Written for the Leeds Festival and given its premiere on 6 October 1898, the Te Deum by Charles Villiers Stanford (1852–1924) brought opera to the English choral tradition. Written to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the accession to the throne

American pianist Bruce Leto, Jr., took inspiration from his teacher at Haverford College, Curtis Cacioppo in creating his first album, Mood Poems. In working with Cacioppo, Leto says he was able to not only improve his musicality but also how

Mamoru Fujisawa (b. 1950), known professionally as Joe Hisaishi, is best known for his film work, having composed the scores for most of the animations created by Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli, including Laputa: Castle in the Sky (1986), My

The song cycle Winterreise starts in the worst possible way, with our disappointed lover hanging around town heartbroken after he’s been given his congé. Dismissed, he wanders around the village, saying farewell to the beloved places that had been so

British composer Kenneth Jones (1924–2020) is celebrated in a new release from Lyrita Records. Jones’ Chamber Music, as performed by soloists from the London Mozart Players, brings together his first award-winning works from 1950 to his 1980 work, Quinquifid, for

The combination of one of the largest musical instruments and one of the smallest musical instruments shouldn’t work. The former, the organ, which is large enough in most institutions to require its own building, and the latter, the recorder, which

In a new recording coming from Nimbus, South African violinist Zoë Beyers, with the English Symphony Orchestra, takes on English composer Steve Elcock (b. 1957) and his 2006 Violin Concerto. Elcock is quite a discovery. Self-trained as a composer, he

The idea of a recital – a single performer on their own stage, showing the best of themselves – is an old idea. Some Romantic performers, such as Liszt and Paganini, were best known through their recitals. The opportunity to