December 2022 – BBC Music Magazine

By Steve Wright

Published: Monday, 31 October 2022 at 12:00 am

In our December issue we celebrate the bicentenary of the birth of César Franck. The Belgian composer’s popularity may have waxed and waned over the decades: but, says Roger Nichols, Franck’s colourful and melodic music is due a reappraisal.

Elsewhere in the magazine, as Thomas Adès’ new ballet The Dante Project is released on Opus Arte, the composer talks to Steph Power about drawing inspiration from both the past and the present. And Rebecca Franks takes a deep dive into the life and work of the composer Hélène de Montgeroult, whose skills at the piano saved her from the guillotine.

We also look at how Hubert Parry’s evergreen hymn Jerusalem has attracted an eclectic array of arrangements, from Elgar to Emerson, Lake and Palmer: and Erik Levi examines how the British establishment shunned many German composers during World War I.

Among our regular features, Jeremy Pound selects the best recordings of Herbert Howells’ Requiem, a work that would go on to become associated with tragic moments in the composer’s life. And our Composer of the Month is Reinhold Glière, whose fondness for the past ran alongside a rare melodic gift.