Instruments of the orchestra, yes. But not just instruments in the orchestra. This is a set of portraits in depth, featuring individual instruments in many contexts (orchestral,...

The Classics Explained series explores, in words and music, the major classical works of the concert hall. In an accessible and lively manner, Jeremy Siepmann looks at the history and the form of...

This series presents the life and work of major composers. The narrated recording is illustrated with quotations from the composer and his contemporaries, and enhanced by extended extracts from...

Although now beloved and revered by millions as the greatest composer who ever lived, Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) was best known in his lifetime as an organist, and was eclipsed in fame as a...

Brahms is one of the best loved, yet most controversial of all the Romantics. Almost uniquely, his works have never suffered the slightest period of eclipse. Profoundly emotional yet governed by an...

For many people, Beethoven is the greatest composer who ever lived. In this portrait-in-sound, actors' readings combine with his music to reveal a titanic...

Tchaikovsky is one of the most popular composers of all time. His melodies are known to many people who may never have heard his name. They crop up on mobile telephones, alarm clocks and answering...

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the most astonishing child prodigy in the history of music, is felt by many people to be the greatest composer who ever lived. Dominated and shaped by a highly intelligent...