Rhythm begins in the womb with the heartbeats of the mother and the child. The synchronisation of the heartbeats of a mother and her foetus does actually occur at times, this shows us how important that rhythm is to us

The first image we have of Beethoven after his death is his death mask. It was common to take a death mask of famous people, either to serve as a memory or as a basis for portraits. The method was

“I always sang. Both my father (Edwin) and his sister, Muriel were gifted singers, but Edwin was streets ahead because he was also a brilliant pianist and, from my very youngest years, I had the pleasure and honour of listening

Conductor Xian Zhang has perhaps had a more difficult road than many conductors. She was born in Dandong, China, in 1973 just after the Cultural Revolution during which western music was forbidden. Named Xian, which means ‘string’—of a stringed instrument—her

The ancient Greeks used Ekphrasis as a method for training students to describe a visual object. Ekphrasis is a verbal or written description of a visual object. Down through history it has been used by artists to relate to other

One of the things that we are often unaware of is how much our first hearing of a work can influence our thoughts on that work. I don’t think I really paid attention to the music around me unless I

Why are there so many words when it comes to music? And in so many languages, like Italian, German, French, and even English! Often, one has to decipher obscure words to read the score and the musical directions, which include

I have observed a bipolarity in my musical self that reflects through my two main musical activities; improvising and composing. Both completing each other — not through their similarities towards a creative goal but rather through their differences of qualities