BBC Music Magazine

BBC Music Magazine is a must for anyone with a passion for classical music. Classical music connoisseurs and new enthusiast alike will enjoy the fascinating features and reviews of over 120 new works in every issue.

Please Note: Our digital edition does not include the cover mount items or supplements you would normally find with printed copies

Welcome

THIS MONTH’S CONTRIBUTORS

BBC Music Magazine

Have your say…

FREE ONE MONTH TRIAL to the digital edition

BBC Music Magazine Awards 2025 • Stars of the music world enjoy a big night at Kings Place

Liszt thunders away on the piano… but Brahms nods off

Also in June 1853…

The BBC Music Magazine team’s current favourites…

Concert Heaven Concert Hell • Top artists recall their best and worst performances

MyHero • Benjamin Nicholas on the deep and lasting influence of his fellow organist and choirmaster, the late John Scott

Jurassic melodies • Forget those terrifying lowpitched roars – scientific research suggests that dinosaur voices may have been more tuneful than we think, reveals Tom Service

FAREWELL TO…

THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN • Operatic director Thomas Guthrie selects the best examples of music inspired by ancient mythology

Richard Morrison • Music’s power to unlock memories in dementia patients is remarkable

Sonic youth • Korean pianist Yunchan Lim’s extraordinary Chopin studio debut offers just a taste of his dazzling musicianship, writes Jessica Duchen

Queen of arts • Errollyn Wallen is riding high on a year of triumphs that include becoming Master of the King’s Music, writes Claire Jackson

Left-field learning • Despite an education steeped in the Russian tradition, noted pianist Nikolai Lugansky forged an unusual path to a stellar career, writes Tom Service

A rich tapestry • Russia’s cultural traditions

And relax… • The music that calms us can be deeply personal, writes Claire Jackson, yet certain universal elements are scientifically proven to ease stress

Soaked in sound • The relaxing sound bath

Perfect peace • The BBC Music team and reviewers on the music they turn to for a sense of calm

Great Dame • When flames engulfed Notre-Dame in 2019, the organ miraculously survived. Now cleaned and restored, it is sounding as good as ever, discovers John Allison

Organ revolutionary • Aristide Cavaillé-Coll

Soundbites! • As Steven Spielberg’s Jaws celebrates 50 years old, Charlotte Smith explores the vital role played by John Williams’s famously unsettling soundtrack

Soundstage memories • Richard Kaufman remembers…

All in the mind • The cliché of the ‘mad genius’ has long perpetuated the idea that creativity and mental illness are linked. But, asks Rebecca Franks, how true is that notion?

Time to talk • A problem shared...

Pieces of 8 • There’s more to vocal ensemble VOCES8 than its ethereal sound, not least a keen commitment to education, as Amanda Holloway reports

The big 2-0 • Birthday celebrations

Savonlinna Finland • Forests, lakes, a 550-year-old fairytale castle and a famous opera festival… Charlotte Smith is entranced by this charming Nordic town

Orlando Gibbons • From court refinement to London street cries, Gibbons’s music captures the very essence of early-Stuart England, writes Simon Heighes

GIBBONS Life&Times

Felix Mendelssohn Symphony No. 4 ‘Italian’ • Erik Levi basks in the Mediterranean sunshine and sips a limoncello as he enjoys the genial company of this most radiant of orchestral works

Continue the journey… • We suggest works to explore after Mendelssohn’s ‘Italian’ Symphony

A beautifully delivered showcase for the...