Hans Zimmer: The Lion King Orchestra Suite Context This epic orchestral suite comprised of the music from The Lion King is currently a part of The World of Hans Zimmer – A Symphonic Celebration concert tour. This groundbreaking tour is on its way around the world and is full of Read more…
Gustav Holst: St. Paul’s Suite Context In the earlier days of his career, Gustav Holst (1874-1934) struggled to earn a living as a full-time composer. In 1904, after holding an array of different teaching positions, he was appointed as Musical Director at St Paul’s Girls’ School in Hammersmith. This became Read more…
Johann Sebastian Bach: Zion hört die Wächter singen Context J. S. Bach’s church cantata Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (‘Awake, calls the voice to us’) was composed for the 27th Sunday after Trinity. It’s first performance happened on the 25th November 1731. This work completed Bach’s second annual cycle Read more…
Lili Boulanger: D’un Matin de Printemps Context Born on 21st August 1893 in Paris, Lili Boulanger was considered at a young age as a musical child prodigy. This was perhaps not too surprising for the Boulanger family, with her mother and grandmother being singers, her elder sister Nadia being a Read more…
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade Context When he was a boy, Rimsky-Korsakov’s imagination was hungry for travel. He was confined in his small Russian town until he was a teenager. He received letters from his older brother, Voin, who was in the Far East serving in the Navy and he fell in Read more…
William Walton: Crown Imperial Context Composed between 1936-37 for the coronation of King Edward VIII on 12th May 1937, the Royal event did not turn out quite as expected. Whilst the performance of Walton’s Crown Imperial did happen on this date, the person crowned was not Edward VIII. Edward had Read more…
Ralph Vaughan Williams: The Lark Ascending Context Known now as one of the most beloved 20th Century British composers, Ralph Vaughan Williams’ was focused on creating a distinctive ‘English music sound’. This was certainly achieved by the composer, with many of his works being described as ‘quintessentially British’. A distinctive Read more…
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Sinfonia Concertante in Eb Major Context Following on from the popular Baroque Concerto Grosso form, the Classical period’s successor came in the form of the Sinfonia Concertante. A form that celebrates clear soloistic roles from several soloists, creating thrilling double, triple and even quadruple concertos. Particularly favoured Read more…
Julia Gomelskaya: Memento Vitae Context Julia Gomelskaya was born on March 11, 1964 in Ukraine. She studied composition at the Simpheropol Tchaikovsky Musical College in 1983. Also a talented pianist, Gomelskaya studied under Oleksandr Krasotov. After graduating from the college, Gomelskaya went on to study composition at the Ukraine Odessa National A.V. Nezhdanova Music Read more…
Harry Gregson-Williams: To Aslan’s Camp The Music Although with a short running time of around 3 minutes, ‘To Aslan’s Camp’ is bold, heroic and highly symbolic. The strong trumpet fanfare that opens this track coincides with the group travelling towards the true hero of this tale: Aslan. The use of Read more…