The problem with contemporary ‘serious’ music is that hardly anyone wants to listen to it. In abandoning functional tonality in the 20th century Western music squandered a great gift. I think we should make a return to tonality but without resorting to pastiche or the monotony of minimalism. Continue reading Tonality →

What is the role of the performer when performing works by other composers? Is it to try to reproduce the work as the composer intended it to be (as far as this can be known)? Or is it the performer’s role to interpret the music afresh? Should the performer stamp his/her own personality onto a piece of music by Bach or Mozart, for example? Continue reading The Performer →