It is curious that Sir Edward Elgar, the composer whose music is the beating heart of Establishment England, should have considered himself something of an outsider both musically and socially. His musical influences were mainly German and Schumann was the composer he most...
As an encore at the recital the other night, we played a little melancholy Welsh folk song. Simple but effective in its main aim of bringing a lump to the throat and a tear to the eye. A member of the audience asked me at the reception afterwards if all Welsh folk songs were...
After negotiating the ticket system of Europe, we successfully performed in the Chateau and consequently enjoyed a well earned lie in the next morning when the rest of the orchestra was on a very bumpy flight from Gatwick. As we met up with some wet colleagues in the foyer, it...
