William byrd

Verdi’s dramatic operas are among the most popular, but grief nearly halted his output and the Italian composer and countryman only returned to creativity after finding solace on his farm, reports Henrietta Bredin

JOHN DOWLAND IS MY NAME: musician, composer, greatest lute player of my age in Europe, some say, when in England Elizabeth and James were on the throne. I died in 1626 when I was 63 and was buried on

Cappella Amsterdam; Noord Nederlands Orkest/ Daniel Reuss Pentatone PTC5187489 72:42 mins ‘He always was and still is ahead of everybody.’ The words of Stravinsky’s musical assistant and colleague, Ro

‘We’re going to have a tonal centre and tap our feet, and that’s the way it is.’ Steve Reich is in full flow, talking to me from his home in New York. ‘The big break, the knife down the line, was betw

Grace Williams loved the sea. In later life, BBC television cameras captured one of her daily morning walks in Barry on the coast of Glamorgan – she strides purposefully along, looking out over the Br

‘A, whom you want, signs to play at your concert. He sends B (whom you don’t mind) to the first rehearsal. B, without your knowledge or consent, sends C to the second rehearsal. Not being able to play