Features
News, articles and features from the world of classical music
Les Six: the revolutionary French composers who rejected Romanticism and found brand new soundworlds
Post-war France saw the old order booted aside in an attempt to restore morale to a bruised nation. Roger Nichols reveals how, more than 100 years ago, a group of young composers ushered in a bright new dawn
The fugue: a guide to one of classical music's most dazzling effects
Stephen Johnson unpacks the fugue, one of classical music's most sophisticated and often awesome musical effects
Parsifal: a guide to Wagner's most grippingly transcendent experience
We tell the story of Wagner's last opera Parsifal, based on a 13th-century epic poem about an Arthurian knight on a quest for the Holy Grail
'Don't let your inner monologue get in the way': Why nervousness and stage fright are all in the mind
British/Iranian pianist Arsha Kaviani says that when musicians becomes nervous, they're making the performance too much about themselves
Leoš Janáček: five of his most sinister works
The great late Romantic composer Leoš Janáček had a fascination for the darker recesses of human experience. Here are five of his most sinister works
What's new?
Everything you need to know about the music for Gladiator II
It’s one of the most anticipated films of the year, but what can you expect from the music in Ridley Scott’s sequel to Gladiator? Here’s everything we know so far…
Famous black composers: 11 great names and their impact on the story of classical music
A short guide to some of the greatest black composers from history, from Chevalier de Saint-Georges via Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and Florence Price to Jessie Montgomery
Best wedding music: the ultimate classical music choices for your wedding ceremony
Whether you're getting married in a church or a registry office, everyone needs music. Here are some of the best bridal choruses and pieces of music to be played on the organ or during your ceremony or service
Were Bach, Vivaldi and Rossini the real pioneers of disco?
Forget New York’s Studio 54 in the 1970s. For the heart of the disco revolution, head back to Bach, Handel and Rossini in the 18th and 19th centuries, says Tom Service
Vivaldi Four Seasons: five of the greatest recordings of all time (and, just for fun, three wild cards)
These four revolutionary violin concertos remain Vivaldi's most-loved works. Lucy Chaudhuri rounds up the best recordings of The Four Seasons to date, and adds in three wild cards for good measure
Artists
'I was in a cold sweat for 28 minutes' – trumpeter Alison Balsom on her best and worst concert performances
Leading British trumpeter Alison Balsom remembers the best and worst performances of her career - including having to play in a different key!
Roomful of Teeth to Eighth Blackbird: 15 brilliantly bizarre music group names (spot 'em all below...)
The Revolutionary Drawing Room, anyone? Jeremy Pound explores some of classical music's strangest ensemble names and explores their origin stories
'I can do nothing but think of you...' Music's great romantic couples
We celebrate love by getting intimate with some of the Romantic era's most famous lovebirds
Composers
Jewish composers suppressed by the Nazis: seven great voices we're starting to hear again
The Nazis destroyed the lives and reputations of many Jewish composers, but decades on, their music is still awaiting rediscovery, says Jessica Duchen
Judith Bingham: British composer and mezzo-soprano whose music explores spiritual, historical, and environmental themes
Meet the composer 'always chasing the chimaera of the perfect piece and never capturing it'
George Gershwin: he forged a new musical language for 20th-century America
Whether it's Broadway songs or jazz-influenced pieces for the concert hall, George Gershwin is regarded as one of the greatest melodists of the 20th century
Instruments
What instrument should I learn? Here are five key questions to ask yourself before you commit
We've all heard the benefits of learning an instrument – but sometimes the choice can be overwhelming. Decide which instrument you or your child should learn with our handy guide
How do you choose the right music teacher for you? Follow these seven simple steps...
You've decided you want to learn a musical instrument, but what's next? You need a music teacher! Consult our guide for how to find a music teacher – and what you should be looking for
Hate music practice? How you can learn to love your instrument again in 100 days
Amateur violinist Ariane Todes reveals how, after losing the will to practise during the pandemic,
she was inspired by Hilary Hahn on social media
to reconnect with her beloved four-stringed friend
Jazz
The 25 best jazz saxophonists of all time, ranked - and the albums you need to add to your library now
Who is the best jazz saxophonist of all time? From John Coltrane to John Dankworth, we've had a go at ranking the top 25 - and we've recommended an essential album from each
From jazz to classical: five surprising classical albums from jazz greats
Six of the Best Jazz Film Cameos
Whether it’s breaking the tension of a thriller or adding sparkle to a musical, jazz musicians have a history of making scene-stealing cameos on the silver screen. Neil McKim explores six of the greatest
Musical terms
Chamber music: a quick guide. Plus, six wonderful chamber works to get you started
What defines a piece of music as 'chamber music' - and where should you start your chamber music journey?
Time signature: what is it and why is it so crucial in music?
Stephen Johnson gets to grips with classical music's technical terms. This time: the all-important time signature
What is a symphony? | What is a symphony? All you ever wanted to know about one of classical music's most enduring forms
Haydn wrote more than 100. Brahms wrote four, all amazing. Mahler put the whole world into his. All you need to know about the symphony
Recordings
Appalachian Spring: Aaron Copland's masterful evocation of America's wide open spaces
The 1940s ballet Appalachian Spring has become one of Copland’s most popular works. And its true American spirit has inspired many great recordings, finds Anthony Burton
Ludovico Einaudi, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Max Richter: 18 definitive ambient classical albums you should hear
The best post-classical albums and modern masterpieces to inspire and move you
Bruckner's Fifth Symphony: a work almost destroyed by well-meaning but misguided acolytes
Devout yet unconventional, Bruckner’s Fifth has long been misjudged, says Terry Williams, who finds which recordings reveal its greatness
Science of Music
How to avoid burnout - advice for musicians, and those in any stressful job
Today’s top young performers offer sage advice to their peers...
Sonification: electromagnetic 'music' that can help us understand the secrets of the universe
Sonification allows us to listen to the sounds of the universe – and this wondrous music produces insights beyond our visual awareness, says Tom Service
Earworms explained: annoyingly repetitive musical snippets that the brain just can’t banish
What are earworms? Are they common and how do I get rid of them? Read on to discover more about this annoying musical phenomenon...
TV and Film music
How Bradley Cooper's brilliant Bernstein biopic made the composer's children cry
Conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Jamie Bernstein discuss how Bradley Cooper embodied the late great conductor Leonard Bernstein in appearance, movement and, of course, conducting...
'My life with Sinatra, Marilyn and Doris Day': Leonard Slatkin on growing up on a Hollywood soundstage
As he marks his 80th birthday, conductor Leonard Slatkin shares his lifelong connection to the music of Hollywood
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice - a guide to the soundtrack
Tim Burton’s hotly anticipated follow-up to his brilliantly bonkers 1988 comedy features a brand new score by composer Danny Elfman. Here’s our guide to the music of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice…
Works
Best of Handel: six essential works by the Baroque master drama, exuberance and grandeur
We name the best pieces by Handel, the Baroque master of opera and oratorio
'Two hours of leaden dross': the biggest stage musical flops of all time
At best they're joyous, but when musicals fail, they fail spectacularly, writes Richard Morrison
Best of Brahms: 15 extraordinary works by the great German Romantic composer
What are the best pieces of music by the great, late Romantic composer Johannes Brahms?