Déjà vu

Déjà vu History just keeps on repeating itself… The death of Queen Elizabeth II on 8 September was followed by silence at the Royal Albert Hall, as the decision was made to cancel the Last Night of the Proms and the Philadelphia Orchestra’s BBC Prom the previous evening too. Though cancellations have been comparatively rare […]

News

Bows wow bow-wows, reveals latest research Research by Queen’s University in Belfast has shown that dogs left at home by themselves show fewer signs of stress if they are treated to, say, a little Haydn to help pass the time. Audio books, in contrast, were shown to have no effect. Or, to put it in […]

Timepiece: This month in history

TIMEPIECE: This month in history Georg Solti rounds off his monumental Ring recording NOVEMBER 1965 Late in the afternoon of 19 November, 1965 – aFriday – the Hungarian conductor Georg Solti steered the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra through the placid concluding measures of Wagner’s Die Walküre, the final downbeat landing at precisely 5.30pm. It was the […]

Rising Stars

Rising Stars Three to look out for… Aileen Sweeney Composer and accordionist Born: Glasgow, UK Career highlight: Writing my first large orchestral piece, Above the Stars, for the London Philharmonic Orchestra. I spent six months on it, so hearing it come together, played amazingly, was very emotional. It was made even more special when it […]

The Listening Service

THE LISTENING SERVICE Sounds of our lives Often dismissed as not ‘real’ music, television theme tunes are in fact succinct snippets of musical magic, capable of capturing a time and mood, says Tom Service They’re the pieces of music, miniature mandalas of memory and meaning, that we’ve all heard as much as any sounds in […]

The month in numbers

The month in numbers 116 … years since last being played in the UK, Holst’s Folk Songs from Somerset and Two Songs Without Words have been performed at Cheltenham’s Pittville Pump Room (above). 3 … more years in Sweden for Barbara Hannigan, whose contract as principal guest conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony is extended until […]

News

Pavarotti earns his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Luciano Pavarotti has become the 2,730th dedicatee of a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Nearly 15 years after his death, the great Italian tenor was honoured at a ceremony in August that was attended by his daughter Cristina and granddaughter Caterina, among others. […]

The full score

The full score Our pick of the month’s news, views and interviews Alan Davey to depart from Radio 3 The controller will step down from his role next March Alan Davey has announced that he is to step down as controller of BBC Radio 3 next March. After eight years in the highprofile post, he […]