It’s the bane of every beginning pianist – it’s too easy to make it banal and not musical – and it’s probable that the work itself is misunderstood by 99% of the amateurs who attempt it. ‘It’ is Beethoven’s Bagatelle

Wilhelm Müller’s poetic imagination is rooted in a strong sense of proportion, in what has been termed his “architectural sense.” However, none of his poems can be forced into the mold of a rigid system. “Everything develops organically between such

In 2020, Ralph Vaughan Williams’ ‘The Lark Ascending’ topped Classic FM’s Hall of Fame as Britain’s most favourite piece of classical music. And it’s not the first time this piece has topped a poll of listeners – in fact it’s

“The only other pianist” – Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli “Recently I listened to a pianist on the radio who impressed me very much: Sergio Fiorentino, do you know him?” – Vladimir Horowitz It takes a musical genius to be such highly

When I first got interested in classical music, my music teacher told us an interesting story about Beethoven. When the composer had finished his 3rd symphony, he dedicated the work to Napoleon. When Napoleon crowned himself Emperor, however, Beethoven was

200 years ago this month, on 9 April 1821, Charles-Pierre Baudelaire was born in Paris. Roughly thirty years later, his Les Fleurs du mal (The Flowers of Evil) was considered the most important and influential poetry collection published in all

Julian Johnson is a lecturer in music at the University of Oxford. In his book, Who needs classical music?, he asks why isn’t classical music popular? He doesn’t answer the question, either because he can’t, or no one can, or

A conundrum which faces all pianists – professional, student or amateur – is how to make the piano, a percussive instrument whose sounds are created by hammers hitting strings, sing. Legato, the technique for creating a joined-up, singing or “cantabile”