Remixing the Baroque

Can remixing Baroque music ever be a good thing? Can remixing Baroque music ever be a good thing? We think that when done well and with thought and genuine purpose it can. Does Baroque music need to be remixed? Does music from the past need to be modernised? In the worst case scenario, modernising Baroque […]

Musical instruments in slow motion

Crash… Bang… Wallop This is what happens when you give an orchestra access to the same camera they use to photograph crash test dummies We all know that music is composed of sounds, and that sound is caused by vibration, right? Well, here’s a selection of slow motion GIFs that will help you *really* understand the […]

Orchestra live stream premiere on Facebook

(Facebook) Live from San Francisco SFS is the first major classical ensemble to use Facebook’s new live streaming feature A US orchestra will this week become the first major classical ensemble to broadcast a concert live via Facebook. This Wednesday the San Francisco Symphony will use Facebook Live to stream the world premiere of a new Mason Bates work […]

Beethoven and Mozart in slow motion

We slowed Beethoven & Mozart by 24x and this happened… Sometimes it sounds like floating down a river on a wooden raft with the sun warm on your skin and other times like being screamed at in the face by seventy lions whilst being on fire. Six years ago, a young producer from Florida slowed […]

Playlist: Music for a mission to Mars

Journey into outer space A playlist of stellar classical music to celebrate the latest Mars mission This morning, scientists from the US and Russia hurled a new satellite into space (BBC). Its mission? To investigate the sources of methane in Mars’ atmosphere – and take some nifty photos along the way, we hope. The ExoMars […]

Opera singers having the time of their lives

Warning: may induce hazardous levels of joy Video evidence that classical singers are just as capable of letting their hair down as the rest of us Anna Netrebko Kalman: ‘Heia, in den Bergen ist mein Heimatland’ from Die Csárdásfürstin Soprano Anna Netrebko has never needed much persuading to get her groove on in the concert hall. […]

Playlist: The best of Bach for Eastertide

Our pick of Bach’s passions, cantatas and oratorios Looking for classical music to tide you over the Easter weekend? Bach has you covered. Happy birthday Johann Sebastian Bach! The Baroque composer was born on this day – 21 March – in 1685. Appropriately, that’s also the first day of spring  – a good birthday for a composer […]

The Well-Sequenced Synthesizer

Exploring theory though technology Luisa Pereira’s project uses synthesizer technology to get inside the rules of Baroque counterpoint JS Bach is one of the most celebrated composers in the history of Western music. A great figurehead of the Baroque period, his music – which set the rules for most, if not all the composers who […]

Watch: Opera singer performs in MRI scanner

Weirdest singer headshot ever Baritone Michael Volle reveals exactly what’s going on in his head when he sings Ever wondered what you look like when you’re singing – from the inside? Doesn’t matter. You’re going to see it anyway. He was there at the behest of senior physician – and choral singer – Professor Matthias […]

Mind the gap: The most joyous of orchestral fails!

When orchestral musicians lose their concentration… In the orchestral repertoire there are probably thousands of sneaky moments that regularly catch players out. For the musician, to play a wrong note loudly right at the point of a silence can be terrifying and humiliating, but then later in hindsight the story is often hilarious. The situation […]