Why music stirs our emotions

I can’t remember exactly which list it was, but one of our ‘favourite test tracks’ rundowns recently made me all misty-eyed about Tom Waits’ signature ballad Martha. I instantly made the comparison wi

I’m a scientist by nature and have been since the age of five when my dad bought a set of encyclopaedias that had a section on the stars and planets. From that point on I was hooked by the wonders of

Musical inspiration doesn’t come out of thin air, and behind every hit single there’s some form of creative stimulus. Ingrained since childhood and entwined in our cultural fabric, classical music has

THE PICK OF THIS WEEK’S RADIO

‘T is the season of jump-scares and of things going bump in the night, when you get to watch as much as you dare of your favourite slasher film, as Michael Myers puts on his mask once again in Hallowe

I enjoyed reading Francesco Piemontesi’s Concert Heaven, Concert Hell interview (September) about his ‘best’ and ‘worst’ performance... in the semi-final of the Elisabeth Competition in 2007! In fact,