Articles

2007 Bamberg Conducting Competition

The 2007 competition is over and the entrants have all gone home, or to wherever they were heading. Prizes have been awarded and new legends are in the process of being created.

This competition, which attracts entrants from all over the world, is held in the Bavarian City of Bamberg and bears the name of one of the 20th Century's famous conductors, although to modern listeners, Gustav Mahler is known as a composer.... More.

Appalachia

It was a performance of Appalachia in 1907 which really caught the imagination of Thomas Beecham who thereafter acquired a reputation as being a great champion of the Yorkshire composer.
Another little known fact was that Delius's music was one of the items on the programme when John Barbirolli gave his first concert with the Halle in Bradford in 1943.... More

Sir Malcolm Arnold.

IN most countries a composer responsible for fifteen concertos, nine symphonies, and over eighty film scores would be a national hero, yet here in Britain Sir Malcolm Arnold was unjustly neglected by the powers that be.

And yet, as the delegates gathered in Manchester for the Labour Party Conference, a short distance from the scene of the Peterloo Massacre, news came through that the composer who wrote a Peterloo overture, Malcolm Arnold, had passed away at the age of 84 following a short illness...More

Ravel's Boléro

"There should be no misunderstanding about this work. It constitutes an experiment in a very special and limited direction, and should not be suspected of aiming at achieving anything different from, or anything more than, it actually does achieve...
... a piece lasting seventeen minutes* and consisting wholly of 'orchestral tissue without music' of one long, very gradual crescendo...More

Enigma Variations

Many people have put forward suggestions regarding the original theme of the Enigma Variations. Here, for what it's worth, is my contribution to the debate. The obvious solution is... More

Elgar's Falstaff

The concert given by the Sheffield Symphony Orchestra on the 11th November 2006 gave a rare opportunity to hear Elgar's last purely orchestral work: Falstaff named after Shakespeare's popular rogue.

This article will look at various aspects of "Falstaff"... More...

Heiligenstadt:

A new work to Sheffield, given earlier in the season by the Hallam Sinfonia... More

Musical Musings

My own viewpoint on some musical matters... More

Re-create holiday memories

These days many people take holiday videos to remind them of what they missed on holiday by peering into the viewfinder. So what Music can also recreate these memories?...More

Transport in Music

The news of the release of music by Honegger of Pacific 231 (Naxos 8555974) reminded me of a conversation I has some time ago with an orchestra manager. The topic had come round to music with a travel theme and top of the list was the Honegger Pacific 231 We were sure that there must be other pieces of a similar ilk and together we came up with quite a little list...More

A past season at the City Hall

My information comes from a collection of programmes in my possession. Most of these were priced at 12p but two family concerts' programmes were priced at 5p.
The collection of over a dozen programmes shows some marked differences with today's issues. On the (white) front is the date and location, the performers and an image of a lion holding a lyre in front of a grid of arrows... More

Wedding Music

Picture the scene. A pretty little village church, the warm sunlight streams through the stained glass windows on to the stone floor.

The pews are full of family members. A select few are wearing buttonholes . At the front of the pews the Best Man fumbles for the umpteenth time to check he has remembered the ring. At his side the groom glances nervously at his watch...More

Jeffrey Biegel

Leonard Bernstein described him as "a splendid musician and a brilliant performer". Certainly he is one of today's exciting names on the American concert circuit... More " **-

Sleeper

Some time ago I was googling Violin Maker and Nottingham (Do the same and you may work out why!) and I was surprised to see, on the second page, a reference to a book called The Rainaldi Quartet by Paul Adam who lives in Sheffield. Those of you well up on Sheffield Orchestras (in particular the Hallam Sinfonia) may have come across a Paul Adam. Just a coincidence, or is there more to it??
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Connoisseur's Choice Concerts

Highlighting a particular concert taking place in Sheffield in the near future which is of special interest.
More details....

Talks

In the past I have given talks on music with topics ranging from Erich Wolfgang Korngold (overview), Erich Wolfgang Korngold (Introduction to the Operas), Sergei Rachmaninov and even a talk with a Halloween theme. Contact me if you know of a group wanting a speaker.