An orchestral odyssey

In the footsteps of Prokofiev and Britten, with assistance from a sprite and an A-list team, American composer Mason Bates has created a new audiovisual guide to the orchestra; he explains all to Tom Stewart

Call of the Nile

With its pharaohs, hieroglyphs, mummies and gods, Egypt has long fascinated composers, keen to capture its unique allure, says Claire Jackson

Compulsively driven

From the brick-counting Bruckner to Dvořák the avid trainspotter, Steve Wright introduces some of history's most obsessive composers

East meets west

For Steven Fox, music director of The Clarion Choir, Rachmaninov's anniversary year presents the perfect opportunity to celebrate the composer's often overlooked choral music, as he tells Charlotte Smith

The HUMAN TOUCH

As we celebrate Rachmaninov's 150th anniversary this month, Andrew Green talks with leading musicians who explain why there's so much more to a composer often derided as nostalgic and melancholic

Musical destinations – Berlin Germany

Jeremy Pound heads to the German capital’s Philharmonie concert hall to enjoy a late-summer feast of spectacular orchestral playing

Backstage with... Violinist/director Alexandra Wood

Warming up: ‘We want to give the idea of the music evolving’

Herbert Howells Requiem

Though Howells wrote his Requiem in contented times, it would go on to become associated with personal tragedy, as Jeremy Pound explains

Reinhold Glière

Dismissed by some as being stuck in the past, Glière was nonetheless blessed with a rare melodic gift and fine technique, says Erik Levi

The Sound of Silence

As the conflict in Ukraine prompts the barring of contemporary Russian works and artists from global stages, Erik Levi looks at how Britain similarly censored German composers during World War I

Playing for her life

Hélène de Montgeroult risked the guillotine during the French Revolution – but there’s far more to this talented composer than her remarkable survival, as pianist Clare Hammond tells Rebecca Franks

Shining a light

Awarded by composers to composers, The Ivors have propelled a wealth of outstanding British talent to the forefront of musical life during the past two decades, as Kate Wakeling discovers

And did those feet...?

Since Parry wrote his much-loved setting of Blake’s poem more than a century ago, a wide array of versions of Jerusalem have followed in its famous footsteps, as Jason Whittaker explains

I like the feeling of falling into a different era, not just in my music but in any music

THE BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE INTERVIEW

To be Franck

César Franck has sometimes been unfairly dismissed by critics as plodding and passé, but as we mark the BelgianFrench composer’s 200th anniversary, Roger Nichols says there is much to admire in his colourful melodic language

Whipping up a storm

The sonic extremes of storms, whether physical or cosmic, have attracted composers through the centuries –and with good reason, says Tom Service

REWIND

Great artists talk about their past recordings

DECEMBER 1781 Mozart and Clementi lock horns in a royal piano duel

The history books are not short of great performers and composers whose burgeoning careers as musical prodigies were micromanaged at every degree by their parents.

Jordan Ashman hits the heights

Percussionist takes BBC Young Musician 2022 crown

The genius revealed in Franck’s fiery visions

Julian Haylock introduces two works which totally changed the reputation of the Belgian-French composer

Live choice

Paul Riley picks the month’s best concert and opera highlights in the UK

Nikolai Medtner

Admired by Rachmaninov and outstanding as a pianist, Medtner had a subtle yet hauntingly distinct compositional style, says Francis Pott

Boulder United States

Jeremy Pound admires both the mountains and the plains as he explores the various delights of this year’s Colorado Music Festival

Passing the test

Forget tweedy examiners behind desks, bland pieces and those dreaded aural tests. Graded exams are not what they used to be, as Clare Stevens explains

Man on a mission

In conversation with Michael Church, the pianist Evgeny Kissin speaks out about the invasion of Ukraine and how this relates to his experiences of anti-Semitism while growing up in the USSR

Analogueage

Over the past few years, a resurgence of interest in vinyl recordings has taken popular music by storm. Cellist Leonard Elschenbroich tells Simon Heighes why classical musicians should also take an interest

A memorable folk trail

Rick Jones steps into Vaughan Williams’s shoes and dons his boater as he follows the composer’s folksong trail around Surrey and Sussex

Changing lives

As Buskaid celebrates its 25th anniversary, Leon Bosch explains the success of the South African string training programme

I spent three days doing nothing but practising breathing. And now I never run out of air

THE BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE INTERVIEW

Findingflow

With a new Warner Classics recording contract and a year-long residency at London's Southbank Centre to his name, Abel Selaocoe's star is in the ascendant. But as the South African cellist tells Charlotte Smith, he has a higher mission - to bridge the divide between African and Western music