Behind the music
List of News Articles
Musical jokes, from satire to April Fools
29 March 2024
In anticipation of April Fools' Day, we take a look at some examples of musical tomfoolery.
Ravel and the art of orchestration
25 March 2024
What makes Ravel such a great orchestrator?
Scandinavian myths in music
11 March 2024
An overview of Nordic legends retold in music, from Grieg to the present day.
Beethoven and the Eroica theme
4 March 2024
What drew Beethoven to return to the same theme four times over?
Two centuries of musical sunrises
19 February 2024
From Haydn to Maxwell Davies, composers have delighted in portraying the majesty of the rising sun. We look at a few of them ...
Arrangements, (re)orchestrations and transcriptions: a bluffer's guide
15 January 2024
Is there any real difference between these terms?
The Prix de Rome: a double-edged sword
8 January 2024
Berlioz tried four times to win France's most prestigious competition for young composers. Was it worth it?
SCO at 50: your memories
1 January 2024
As the SCO turns 50, we look back on your memories of the Orchestra
Haydn's symphonies and their nicknames
18 December 2023
Hen, Miracle, Imperial ... Where do all those nicknames come from?
How the waltz conquered the world
4 December 2023
Now seen as the epitome of elegance, the waltz was once thoroughly anti-establishment ...
Vaughan Williams and the revival of English music
13 November 2023
There's more to Vaughan Williams than 'The lark ascending' ...
The re-emergence of Czech music
23 October 2023
How Bohemia (now the Czech Republic) rediscovered her musical heritage in the 19th century.