instrument and a small drum. The players like to make up the music as they play. If there were many more musicians, the music would have to be written down and the players would not be free to play as they like. For this reason, large orchestras...

What do folk dances mean? Nowadays, we enjoy folk dances as entertainment but many dances once had special meanings. Some dances originated as imitations of animals or of simple kinds of work such as wood-cutting or gathering the harvest,  to mark the passing of the seasons and to please the gods. Other dances reflect times of war or commemorate warriors’ deeds. Sword dances were originally war dances. In the East, dances...

Which instruments are in a symphony orchestra? A symphony orchestra may contain over a hundred instruments, but they are not all different from one another. In fact, there are only four major groups of instruments: the strings, woodwind, brass and percussion. The group to which a particular instrument belongs depends on the way it is played. String instruments have a wooden body and four strings, and they are played by stroking...