Since none of the British papers have yet noted the death of Russell Johnson, I devoted my page in the Evening Standard yesterday to an appreciation of the man and his work. You can read it here. Nor have the UK obit pages cottoned on yet to the passing of Tikhon Khrennikov, the titular head of Russian music for more than half a century who directed the persecution of those composers who refused to toe the party line. Instead, the main papers carry fulsome tributes today to my late colleague and … [Read more...]

Nice riff going on at Kyle Gann's blog over the New York Times critics' choice of their prime cuts of minimalism. What struck me was the list's insularity. Apart from a concerto by the Dane Poul Ruders, issued on a small US label, all the composers and works chosen were American. Granted, minimalism was a Californian invention by Terry Riley and LaMonte Young, arising from their exposure to John Cage and to eastern esoteric philosophies. But the tendency was far-flung and often oblivious to its … [Read more...]

My day has been clouded by news of Russell's death. An unobtrusive little man in rumpled suits, he transformed concert halls over the past 35 years - not just the acoustics of the room but the very atmosphere. Russell's signature halls were Birmingham, Lucerne and Dallas. There were many others but these were his pride and joy, the ones where he made fewest compromises. He was totally frank and open about the way he worked - no smoke, no mirrors, no fake science - and he was bitterly … [Read more...]

News that Hitler's record collection, discovered in a Russian dacha, contained works by Jewish composers he banned and performers he sought to exterminate - including one, Bronislaw Huberman, who went on to found the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra - serves admonitory notice on us all. Note to my executors: destroy all records. True, there is no stash of Spice Girls and 45 rpm Cliff Richards behind the Ligeti and Birtwistle CDs but what will posterity make of my 17 versions of Rachmaninov's … [Read more...]