Julian Johnson is a lecturer in music at the University of Oxford. In his book, Who needs classical music?, he asks why isn’t classical music popular? He doesn’t answer the question, either because he can’t, or no one can, or

To the outsider, the conductor looks as though he holds the oddest position in the orchestra – he may be the focus of the audience’s attention, but the orchestra barely seems to look at him. He turns his back to

In our last article on this topic, we looked at orchestral instruments, but omitted the most versatile of them all, the piano. The piano offers a world of upcycling possibilities and in a number of different media. First, let’s look

Classics, standards — even at times masterpieces — often make classical music’s true devotees raise an eyebrow. “Oh, not again”. How many times have they been performed, at times doubtful and at rarer exceptional. It is quite true that the

My son is a professional chef who has been working in fine dining in London for 6 years. He lived with me during the UK lockdown, and in addition to enjoying his beautiful, inventive and flavoursome cooking, I learnt some

Because my mouthIs wide with laughterAnd my throatIt is deep with songYou do not thinkI suffer afterI have held my painSo long?Because my mouthIs wide with laughterYou do not hearMy inner cry?Because my feetAre gay with dancingYou do not knowI

While I much prefer the term ‘work of genius’ over masterpiece, it looks like we are still stuck with this word stemming from c. 1600 to define, well, a masterpiece. In an exhibition happening now until June 14, 2021, at

You see them huddled on top shelves in antique stores, pinned to the walls in themed bars and restaurants, or piled in mouldy smelling cases at swap meets and antiques fairs. What can be done with these poor abandoned instruments?