Time to get all deep and meaningful? Maybe not too much. Here’s my intro to Haydn’s wonderfully entertaining 22nd Symphony. This filmed performance is in the venue where the piece was most likely first-performed with similar instruments, and numbers of … Listen
A wonderfully exhilarating and punchy fusion from the writer of West Side Story. Here’s my intro: And the music is here, with video: And here on Spotify: If you liked this please comment below!
A simply stunning, jazzy clarinet concerto. Quintessentially American! Here’s the introduction: And then the music, with the excellent Martin Fröst as soloist, here: and here:
Evocative, moving and reflective. Introduction: Listen here: No video today – this feels like an eyes closed kinda piece!or here on Spotify:
Four much loved pieces by Grieg, giving us bright mornings, quiet mourning, exotic-isa love interest and mountain trolls! What’s not to love? First, the introduction: Here are the links to the music: and on Spotify:
Bartok’s Romanian Folk Dances are very short, snappy and full of life! [9′ listen]… Listen
Cheery and life affirming music, that’s almost guaranteed to make you happy!… Listen
Dmitri Shostakovich tries to speak the truth about the grim reality of life in 1930s Russia, whilst at the same time giving the authorities the upbeat, cheery music they wanted. An impossible task? [3 parts] The music: Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony … Listen
Five pieces (six actually) inspired and influenced by nature and the East. When the organisers of the Paris Universal Exposition in 1889 invited gamelan players from Indonesia they introduced French composers to a whole world of new and exciting possibilities … Listen