Category: music

It will take longer for the work of women composers to establish itself in the repertory, but the sheer amount and rich variety of creativity now underway is inspiring.

In pie charts, you can see what musicians playing various instruments are thinking as they play.

The world needs more one-on-one interaction among people of diverse origins with a greater emphasis on art, culture and education. Our differences are what we have in common.”

“‘This brave hero who had the courage to scale back vibrato’ is a weird thing to think, much less type. But in the context of 1950s classical music, historically informed practice landed like a pink wig and a Sex Pistols t-shirt. … No kidding – this stuff is still controversial today.”

“It’s a simple fact that nowadays, in the Sondheim era, Broadway composers, conductors, and singers are musically better schooled than ever, and at ease in a wider range of idioms. … The classical/showtune connection has reopened, with evidence on display all around us.”

Recently published research that examined the way aging is depicted in widely played songs finds “mainly negative representations” of the process of getting older.

“The choice of Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla Nelsons as a successor to the head of a major symphony orchestras in the UK is not an isolated phenomenon. It is part of a trend that is consolidating towards normality.” [Spanish]

“While string sections are largely gender-balanced, the same could not be said for the woodwind, brass and percussion players. Women were also under-represented in principal roles. … [BBC] Radio 3’s Tom Service looked into the issues behind the statistics.” (audio)

“Considered lost for more than a century, the manuscript of the piano-vocal score for Berlioz’s Les Troyens has just been acquired by the National Library of France. Personally transcribed by the composer, it is the most complete version of the opera known today.” (in French; includes audio)

Sarah Connolly: “I’d love to meet George Frederick Handel, and sing with him conducting from the harpsichord. I’d also love to transport him to this century and ask him what he thinks about the way his operas are performed today.”