Violist Rebecca Clarke was one of the most talented British composers of the early twentieth century. Although she is best known for her viola sonata, she also wrote a number of other wonderful works. These often blend a late Romantic

I recently listened to a 1974 EMI recording by Aldo Ciccolini, a pianist who had a fascination with neglected repertoire. He championed the piano works by Satie, Rossini, Massenet, De Falla and Déodat de Séverac, a composer completely unknown to

When attending a chamber music concert, most people expect to see violins, cellos, or maybe a grand piano or two. Basses, however, are seen less often. Usually, they’re relegated to orchestra pits or thankless doubled cello lines. Fortunately, some composers

There are two kinds of people in this world. Those who go to physical therapy with the serene optimism of a yoga influencer, and the rest of us, who walk in like we’re approaching a polite and determined interrogation. And

The piano sonata is often a vehicle to express struggle or psychological depth, from heroic battles with fate to intimate expressions of despair. But throughout the history of classical music, many composers have used the sonata to convey something very

Violin concertos have been popular for centuries, but thanks to YouTube, they’ve found a new global audience of millions. From Beethoven to Vivaldi to Paganini, these videos showcase not only the sheer beauty of the violin concerto repertoire but also

Valentine’s Day and the attendant glorification of coupledom can be a rough time for single people. Fortunately for those people, composers have written a number of compelling works about solitude, independence, withdrawal, and self-possession. For listeners spending Valentine’s Day single

I’ve been working with London-based Chinese pianist Siqian Li, whose debut disc is a selection of transcriptions for solo piano of works by, amongst others, Maurice Ravel, George Gershwin and Alexis Weissenberg. The Weissenberg transcriptions, in particular, have really caught