Music Matters Folgen

For many of us, Easter means organs and churches and the sombre tones of Good Friday moving to the joy of Easter Sunday. But this year, Easter is pretty much cancelled, and churches are shut. So organs around the world are silent - but not on Music Matters: Kate Molleson presents a mini organ fest, with contributions from Glasgow-based organist John Butt, who demonstrates his own home digital organ, and Canadian organist Rachel Mahon, who looks forward to when Coventry Cathedral is again unlocked, and she can take up her post as Music Director. And Nicholas Thistlethwaite talks about his new book about organ building in Georgian and Victorian England, a time which saw a transformation from small pipe organs to the mighty Town Hall organs of the mid nineteenth century.

Music Matters speaks to Mark Pemberton, Director of the Association of British Orchestras, about the impact of Covid-19 on the financial stability of British orchestras and the livelihoods of the musicians who work for them. And we hear from conductor Jessica Cottis who reflects on the digital responses to the pandemic from across the musical world. Tom Service speaks to the French pianist François-Frédéric Guy about life during lockdown, and his recording project with the Sinfonia Varsovia featuring all of Beethoven’s piano concerti. And on the sad news of the death of the Polish composer and conductor, Krzysztof Penderecki, we hear Petroc Trelawny’s interview for Music Matters in 2009, and Lady Camilla Panufnik shares some of her more recent memories about the composer. Finally, we dive into the Music Matters archives for another chance to hear Tom’s encounter with one of music’s most inspiring figures: the violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja.

Kate Molleson hears from the author, musician, and researcher Matt Brennan about his new book, ‘Kick It: A Social History of the Drum Kit’. We speak to the Scottish singer, songwriter, and composer, Karine Polwart, as she shares her ideas about music’s power to communicate in today’s world. As she embarks upon a project to share all thirty-six movements of Bach’s six Cello Suites during the coronavirus outbreak, Music Matters revisits a discussion with the cellist Alisia Weilerstein. And as artists the world over find new ways to continue communicating with their audiences, Kate speaks to the soprano Soraya Mafi, producer of Café Oto, Fielding Hope, and conductor Ilan Volkov about their creative responses to our current reality.