Places and landscapes, both real and imagined, are a rich source of inspiration for composers, resulting in atmospheric and evocative music, some of which was actually written while the composers were travelling or on holiday… Take a short tour with

During the winter, the beach is a lonely wind-swept place. The sea shore piles up with the detritus of the waves: old shells and ragged seaweed. A beach along England’s Jurassic Coast, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was used as

Sergei Rachmaninoff was born in 1873 in Russia. He became one of the greatest pianists of his generation, as well as one of the most famous composers. Here are a few facts about Rachmaninoff’s life and music: Rachmaninoff’s music is

A barque is a three-masted sailing ship in its original definition, but by the end of the 19th century, it had become downgraded to refer to a small boat or even a rowing boat for inland waters. The idea of

When we think of bubbles, we think of floating air or just the utter joy of watching them catch the sunlight and turn to rainbow colours. In the driest definition, it’s ‘a thin sphere of liquid enclosing a gas’. Mostly.

Dmitri Shostakovich was born in 1906 in St. Petersburg, Russia. He was an extraordinary talent who spent his entire creative life interacting with the Soviet regime, and his dark soulful works are favorites in the classical music world. Here are

Water, in its warm form, is the summer symbol (water in its cold form, i.e., ice and snow, is another matter). We start on the water’s edge as it laps around our feet, cooling us and inviting us deeper. In

Sergei Prokofiev was born on 23 April 1891 in Sontsivka, present-day Ukraine. He became one of the famous rebellious enfant terribles of twentieth-century Russian music. Here are a few facts about his life and career: Prokofiev’s music blended steely modernism