The foundation of meditation is achieving a peaceful state and then remaining in that state. Your attention is focused on rest. Your ever-active thoughts still come to a pause. This state of tranquil stillness, known as Shamata, is that point

In the early morning hours of 28 December 1937, Maurice Ravel lapsed into a coma and died at the age of 62. He had been troubled by persistent health problems for some time, suffering from insomnia, extensive bouts of depression

Music featuring icy climates has always fascinated composers. Many composers are compelled by frozen tundra, the extremes of the poles, and frigid temperatures, and they have used polar backdrops as inspiration. Sergei Prokofiev’s Battle of the Ice from his work

I must admit that I occasionally check my horoscope. Many times, I look upon my daily predictions with a playful suspension of disbelief, but occasionally, it seems to fit really well. I know as a fact that many of my

Now in her 70s, musician Owana Salazar fights hard to keep alive the traditions of her native country. As musicians go, she certainly has an unusual profile – a steel guitarist who is not only an eminent instrumentalist with numerous

English composer Gerald Finzi (1904–1956) wrote to a friend about his love / hate relationship with the year’s end: ‘I love New-Year’s Eve, though I think it’s the saddest thing of the year’ and in his 1926 piece, Nocturne (New

The 1980 documentary From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China provides a fascinating look at China’s cultural and political landscape in the wake of the Cultural Revolution. Isaac Stern’s journey to China not only offered a glimpse into the

These days, with the horrors that are unfolding on every continent, we look for peace. But what, exactly, might we be looking for? Australian composer Malcolm Williamson (1931–2003) moved to London when he was in his 20s and started on