Musicology Swafford’s ‘Beethoven: Anguish and Tragedy’ 26 Dec 2014 Thoughtful Christmas gift of Jan Swafford's recent Beethoven biography made an interesting read; still in progress but it is a brisk read. A module on Beethoven was part of my…
Education… Let them make noise 3 May 20134 May 2013 Jonathan Savage encourages us to 'find time, in what are our undoubtedly busy lives, to read and reflect on the broad literature of music education'. His new book The Guided…
Musicology Ravel’s Operas: Parody and Pastiche 20 Aug 2012 After watching the wonderful Glyndebourne Ravel Double Bill, streamed live on the internet, I remembered that as an undergraduate I had written an essay exploring the same two operas. I've…
Composing… Dispelling or furthering myths? 6 Aug 20126 Aug 2012 'Myths are of great significance to those in the music business and music education. Our thinking is guided by: the relationships and dynamics between artists, writers, and producers; those who…
Events… “The Famous Mr Bach”: Concert talk on Johann Sebastian Bach 30 Apr 201230 Apr 2012 ~ Below is the text, slightly edited, of the concert talk I gave at North London Collegiate School for a Bach Concert on 8 February 2012 ~ ‘Johann Sebastian Bach belongs…
Events… Are conductors necessary? 29 Apr 201230 Apr 2012 Haydn's last visit in 1794-95 [to Great Britain] had marked both the climax of London's public concert life and the beginning of its decline. The founding of the Philharmonic Society…
Composing… Charm is the word of 2012 15 Feb 201215 Feb 2012 Catching up with the latest issue of the Monocle - February edition - and Andrew Tuck's editorial draws attention to charm as the word for 2012: "Honesty, integrity, simplicity, durability,…
Musicology What was Innovative about Debussy’s Approach to Pianism? 10 Jan 201210 Jan 2012 ~ I'm digging up previous things I've written: here is something from 2003 ~ ‘Debussy, like Chopin and Beethoven before him, created his own piano’[1], but before he could develop…
Musicology Can we speak of eroticism in purely musical terms? 8 Jan 2012 ~ Lawrence Dreyfus' book 'Wagner and the Erotic Impulse' (Harvard University Press 2010) reminded me of attending the lecture series at the British Library given by Dreyfus upon which the…
