Buckingham Palace has revealed the names of the composers commissioned to write new pieces for the coronation of King Charles III.
The diverse list includes music from legendary theatre composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, who will write a new Coronation Anthem, and a new Coronation March from Patrick Doyle, best known for his works for film, including a number of collaborations with Kenneth Branagh (Henry V, Sense and Sensibility, Hamlet, Carlito's Way and Gosford Park).
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Alan Turing played an important role in the breaking the the Nazi Enigma codes during World War 2. His life was made into the 2014 film, ‘The Imitation Game.’
It has now also been turned into an opera, ‘The Life and Death(s) of Alan Turing’ by Justine F Chen to a libretto by David Simpatico, which will premiere on 23rd March in Chicago's Harris Theater for Music and Dance.
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A question often asked by first-time concert goers is—where were the saxophones? The saxophone is one of the most popular instruments. You see them everywhere. So why aren't they part of the standard orchestral line-up?
A common myth is that it doesn't blend with the other instruments. It's loud, abrasive and honky—it just sticks out too much.
But in fact, nothing could be further from the truth. The true reason the sax isn't a fully-fledged member of the orchestra is a story full of intrigue, politics and prejudice.
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The music of Frédéric Chopin is a pillar of the piano repertoire, including some of the most brilliant, and challenging, music ever written for the instrument ranging from showy polonaises through to whirlwind scherzos – not to mention his notoriously demanding collection of virtuoso etudes. Unlike the other great piano composers of the 19th century, however, Chopin also composed a surprisingly large number of works which can be tackled even by intermediate players (roughly equivalent to grades 5–6 according the UK’s ABRSM ranking system) – although bear in mind that even Chopin’s “easiest” pieces require plenty of musicality and interpretative finesse to bring off convincingly. We’ve chosen ten of our favourites below, ranked roughly in order from the easiest to most difficult.
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On 5th February the music industry’s 65th Grammy Awards were announced in a glitzy ceremony in Los Angeles. Amongst the categories, the most distinguished include best record, which went to Lizzo’s, ‘About Damn Time’; best Album, won by Harry Styles’ ‘Harry’s House’; and best song, which went to to Bonnie Raitt’s ‘Just Like That.’
But it was Beyoncé that made all the post-awards headlines. Her four wins, for Best Dance Recording (‘Break My Soul’), Best Dance/Electronica Album (‘Renaissance’), Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance (‘Plastic off the Sofa’) and Best R&B Song (‘Cuff It’), makes her career Grammy Awards haul, with 32 wins and 88 nominations, the largest of all time.
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January 2023 saw two of the original three tenors, Jose Carreras and Placido Domingo, perform together in Tokyo’s Garden Theatre. The concert was to mark 20 years since the last three tenors concert, held in Columbus, U.S. It was dedicated to the memory of Luciano Pavarotti, who died in 2007.
Given the controversy surrounding Domingo’s career and the age of both singers, the concert was slammed by some for its tackiness.
Perhaps then better to remember the heyday of three tenors mania, when Carreras, Domingo and Pavarotti wowed concertgoers with their interpretations of great works from the opera and song literature.
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Ok, so you’ve heard of the film ‘2001’? The one set in space with the black monolith and the mad A.I. computer HAL? And its legendary director Stanley Kubrick? You know, the one who was a notorious perfectionist and whose cinematography also includes films such as the ‘Dr. Strangelove’, ‘A Clockwork Orange’ and ‘The Shining.’
So who is György Ligeti and what does he have to do with Kubrick and that movie?
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