The most common form of popular music in India is film music – songs from the movies, and Sperry has not shied away from adapting this form for choirs. Popular Music in Choral Format As mentioned in Part I of
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On the most basic level, we practice to get better, to become proficient, to ensure we never play a wrong note. However, productive practising should never just be mindless “note bashing”. As pianist and renowned teacher Seymour Bernstein says in
In late September or early October 1828—two months before his death—Franz Schubert completed his C-major string quintet. He passed the work to his Leipzig publisher Heinrich Albert Probst on 2 October 1828, writing in the accompanying letter, “Among other things,
Towards the end of his life, Gabriel Fauré struggled with increasing frailty and deafness. In fact, sounds had become seriously distorted, with high and low notes “sounding painfully out of tune.” When Prince Albert I of Monaco approached Fauré in
The Planets, a set of seven self-contained orchestral “mood pictures” portraying Earth’s neighbors in the solar system, propelled Gustav Holst to international prominence. However, this sudden fame came with a hefty price tag. Holst had always wanted to be just
The first Birmingham International Piano Chamber Music Festival takes place next week, 20th – 23rd November, at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. The result of months of planning, incorporating a competition for young chamber ensembles, this promises to be one of
“One reason I love performing non-Western music is because I don’t find non-Western ideas in the music. I find basic human emotions and experiences that I have, I share, and I understand.” That outlook helps Ethan Sperry take on the