During his first visit to London in 1791-92, the 60-year-old Haydn had already astonished and delighted the London public with such works as the “Surprise” and the “Miracle” symphonies. When the impresario and orchestra director Johann Peter Salomon invited him back a second time, the … Continue reading Haydn – Symphony No. 104 in D major, H 1/104 “The London Symphony”.

Also Sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30 is a tone poem by Richard Strauss, composed in 1896 and inspired by Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophical novel Thus Spoke Zarathustra. The composer conducted its first performance on 27 November 1896 in Frankfurt. The initial fanfare – titled "Sunrise" in the composer's … Continue reading Also Sprach Zarathustra – There Is More To It Than 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Jean Sibelius was born in Hämeenlinna, Finland, on 8th December 1865, the second of three children. His father died when ‘Janne’ was only two. Although the language spoken at home was Swedish, Janne attended Hämeenlinna’s pioneering Finnish-speaking grammar school. Music was encouraged at home, and … Continue reading Sibelius – From Start to Finnish he’s brilliant.

Osvaldo Nicolás Ferraro de los Rios (7 September 1934 – 28 March 1977) better known as Waldo de los Rios was an Argentine composer, conductor and arranger. He was born in Buenos Aires into a musical family. His father worked as a musician and his … Continue reading Waldo De Los Rios – Classics For The 70s.

Another composer I was “introduced to” during Lockdown was Joseph Bologne. Later he became known as "Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges” and his story is really rather interesting. He was born in 1745 in the French West Indies on a plantation on the island of Guadeloupe. … Continue reading Le Chevalier De Saint-Georges: Composer, Fencer, Revolutionary.

Ralph Vaughan Williams (12 October 1872 – 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over sixty years. Strongly influenced by Tudor music and English folk-song, his … Continue reading Ralph Vaughan Williams – So Very English.

Today (8 March 2022) is International Women’s Day and I want to celebrate it by bringing you some exquisite chamber music by two exceptional female composers who are criminally neglected in the concert programming world. Clara Schumann was the wife of the German composer Robert … Continue reading Fanny Mendelssohn and Clara Schumann – Incredible composers who need to be heard more.

Continuing my research into Black-American composers such as Florence Price and William Grant Still (more on him in another article soon), I was delighted to hear a piece on the radio by another Black composer, Robert Nathaniel Dett. I was struck by the beauty of … Continue reading Robert Nathaniel Dett – Another wonderful discovery.

I am always on the look out for more music to listen to and on some days I stumble across pieces that make a real impact. Today was one of those days. Shostakovich wrote 15 String Quartets and the Russian conductor Rudolf Borisovich Barshai arranged … Continue reading Shostakovich String Quartet Transcriptions.

There is SO much music out there to listen to that it is impossible to hear it all and for that reason a lot of people will “go with the flow” and plump for the most popular pieces without looking into some of the other … Continue reading If you like that you may like this.