London calling

Some years ago, Colin Matthews – a lifelong Londoner – bought himself a composing retreat on the Somerset/ Dorset borders and half-seriously confessed to fears that the view of cows from his windows ‘

A scholarly investigation lasting more than 30 years has resulted in two organ pieces by JS Bach enjoying their first performances in over three centuries. In November, the renowned organist and condu

There’s a trepidatious growl from the contra-bassoon. Soon, it is joined by French horns, strings and timpani; the sound rumbles, snowballs – and then: abrupt silence. The piano sings into the stillne

After the premiere of his orchestral piece Coptic Light in 1986, Morton Feldman was described by an irate American critic as ‘the most boring composer in the history of music’. Listeners coming to his

When the first pianos made it to India around the 18th century, during the heyday of the East India Company, their usage was confined to British colonisers and a small minority of aristocratic Indians

Theatres offered something for everyone in the 19th century, presenting recitals and opera, Shakespearean plays, or lively mixed programmes of comedy, song and dance that attracted enthusiastic – and