Howard Goodall: The Lord is my Shepherd Known for his choral music and his music for television, English composer Howard Goodall CBE is a household name. After studying music at Christ Church, Oxford, Goodall has since been Read more…
John Adams: The Chairman Dances The Chairman Dances by American composer John Adams is a mezmerising display of programmatic mastery in the post-minimalist movement. Written in 1985, the piece is essentially a by-product of his very Read more…
Arnold Bax: Tintagel By far Arnold Bax’s (1883-1953) most popular work, Tintagel is a symphonic poem that was inspired by Tintagel Castle, which can be found in North Cornwall. Adjacent to the small village of Tintagel, the site Read more…
Rebecca Clarke: Sonata for Viola and Piano Remembered today as one of the finest chamber music composers of the twentieth century, Rebecca Clarke’s (1886-1979) Sonata for Viola and Piano is a staple in viola repertoire. Although her compositional Read more…
Béla Bartók – Concerto for Orchestra Béla Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra is a five-movement piece of orchestral music that was written in 1943. Born in Hungary in 1881, Bartók is another composer who showed potential from a Read more…
Philip Sparke: Year of the Dragon Born and raised in London, Philip Sparke studied composition, trumpet and piano at the Royal College of Music. Known as being one of the leading brass band and wind band Read more…
Arnold Schoenberg: String Quartet No. 2 Born into a lower-middle class Jewish family in Vienna in 1874, Schoenberg was a mostly self-taught composer. He learnt counterpoint with composer and pedagogue, Alexander Von Zemlinsky and was also Read more…
Léo Delibes: Flower Duet Léo Delibes’ three act opera Lakmé is perhaps this French composer’s most well-known work. Composed between 1881-1882, Lakmé is based on Le Mariage de Loti by Pierre Loti, and Les babouches du Brahamane by Théodore Pavie. Flower Duet features in Act 1 Read more…
Arturo Márquez: Danzón No. 2 Commissioned in 1994 by the National Autonomous University of Mexico, Danzón No. 2 is one of the most frequently performed pieces of Mexican contemporary classical music. Based on the Mexican partnered dance, the Read more…
Leoš Janáček: Sinfonietta Born is 1854 in Hukvaldy, Moravia (a large area within the Czech Republic) Janáček was seen as a gifted child within a family that had little means. As a choir boy Janáček Read more…