Klaus Döring's Classical Music/Klaus Döring's Klassische Musik

We think this might be the hardest piece of piano music ever written By Daniel Ross , Classic FM London Pianists everywhere, prepare yourself for possibly the most demanding piece of  piano  music ever written. *gulps* image: http://assets1.classicfm.com/2016/25/kaikhosru-shapurji-sorabjis-opus-clavicembalisticum-1466433188-article-0.jpg This is a section of the score from Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji’s Opus clavicembalisticum. It’s hard to pronounce, but even harder to play. image: http://assets.gcstatic.com/u/apps/asset_manager/uploaded/2016/25/kaikhosru-shapurji-sorabjis-opus-clavicembalisticum-1466431796-custom-0.png For a start, it lasts for over four hours in total, spread across 12 movements. That would be bad enough if it was dead easy to play, but of course, it’s much worse. It’s  a fiend. Don’t let the first bar fool you - here’s the opening movement: And here’s the final one, about which the composer himself wrote: “The closing 4 pages ...

... as an Arctic glacier crumbles around him By Tim Edwards, Classic FM London Italian pianist premiered a new piece in Svalbard to publicise Greenpeace’s battle to save the Arctic. image: http://assets8.classicfm.com/2016/25/einaudi-performs-on-iceberg-in-arctic-1466422462-article-0.png Greenpeace has persuaded Italian composer and pianist  Ludovico Einaudi  to play on a specially built ‘iceberg’ within 100m of a crumbling glacier as part of their campaign to save the Arctic. Listen to the best of Einaudi on Composed > In the video, Einaudi is seen performing his minimalist music in the breathtakingly beautiful surroundings of Wahlenbergbreen glacier in Svalbard, Norway. As he plays one descending scale, huge chunks of ice calve off the glacier. To get to the spectacular location,  Einaudi caught a ride with the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise (you can see how the film was made in the video at the bottom of the page):  Einaudi premiered his...

 Andrew Collins showcases the best films inspired by literature. This Saturday, Andrew Collins will be marking Independent Bookshop Week, which aims to celebrate independent booksellers in the UK and Ireland. Andrew will be playing music on  Saturday Night at the Movies  from great film adaptations of books. And he'll be including many of your suggestions of works of literature that you think have most successfully made the transition to the big screen. Among the classics, such as  Rebecca  , there's a chance to hear music from the recent Jane Austen movie,  Love & Friendship  . And modern literature gets a look in too, including  Atonement  ,  The English Patient  and  High Rise  . And then there's the whole world of fantasy literature to choose from, including a certain boy wizard and the exploits of the Bagginses of Bag End .

13-year-old Laura Bretan’s Nessun Dorma ‘raises deep concerns’ says singing teacher By Elizabeth Davis , CLASSIC FM LONDON A 13-year-old singer has wowed audiences with her performance of  Puccini ’s iconic aria – but some in the classical world have a very different view. Now opera singers and music specialists have voiced concerns over a promising young singer forcing herself to mimic much older voices Since the clip of Laura Bretan singing  Puccini ’s famous aria appeared online a few days ago  it has been viewed millions of times. But it’s fair to say it has divided the classical music world. Laura this weekend won Romania's Got Talent and is still in the running to win America's Got Talent. Here's the clip that has caused such controversy: While some cheered to see  classical music  reaching a mass audience – and to see millions of people sharing and enjoying Puccini’s music, others raised concerns over Laura’s technique and her choice...

Can you work out the name of the composer from a set of picture clues? Next image Picture 1 of 24 image: http://assets4.classicfm.com/2016/22/composer-riddles-5-1464951257-view-0.jpg Previous Image Next image Read more at http://www.classicfm.com/discover/music-quizzes/composer-picture-puzzles/#WbH8f9MFi6fX9j1L.99

By Elizabeth Davis , ClassicFM London As Disney’s Aladdin hits the stage in London’s West End, we've put together the ultimate test of Aladdin-fandom…  image: http://assets8.classicfm.com/2016/20/aladdin-a-whole-new-world-quiz-1463430388-article-0.jpg It's one of Disney’s best-loved films and the music, written by Alan Menken, is an iconic film score. In fact Menken won the Oscar in 1993 for Best Music – and it was this song, written with Tim Rice, that got the song-writing duo a double-header at the Academy Awards – with the Oscar for Best Original Song as well. But how well do *you* remember the words, street rat (as Jafar might say…)?