Next weekend we will perform a masterpiece by a composer who, for me, expresses the feeling of being human more richly than any other: Edward Elgar. Even within his hyper-sensitive, evocative, nostalgic and romantic oeuvre, Elgar’s Violin Concerto stands apart as a work of unparalleled tenderness and yearning.  By 1910, Elgar was at the height of his creative powers. World famous, he was riding high on the successes of “The Dream of Gerontius”, the Enigma Variations, the First Symphony and the Pomp and Circumstance Marches. Such was his reputation that the greatest violinist of the day, Fritz Kreisler, wrote asking for a violin concerto. The timing was perfect; Elgar had been making sketches for years, well aware of the prestige of the genre (it is

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This summer I’ve been writing about the music I love beyond the classical bubble. Since its release in April 2016, I’ve been mildly obsessed with one album: Beyoncé’s ‘Lemonade’. ‘Lemonade’ is a deeply personal testament describing Queen Bey’s discovery that her husband – the rapper Jay-Z – had been unfaithful. During its twelve songs we accompany Beyoncé on her journey from denial and anger to emptiness and apathy, forgiveness and redemption. It’s also a manifesto of personal creativity. After several albums in which the musical content was largely driven by record companies’ desires to promote a sellable pop artist, Beyoncé emerges as a powerful narrator on her own terms: a web of unforgettable lyrics and a deliberately broad range of musical styles expressing unmediated pain

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