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This week Joanna and Stephen are joined by a very special guest, Stephen's personal piano tuner, David Widdicombe. From concert grands, upright 'domestics' and honkytonks, David has tuned them all. Having worked with the world's most prestigious piano maker, Steinway, for 3 decad ... Show More

This week we’re diving into two bohemian heroes of classical music, Bohuslav Martinů and Leoš Janáček. Stephen remembers encountering the music of Martinů at Cambridge, and being confronted by the "pure simple joy" of it. From the lyricism of Martinů, we work back towards Janáček ... Show More

Which note could the Maestro not live without? Where are all the female composers? And is there a better quintet going than Franz Schubert's Trout? In this mini episode Joanna puts your questions to the Maestro. 

Welcome to Season 7 of Sticky Notes! I'm often asked: “I want to get into classical music, but where do I start?” Today is my attempt to answer that question! Western Classical Music is an umbrella term that stretches over 1500 years of music, and there is an infinite variety to ... Show More

Feeling tired? Need to unwind? Then how about some gentle, soothing piano music? Welcome to Episode 6 of Series 4 in the Relaxing Piano Playlist! In this episode, I perform for you some contemporary piano music by a current composer and host of this podcast, James Quinn, and the ... Show More

What MAKES a moment in a piece of classical music? Sometimes it’s the result of careful pacing from a composer, the slow build to a powerful release. Sometimes it’s about surprise, a sudden explosion, or even a sudden extinguishing of sound. Sometimes it’s about a harmonic transi ... Show More

A few days ago I released a recording of Bach's Prelude No 9 in E Major. I also decided to record this alternate interpretation of the prelude. These are two very different ways of playing the same notes of a score and indicate how versatile Bach's music usually is. His music is ... Show More

Very often, when I tell people that I’m a classical musician, I am told, “wow, I love classical music! It’s so relaxing!” I think almost all classical musicians have heard that before, and you know what? Sometimes, it’s true! Classical music can be relaxing! But sometimes, and ac ... Show More

Feeling tired? Need to unwind? Then how about some gentle, soothing piano music? Welcome to the Episode 9 of the third Series of Relaxing Piano Playlist! In this themed episode, I perform for you a number of piano arrangements from original works by composers including Bach, Moza ... Show More

Elgar's Cello Concerto was composed in the shadow of World War 1. It was a piece that marked a profound shift in Elgar's outlook on life and music, and was his last major work before a long silence caused by the death of his wife Alice. It is a piece of remarkable passion for a c ... Show More

Chapters 00:00 - Introduction 03:20 - What is the test of time? 04:30 - Can music be “timeless”? 06:00 - Irrelevant POVs 07:20 - Novelty 10:30 - Timing 13:45 - Masculine & Feminine 21:30 - In Opposition 25:20 - Predictions Follow me Patreon: https://patreon.com/gee_derrick TikTok ... Show More

Feeling stressed? Need to unwind? Then how about some gentle relaxing music for you to ease into. Come and join me as your host, James Quinn as I take you through some wonderful music as I play for you on my own piano ranging from the Baroque, Classical, Romantic and early 20th C ... Show More