Our image of the Renaissance lutenist is of the musician bending over his lute, generally surrounded by his music books. But we know from contemporary sources, that 15th-century lutenists made their art in company. The Ferrarese virtuoso lutenist Pietrobono (c.

In 2001, the first of English composer Peter Maxwell Davies’ Naxos Quartets was completed. A set of ten quartets had been commissioned by Naxos Records and he took the opportunity to examine the string quartet as a whole and to

Parisian composer and virtuoso pianist Charles-Valentin Alkan (1813-1888) wrote some of the most fiendishly difficult piano music of his time. He entered the Paris Conservatoire at age six and had a long public career. After 1848, however, he became quite

The violin virtuosos of the 19th century were the rock stars of their day – they commanded the audiences, their latest appearances were awaited on with bated breath, and their wild playing inspired their audiences to awe. A modern virtuoso

Composer Aaron Jay Kernis (b. 1960) is a rare winner of both the Pulitzer Prize (for his 1997 string quartet Musica Instrumentalis) and Grammy Awards for contemporary classical composition and classical instrumental solo (for his 2019 Violin Concerto). Originally written

We regard the violin as the captive of the orchestra: the source of the brilliant melodies, the bright sparkle in the air, and the leader of the rest. Yet, as a solo instrument, in the hands of the right player,

The late 20th century and early 21st century were times of upheaval – whole populations on the move to escape war, to escape famine, to escape persecution, to just escape from the crumbled world that surrounded them. For the more

After a long hard winter there’s nothing like the gentle arrival of spring and after a wet spring, we welcome summer with relief. In the 13th century, a lovely rota, or round, was written that celebrated the summer’s arrival, ‘Sumer