The distance of time which separates us from a lot of the music we love can make us forget that the people who wrote and performed it...

One of the most complex and individual geniuses of the early Romantic period was Robert Schumann. Schumann was born in 1810 and died at...

Another “fringe” composer today as we look at the life and work of Bohuslav Martinů. From time to time you’ll hear works by Martinů in...

In this post we’re going to focus on music spanning several centuries which has one thing in common: it was all intended to be heard in...

Today’s post is the second of two in which we’re looking at an aspect of Handel’s music which has caused consternation in the minds of...

I hope that you’ll allow me in this post and the next to share with you one of my abiding passions, related to the music of the composer...

We have another composer focus in today’s post, a composer who is very much “on the fringe” in the general musical firmament, but one who...

I find it fascinating to think of the music (and other events) composers with long lives could have experienced. Today’s composer was...

Being overshadowed by greatness is something that's a part of life in many fields, and music is no exception. In a way, this article is...

I don't need to tell you that in the world of classical music there is an enormous amount of music by an enormous number of composers...

Looking back in 2020: When I made this program in 2006 I was starting to develop an obsession which remains with me to this day. This...

In the third and final instalment in our series surveying American composers, we have a very mixed bunch to look at. Like most art in the...

This is the second in our series of three posts in which we’re looking at American composers. In the first we covered nine composers from...

We live in a time when American culture is the dominant force in the western world; there’s even a McDonald’s in Venice. But it struck me...

In this post we’re going to look at a phenomenon which, although it’s been part of music for centuries, is still regarded as unusual. If...

Today’s post contains some of the most beautiful and moving music I know. It’s the product of the life of a remarkable musician, someone...

Today we focus on a single composer, “a monk and a rogue”. The composer in question is Francis Poulenc. Let’s start by dealing with the...

Paul Wittgenstein was born in Vienna in November 1887, and grew up in a stimulating intellectual environment. His father was the...

Sir Arthur Sullivan is best-known in musical parlance these days as the “S” in “G and S”. His collaborations with WS Gilbert in creating...

I don’t know if your dad was like my dad, but my dad wanted his kids to be sensible about their professional aspirations. My dad took a...