The month of January 1933 might well qualify as what the Chinese proverb calls an interesting time'. On the 1st, Japan rejected the non-aggression pact signed with the USSR the previous July; on the 10th, martial law was imposed in Spain as a Communist revolt spread in the southern provinces; and on the 30th, Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany. If nothing quite so disruptive happened that month in Paris (an attempted coup d'état had to wait until February 1934), on the musical front there was at least a modicum of anxiety about one, long-awaited first performance.
Ravel had completed his Piano Concerto for the Left Hand, commissioned by Paul Wittgenstein, a brother of the philosopher, in 1930, but the world premiere did not take place until 5 January 1932, while the Paris premiere was booked for 17 January 1933. An all-Ravel concert was to be conducted by its organiser Roger Désormière with the exception of the concerto, which Ravel decided to conduct himself. It would have been difficult to argue with a musician of Ravel's standing, but there were doubts. It was known by now that a brain disease, which would lead to the composer's death nearly five years later, was already making itself felt, added to which there was the question of his conducting credentials. The first waltz in his Valses nobles et sentimentales contains interplay between bars of 3/4 and 6/8, which he insisted must be accentuated. But when someone asked him how he conducted the orchestral version, he said, 'Oh, I just go round and round'. So, it was decided that Désormière (or Déso as he was generally known) would rehearse the Orchestre symphonique de Paris, hopefully bringing it to such a pitch of perfection that even Ravel couldn't discombobulate it. And, despite a less than perfect contribution from the pianist, the performance was a success. So, who was this conducting paragon?
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Discovering Donizetti - Thanks to a two-year lockdown project, nearly 200 previously lost Donizetti songs will now see the light of day
Thanks to a two-year lockdown project, nearly 200 previously lost Donizetti songs will now see the light of day. For most people, undertaking a lockdown project meant learning to bake sourdough bread, getting fit with Joe Wicks, or taking up a language. But Professor Roger Parker, the eminent historian of Italian opera and emeritus professor at King's College London, had something far more ambitious in mind. He set about unearthing songs by Gaetano Donizetti - many of which had been lost since the composer's lifetime - and the enterprise turned into a two-year labour of love.
Composer of the month - Bohuslav Martinů - Though the Czech absorbed many influences from his exile abroad, his colourful music was always distinctively his own
The youngest of six, Bohuslav was a sickly child, and his father or older sister often had to carry him the 193 steps up to the tower. He was shy at school, too, though showed an early talent for the violin and gave his first concert at 14. By the following year, the future composer was off to the Prague Conservatoire to take the first, if faltering, steps towards a career in music.
Symphonies Beside the Sea- Before cinema, the wireless and coach trips cast them adrift, seaside orchestras were once a major holiday attraction
Before cinema, the wireless and coach trips cast them adrift, seaside orchestras were once a major holiday attraction. It's a dimension of music-making that once was integral to many a British holiday experience, yet now has all but vanished. The tide went out, you might say, on the professional seaside (or pier, or spa) orchestra many decades ago. In their glory days, though - perhaps a quarter-century on either side of 1900-these ensembles were everywhere, from Bridlington to Eastbourne, New Brighton to Worthing, Blackpool to Bexhill-on-Sea, Cleethorpes to Brighton... the list is astonishing.
Richard Morrison- Do Classical Works About Mortality Reveal More To Us As We Get Older? Is it inevitably true that, as we journey through the decades, we are better able to interpret or empathise with a profoundly death-obsessed masterpiece such as Schubert's Winterreise?
As we get older do we respond differently to that vast canon of music dealing with mortality? Is it inevitably true that, as we journey through the decades, we are better able to interpret or empathise with a profoundly death-obsessed masterpiece such as Schubert's Winterreise? Or do human beings possess such a flexible sense of empathy that we can relate to virtually any state of mind if it is evoked convincingly enough by a composer?
Do Notes Win Votes? - There are multi-dimensional ways that music is used by political campaigners and their supporters today.
It was a little bit of history repeating when Rishi Sunak announced the UK General Election to the heckling of his political opponents blasting out D:Ream's 'Things Can Only Get Better'.
Västra Karup Sweden
The spirit of soprano Birgit Nilsson is alive and well in the town of her birth, home to a festival dedicated to her memory
Federico Colli
\"At this moment in time we don't need more virtuosi. We need musicians to engage with the philosophy of music
Harmonic Progression
What happens when classical music-style levels of ambition, invention and sheer length are brought to pop? The answer, as Meurig Bowen explains, is Prog Rock
Golden years
Young musicians may be physically fit, but with age come the advantages of wisdom and experience
Sweet Sixteen
As The Sixteen celebrates its 45th birthday, founder Harry Christophers speaks to Andrew Stewart about directing a choral powerhouse
