I’m hoping to go to a concert soon featuring pieces by Tchaikovsky and Rimsky-Korsakov – two of my long-time favourite composers – and the other piece listed on the programme was Josef Suk’s Scherzo Fantastico. Whose’s What? I thought I could endure whatever it was, even if I – quite probably – didn’t much like it (I’m… Read More Josef Suk’s Scherzo Fantastico
This is a question any true Classical-music lover has to ask, confronted by the barrage of plastic-y noise that emanates from the world around them. I’m not saying I never like or listen to plastic-y pop music, or similar-sounding Christian worship songs; occasionally I do. But it’s like fast-food, or the fast-food-esque novels I talked… Read More Where has the good music gone?
Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 is one of my favourite pieces of music. I am aware that this is deeply ironic as this piece was a trailblazer for what I see as so many questionable developments in western religious music. The Vespers encapsulate the instrumentalisation, theatricalisation, and harmonic-overcomplication that was sweeping through Baroque Europe, along with… Read More Monteverdi Vespers – Oxford Early Music Festival Concert: A Review
To celebrate the 80th anniversary of Penguin Books, Penguin has released 80 Little Black Classics, each priced at 80p. They are mostly less well-known pieces by famous figures. Besides the serious danger of Penguin bankrupting me (I am trying, oh so hard, not to buy too many!), it is a brilliant idea. They are short,… Read More Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: My Dearest Father. A Review.
