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

YouTube is full of brilliant performances of all kinds of piano sonatas. A few of those brilliant performances have garnered millions and millions of views. Today, we’re looking at which seven piano sonata videos are the most popular as of

You know how it goes – you’re placed on the sliding gurney, the restrainer is put on top so you don’t wiggle, and you slide into the noisy tunnel. It’s a bit loud to fall asleep, and they want to

The double bass is often thought of as the foundation of the orchestra: deep, resonant, and usually playing a supportive role. In music as in architecture, foundations rarely find themselves in the spotlight. But over the centuries, a handful of

There are times when you just want sound to remove other sounds – most often when you’re in the dentist’s chair, and that high-pitched sound for cleaning your teeth is going to start. It sets your teeth on edge, but

Throughout classical music history, ostensibly professional relationships between teachers and students have sometimes turned romantic. Some of the resulting marriages ended up being loving, long-lasting partnerships built on deep mutual admiration and respect. Others curdled rapidly due to destructive power

In music, the term potpourri refers to a composition constructed from a succession of pre-existing melodies, often drawn from operas, popular songs, or well-known dances. Like its culinary namesake, a fragrant mixture of diverse elements, the musical potpourri brings together