Within his historical context, the music of Wilhelm Richard Wagner represented elemental chaos. Outside of his historical context, it reminds us more of order gone horribly wrong. It is not entirely ...

The commonly recognised ‘periods’ of Western Classical Music I have covered in a previous article. This piece centres on the different types of Classical music within that broad time frame. Below, I ...

We all know that music is beneficial to the human mind: it lowers anxiety, pain levels, it alters your brainwaves and, of course, helps infants’ brain development. The virtues of music have been known ...

Pipe organs have been part of the majestic history of Westminster Abbey for hundreds of years. The current organ, made by the organ builders of Harrison and Harrison, was installed in 1937 for the ...

Beethoven composed quite extensively for the violin and piano completing ten Sonatas in his lifetime. This Sonata is the ninth of the set and probably one of the most played and the most notoriously ...

At first, the title of this article might make you think that this is a slightly odd subject but there is a world of interest and achievement that is truly worthy of exploration. Whether through ...

A dulcimer is a stringed folk instrument which basically comes in two different varieties: the hammered dulcimer – which has strings stretched over a sounding board with a trapezoidal shape, generally ...

Reggae music has had a profound influence on many aspects of Western culture from fashion to popular music. Across the United Kingdom, the USA and Africa, Reggae secured a strong foothold in the ...

Tracing the evolution of any instrument is rewarding, informative, and enlightening. It may be particularly so if you have ever played or are interested in learning to play this instrument. Of all the ...

Unlike today, where composers can receive or pitch for commissions from individuals, companies, or foundations, the options for funding during the Baroque Era were considerably narrower. It’s worth ...

Two exhibits from the collection stand out to me as particularly striking and provocative pieces of art. The first is called Blossom by Sanford Biggers and dates back to 2007. Here the piano appears ...

When we think of an orchestra, we immediately think of a large number of violinists sitting in front of the stage, in an almost privileged place near the conductor, just like the cellos and violas.