Every person with mental illness experiences it in different ways, with different symptoms of different severities. This deeply personal and subjective experience means that mental illness is famously difficult to diagnose, even with our comparatively advanced medical knowledge. If it’s

Pop star Chappell Roan has adopted a slogan for herself that has become famous: “I’m your favourite artist’s favourite artist!” Who’s the equivalent in the classical music world? Have you ever wondered who your favourite composer’s favourite composer was? Sometimes

Thanks to the precision of his compositional technique, the work of Maurice Ravel has been compared to that of “a Swiss watchmaker.” The descriptor is even more accurate than it seems at first glance. Maurice’s father, Pierre-Joseph, was indeed Swiss,

It has all started again, hurrah! I am, of course, referring to the BBC Proms, officially the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts. It’s one of the world’s most beloved classical music festivals, held every summer for eight weeks, mostly at London’s

Robert Schumann’s Fantasy in C Major, Op. 17, opens with a passionate declaration of what scholars and performers often call the “Clara theme,” a five-note descending scale. But what is this melody, and why does it matter? To understand it, its

Great composers are often placed on pedestals, and it can be easy to forget that they spent their careers working alongside talented composer colleagues. Johannes Brahms was no exception. Today, we’re looking at the lives and music of five of

It’s easy to forget that many famous composers, despite their creative and professional productivity, lived with debilitating chronic illnesses. Sometimes these health issues sprang up after accidents, or were exacerbated by accidents. Today, we’re looking at four great composers whose

Max Steiner, hailed as the “father of film music,” is one of the most influential composers in the history of Hollywood. Over the course of a career that spanned half a century, Steiner crafted some of the most iconic scores