Child Composers

An exploration into the question of greatness from the Chief Classical Music Critic of the New York Times

An exploration into the question of greatness from the chief classical music critic of the New York Times.

Sir John Barbirolli Among the leading conductors of the mid-20th century, John Barbirolli was acclaimed for his interpretations of Vaughan Williams, Mahler, and the late Romantics generally. He spent many years as conductor of the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester, building that group into a world-class ensemble. Barbirolli was born on December 2, 1899, in London. He was of Italian and French background and used the name Giovanni Barbirolli into young adulthood. As a child, he studied the violin and then cello, and he made his recording debut on the cello in 1911 and debuted as a performer a short time later. Barbirolli attended Trinity College of music and the Royal Academy of Music, studying cello and graduating from the latter in 1916.

"As a teacher using the Amazing People ELT Readers in an Extensive Reading Project, I'm as happy as my students are: motivating topics/real people, interesting facts and a great alternative to Graded Reader fiction. Having said that, the same class is also reading books from the Agatha Christie series, and enjoying them very much. Their Reading Diaries are full of questions, speculation about who-dunnit and comments about 'unputdownability'. The buzz in the classroom when we're swopping books is tangible." (Hania Bociek, Zürich, Switzerland)

NoXaS Saxophone Quartet was established in 2007 and since then has distinguished itself as a high-quality ensemble with several collaborations with elite Norwegian musicians and ensembles. Its main objective is to perform the best possible repertoire for this type of ensemble format while simultaneously building up a new repertoire together with composers and other performers. Through this work, NoXaS has cemented its position as a significant asset to the Norwegian music scene.

George Bernard Shaw once said that “England and America are two countries separated by the same language!” As an American living in London when these recordings were made, I can attest to that sentiment! Perhaps my own grappling with the ever witty Bernard Shaw is found on this set of recordings, with pieces from the UK and the USA that span nearly 122 years of musical history. While many of the musical materials used by these 5 composers are similar, with an emphasis on folk music, classical idioms, and a generally warm and Romantic sensibility, they could not be more different from each other.

An elegy to the victims of WW1 created by three of Australia's most fascinating composers and commissioned by the Australian Art Orchestra.