For the masses

The BBC Proms changed the face of classical music when ‘the people’s festival’ was launched in 1895. The perennially popular event features some of the nation’s favourite tunes from composers inspired by the countryside of the British Isles. Here Kitty Corrigan selects her top ten

The appendicitis that led to the postponement of Edward VII’s coronation also scuppered the premiere of Elgar’s Coronation Ode, composed for the same occasion. When it did finally get its first royal

● FINGERS ON BUZZERS ... TIME FOR this ...

By and large, we like to fill the pages of BBC Music Magazine with our enthusiasm for composers and performers alike – it’s a wonderful world out there, teeming with musical talent. However, perhaps w

A narrow suburban road, framed on one side by a row of modestly proportioned terraced houses, and on the other by a railway line where trains trundled regularly to and from West Croydon Station. Puffs

What did he think he was doing? The dazzling keyboard virtuoso Franz Liszt, toast of musical Europe, embarking on first one, then another, energy-sapping concert tour across swathes of Britain in 1840