The composer, former music critic and teacher, Walter Arlen is 100 years old and like any centenarian, he has many stories to tell. Unlike many centenarians, he has lived through more than a… Continue reading
Since my lecture on the subject of Music Restitution – available elsewhere on this blog – I have been forced over the intervening weeks to think more seriously about how we quantify the idea… Continue reading
Kevin Clarke – who despite the English name hails from Berlin – has written a superb article on operetta and how we are still suffering the consequences of Nazi cultural policies. His exhibition… Continue reading
The last thing I wanted to do was to turn this site into me reviewing performances and CDs. As a recording producer, I’ve read too many reviews – good and bad – that… Continue reading
(Verflossen ist das Gold der Tage – Washed Away is the Gold of our Days – Rondel op. 11 from 1921) “In comparison with all of these other would-be Mahlerians, Wilhelm Grosz rises… Continue reading
I’ve reviewed two outstanding new books on Schoenberg for the Times Literary Supplement – in fact, they appear to have made my review their headline feature. The books are Julie Brown’s SCHOENBERG AND… Continue reading
On February 3rd 2015, I was asked by the Holocaust Research Centre, headed by Prof. David Cesarani at Royal Holloway College, University of London to give their annual Holocaust Lecture. I Chose the… Continue reading
An area that remains totally under-researched is the fate of music-exiles in South and Latin America. Occasionally a wisp of a story pops up such as Hans Joachim Köllreuter who taught, amongst others,… Continue reading
There has been an indecently long gap since my last posting. This was due to a computer crash, travels and deadlines that were made all the more stressful with the loss of important… Continue reading
Just as I completed reading Sabine Feisst’s excellent Schoenberg’s New World – the American Years, the Times Literary Supplement asked if I would review two new books on Schoenberg. I won’t give away… Continue reading
This article in today’s Guardian is by Roger Scruton, a philosopher with a leaning towards Hegelian aesthetics. In it, he pleads for his concept of ‘conservatism’ and explains why it’s hard to ‘think’… Continue reading
