Music
BBC Music Magazine
Small screen BIG music
Television drama is getting ever more sophisticated, but why has it become such a draw for Hollywood composers?
7 min |
February 2026
BBC Music Magazine
All in the mind
Pianist Nicolas Namoradze is allowing audiences to peek into the depths of his brain as he performs
6 min |
February 2026
BBC Music Magazine
Heidelberg Germany
A visit to the home of Germany's oldest university and a sparkling spring music festival gives Jeremy Pound plenty of food for thought
3 min |
February 2026
BBC Music Magazine
Boulanger's buried opera has its day in the sun
Four magnificent leads bring a passionate work back to life, writes Christopher Cook
1 min |
February 2026
BBC Music Magazine
Portable cassette and CD players to rewind with
When I recently showed a cassette tape to my 11-year-old daughter, she looked genuinely baffled. 'What is it?' she asked.
3 min |
February 2026
BBC Music Magazine
Grace Williams
For long neglected outside her own nation, the Welsh composer is starting to enjoy her time in the sun again, explains Geraint Lewis
6 min |
February 2026
BBC Music Magazine
Halle's comet
As the Hallé's vibrant new principal conductor, Kahchun Wong is looking to blaze a trail across Manchester's music scene, writes Clive Paget
7 min |
February 2026
BBC Music Magazine
Leonard Slatkin
US conductor Leonard Slatkin has been music director of orchestras including the Detroit, St Louis and National symphonies, Orchestre National de Lyon and the BBC Symphony Orchestra.
3 min |
February 2026
BBC Music Magazine
The Reichtrack
As he approaches 90, the US composer Steve Reich tells Tom Service about his pride in playing an important part in bringing tonality and pulse back to music
9 min |
February 2026
BBC Music Magazine
Music to die for
Did legendary crime novelist Agatha Christie once harbour ambitions to become an opera singer? Andrew Green follows the clues...
6 min |
February 2026
BBC Music Magazine
Frederic Rzewski The People United Will Never Be Defeated
Amanda Holloway is stirred by the best recordings of an hour-long piano masterpiece born out of a 1970s Chilean political protest song
3 min |
February 2026
BBC Music Magazine
In Denmark let me dwell
Rick Jones assumes the role of composer John Dowland, as he sails over to the very castle that inspired Shakespeare's Hamlet
7 min |
February 2026
BBC Music Magazine
Richard Morrison
Minimalism was much more than a return to basics... it was a revolution
3 min |
February 2026
BBC Music Magazine
Is AI really all-consuming?
The rise of Artificial Intelligence may be spreading gloom over the music world but, reasons Tom Service, there is still hope for us humans yet!
2 min |
February 2026
BBC Music Magazine
Thomas Søndergård Conductor
Danish conductor Thomas Søndergård is music director of the Minnesota Orchestra and Royal Scottish National Orchestra. He was a percussionist in the Royal Danish Orchestra, starting his conducting career with the premiere of Poul Ruders's opera Kafka's Trial, which opened the new Royal Danish Opera building. Music director of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales from 2012-18, Søndergård leads his second annual Nordic Soundscapes Festival in Minneapolis in January 2026.
3 min |
January 2026
BBC Music Magazine
A bold statement in the face of censorship
Erik Levi praises Hyeyoon Park's compelling pairing of two composers suppressed and stifled by political forces
2 min |
January 2026
BBC Music Magazine
Virtuosic, expressive and immersive pianism
Jessica Duchen is captured by Francesco Piemontesi's compelling interpretations of Brahms's piano works
1 min |
January 2026
BBC Music Magazine
The modern, affordable all-in-one CD player
UK CD sales peaked in 2001, when we bought 225.9 million discs worth £2.2 billion. Convenient, affordable and genuinely excellent in quality, the compact disc was, and remains, a format valued by listeners who want simplicity and reliability. These days, sales top out at 10.5 million, but there is renewed interest.
4 min |
January 2026
BBC Music Magazine
Johann Sebastian Bach Coffee Cantata
Paul Riley enjoys rich aromas aplenty as he filters through the tastiest recordings of Bach's comic take on an 18th-century caffeine obsession
6 min |
January 2026
BBC Music Magazine
Unboxed
This month's round-up celebrates Jodie Devos and dives deep into Schoenberg and Shostakovich
1 min |
January 2026
BBC Music Magazine
Delightful settings of English texts
Christopher Cook enjoys the debut album from well-matched musical partners
1 min |
January 2026
BBC Music Magazine
Thank you, Mr Holland...
As the Mr Holland's Opus Foundation approaches its 30th birthday, Michael Beek explores the charity's impact and the composer behind it
7 min |
January 2026
BBC Music Magazine
Morton Feldman
Ivan Hewett marks 100 years of an American modernist whose complex, sometimes lengthy scores ultimately reward those willing to listen
6 min |
January 2026
BBC Music Magazine
Keys to enlightenment
Once seen as an elite symbol of the West, the piano is today accessible to Indian people of all backgrounds, says Karishmeh Felfeli-Crawford
7 min |
January 2026
BBC Music Magazine
Clarevoices
At 700, Clare is one of Cambridge's oldest colleges, but its choir is youthful and full of life, finds Andrew Stewart
7 min |
January 2026
BBC Music Magazine
Single-handed Superstar
Following his stunning debut at last year's BBC Proms, one-handed pianist Nicholas McCarthy tells Claire Jackson all about repertoire, technique and challenging narrow-minded attitudes
9 min |
January 2026
BBC Music Magazine
Subverting all genres
Tortoise's first new album since 2016 is an improbable yet utterly compelling success
1 min |
January 2026
BBC Music Magazine
Operatic awakening
Charles Mackerras's mastery of Janáček is palpable in this centenary celebration
1 min |
January 2026
BBC Music Magazine
Strike up the band
Britain's illustrious brass band tradition delivers first-rate opportunities within local communities
6 min |
January 2026
BBC Music Magazine
15 pieces about US states
From Alaskan glaciers to Florida plantations, Brian Wise explores how composers have depicted the American landscape
6 min |