1. A child prodigy Joshua Bell was born in Bloomington, Indiana, on 9 December 1967. He began taking violin lessons at the age of four after his mother discovered that he had stretched rubber bands ...

The Classic FM Music Teacher of the Year Awards are back for 2026, with £20,000 of musical instruments and equipment up for ...

8. Second World War years By 1944, von Karajan was, in his own words, losing favor with the Nazi leadership, but he still conducted concerts in wartime Berlin. In the closing stages of the war, he and ...

Violinist Elina Vähälä was performing the finale of Bruch’s Violin Concerto with Sinfonia Lahti when conductor Matthew Halls ...

Liszt's Romantic piano miniature is one of the composer's most popular works The quintessential Romantic piano miniature, Liszt’s Liebestraum No.3 was actually originally published as one of a set of ...

The loss of his sight heightened Rodrigo’s remaining senses and helped him compose a body of captivating works that made him a Spanish hero. Had it not been for Joaquín Rodrigo, Spain could well have ...

Composed between 1900 and 1901, Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2 is often described as the greatest piano concerto ever written. After the disastrous premiere of Rachmaninov’s Symphony No. 1 in 1897 ...

Tim Lihoreau is your host of weekend breakfast on Classic FM, with three hours of the most relaxing music to ease you gently into Saturday and Sunday mornings. Much-loved host of Classic FM’s More ...

Although it makes a great story, it now seems unlikely that Henry VIII wrote ‘Greensleeves’ for his future love, Anne Boleyn. As we mark St George’s Day, here’s the truth behind the Renaissance ...

Also known as the Cornetto song, ‘O sole mio’ is one of the most beloved Neapolitan songs of the last 100 years. But who wrote it, and what are the lyrics? ‘O sole mio’, which translates as ‘My ...

From ‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’ to ‘The Mission’, these are some of Morricone’s most iconic works. It starts with a coyote call-like oscillation of notes, played on the soprano recorder, ...

Struggling to encourage your students to learn new tunes? Got some crabs handy? Swedish musician and YouTuber Mattias Krantz, known for his eccentric musical experiments, has found a new way of ...