It was December 1950: composer Morton Feldman was doodling on a napkin, waiting for John Cage to finish cooking some wild rice. What Feldman had been drawing on this scrap of paper stuck with him and eventually became his landmark

Michael Tippett composed his final opera New Year in the mid-80s, during a time of social unrest in a Britain fearful of multiculturalism and increased ghettoisation of its inner cities. The opera, however, is explicitly about dreams and about the

Peace must exist in a state of calm; peace does not come to the impatient or the restless; it is achieved through serenity. Serenity, which has been defined poetically as the ability ‘to accept the things that cannot be changed’,

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to spend New Year’s Eve with someone special? Well, there is an enchanting song that is all about that spark of curiosity and anticipation. “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?” is the

It’s almost 2025, and I think everybody should welcome the new year with some sparkling champagne; musical champagne that is! Personally, I think there is nothing better for musical bubbly than the New Year’s Concert with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.

The foundation of meditation is achieving a peaceful state and then remaining in that state. Your attention is focused on rest. Your ever-active thoughts still come to a pause. This state of tranquil stillness, known as Shamata, is that point

In the early morning hours of 28 December 1937, Maurice Ravel lapsed into a coma and died at the age of 62. He had been troubled by persistent health problems for some time, suffering from insomnia, extensive bouts of depression

Music featuring icy climates has always fascinated composers. Many composers are compelled by frozen tundra, the extremes of the poles, and frigid temperatures, and they have used polar backdrops as inspiration. Sergei Prokofiev’s Battle of the Ice from his work