Inside the score

Gustav Holst: A Musical Explorer with Universes of His Own

Far from the cliché of the pastoral British composer, Gustav Holst wrote much for voices: choral works and operas based on Sanskrit and ancient Greek texts, as well as settings of English folk songs. A believer in community, he also championed women’s place in orchestras and composition, rooting his vision in the world around him. Jack Pepper looks beyond The Planets to reveal the unique qualities of this craftsman and musical adventurer.

By Jack Pepper

Reading time estimated : 13min read

The Baltics Take Centre Stage: A New Wave of Classical Talent?

From the world’s leading opera houses to concert halls across the Baltic states, a new generation of musicians from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia is making its mark on classical music.…

By Andrew Mellor

Reading time estimated : 10min read

“Nobody Here Makes Music”: Inside George Sand’s House at Nohant

She ordered his pianos, kept his accounts, and padded his doors against the noise of her own house. While Chopin composed upstairs at Nohant, George Sand was writing the great…

By Maria Matalaev

Reading time estimated : 21min read

Back to School: Classical Music Edition

Classical music has long offered an imaginative way to guide young listeners as they take their first steps into the world of the orchestra. Ahead of the new school year,…

By Nadya Miryanova

Reading time estimated : 8min read

Antonio Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons

From phone calls to concerts halls, Antonio Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons are inescapable. Beat the summer heat with a deep dive into this Baroque…

By Andrew McIntyre

Reading time estimated : 16min read

Will Work for Ducats: Freelancing in the Classical Era

From Bach’s church contract to Mozart and Beethoven’s unstable incomes, classical music has long balanced genius with financial precarity. The freelance musician, it turns out, was born alongside the modern…

By Katie Beisel Hollenbach

Reading time estimated : 8min read

Patronizing for Power: King Louis XIV and French Baroque Music

At Versailles, music was more than entertainment. Under Louis XIV, it helped define French Baroque style while serving the court’s larger purpose: to glorify the monarch.

By Katie Beisel Hollenbach

Reading time estimated : 9min read

Inside the musical machinery of an epic saga: the Leitmotif in Wagner’s Ring cycle

What makes Wagner’s 16-hour saga so immersive, coherent, and psychologically satisfying? The Leitmotif… This web of recurring musical ideas gives The Ring its elemental force, narrative depth, and extraordinary emotional…

By Darío Moreno

Reading time estimated : 5min read

Wagner: Lord of the Ring

On the 150th anniversary of The Ring’s premiere, Jack Pepper revisits Wagner as revolutionary, dramatist and master of excess. A vivid portrait of the composer whose monumental vision transformed opera forever.

By Jack Pepper

Reading time estimated : 11min read