Musical surprises #26: The Csárdás from Coppélia is not by Delibes
A bit unseasonal this, since ‘musical surprises’ was the theme of my 2009 Advent Calendar. But I just couldn’t wait…
Musical surprises #25: A bit of Tooting history
Happy Christmas! Today’s revelation is not strictly a musical surprise, except that it vaguely concerns me and I’m a musician.…
Musical surprises #24: What Rumanian dances sound like without the Bartók
I love Bartók’s Rumanian Dances, and indeed, I’ve just recorded them with the violinist Gillon Cameron on the album After…
Musical surprises #23: Vauxhall, Strauss & Tchaikovsky
Although the light and popular dance rhythms of Johann Strauss II seem a sociocultural world away from the ‘classical’ Tchaikovsky,…
Musical surprises #22: There’s a psychopomp in my barcarole
Next time you get to a slow bit of a ballet where there’s something a bit wafty and barcarole-ish in…
Musical surprises #21: If you want to play for children’s ballet, study semiotics
Thanks to the musical semiotician Raymond Monelle and his wonderful book The Sense of Music, I am happily aware that…