We’ve been looking at how the decisive battle of Waterloo in June 1815 was the inspiration for many composers. Beethoven’s program work Weillington’s Victory is probably the one work that still remains in the repertoire, albeit more as an embarrassment

The death of the bass-baritone John Shirley-Quirk in April 2014 and the story in Times obituary about the problems caused by his name got us to think of other mistaken performers and composers. The New York Times obit gave us

The South London Concert Series is a unique concert concept, created and curated by myself and harpsichordist and fellow piano teacher Lorraine Liyanage. Launched in November 2013, the series offers talented amateur pianists the opportunity to perform alongside young and

It’s difficult, 200 hundred years later, to imagine how much Europe was frightened by Napoleon’s return to power in March 1815. Before being sent to exile in Elba, Napoleon’s army had conquered most of Europe, creating an Empire that stretched

We’ve already looked at violin body design – now let’s look at the other end of the instrument and take a look at a part of a string instrument you’ve probably seen, but never really looked at: the far end

With his widely recognised achievements as a pianist, composer and conductor, Brahms had succeeded in amassing a considerable fortune: 4000.000 marks from his compositions, earnings wisely invested by his publisher. It was also due to a frugal life: he dined

We all know what a violin looks like – a beautiful instrument with a warm wood body and an elegant black fingerboard, finished off with a perfect wooden scroll. Ah, but that’s so last century. The modern violin can be

We had already talked about the young Johannes’ performances around the city in the last sharing. As a handsome and energetic youth, he was already composing his first piano concerto (after a short stint as an arranger for opera-potpourris).