Meet Hildur Guðnadóttir – the star composer of Joker and Chernobyl
Cellist and composer Hildur Guðnadóttir has forged a career spanning classical, film and electronics – but she’s always been drawn to unsettling themes, as she tells Claire Jackson
Sex mad: music's 11 most bed-hopping composers, ranked
Jeremy Pound lifts the covers off those notorious notesmiths who found the thrill of playing away simply too hard to resist
Review: Golden Age (Erin Morley, Lawrence Brownlee)
Morley and Brownlee are on sensational form in 19th-century arias and duets, writes George Hall
Celebrate the future of music with the Festival Academy Budapest
FAB celebrates its 10-year anniversary in 2025 with honoured guests and young talent
The best value bookshelf speakers for £500 or less
This cat's reaction to music is pretty adorable
Snoop, a beautiful black and white cat, gets surprisingly emotional over classical music—he even looks like he’s shedding a tear while listening to Chopin. Clearly, he's feeling all the feels.
Autism? Tourette's? Top psychiatrists assess Mozart's bizarre, brilliant mind
Using today’s psychoanalytic methods, what can we learn, asks Rebecca Franks, about the mind of Mozart, perhaps the greatest musical genius of all?
Anne Dudley, Debbie Wiseman and Anoushka Shankar among the winners at Ivors Classical Awards 2025
Rule breakers: 13 maverick musicians who tore up the rulebook
From Satie to Sun Ra, we salute 13 musicians who defiantly did things their own way - and left music incalculably the richer for it
Review: John Jenkins works (Fretwork)
Ingrid Pearson is captivated by this stunning showcase of John Jenkins works for viol consort and organ
Meet the most fascinating figures from classical music
Shock impact and religious zeal: how historically informed performance revolutionised classical music
From the Middle Ages to Miles Davis, these are the 10 best trumpeters of all time
Leading trumpeter Matilda Lloyd traces the history of her instrument through ten influential players, from the Tudor era to the present day
15 bands whose lyrics we just don't understand (and we love it that way)
Some of rock’s most beloved bands sing in riddles, nonsense, or invented languages — and we love them all the more for it
The great composers
Explore the lives and works of classical music's finest composers
This composer's personal life was an enigma. His music is a thing of wonder
We explore the life and work of Maurice Ravel, master craftsman of French music
Who was Ivor Novello? The Welsh songwriter and operetta composer who inspired The Ivors
Haydn: classical music's greatest humourist
Joseph Haydn: the classical era's great humourist... and more
Sex, scandal, symphonies: the dark history of great composers and syphilis
Romantic composers were passionate, sensual and untrammelled in their desires. Sadly, this meant a surge in deaths from syphilis
Greatest Recordings
Our recommendations of essential additions to your listening library
Prog rock 1975: ranking the 17 greatest prog albums turning 50 this year
1975 was a landmark year for progressive rock, delivering groundbreaking albums that pushed musical boundaries and redefined the genre’s scope. Here are the 15 best
Ranked: the 21 greatest country rock albums of all time
When rock met country, magic happened — steel guitars, road songs, and restless hearts. These 21 albums defined that bittersweet crossroads
These 15 stone-cold classic albums were a nightmare to make
From Fleetwood Mac to Tears for Fears: 15 classic rock albums that cost blood, sweat and tears to put together
Genesis: all 15 albums ranked from worst to best (the top 5 were SO tough)
We rank every Genesis studio album, from their early prog masterpieces to the stadium filling pop-rock of the 1980s
Albums of the week
A selection of the best reviewed albums from the latest issue of BBC Music Magazine
Review: Edge of the Storm (Telegraph Quartet)
Erik Levi is gripped by the Telegraph Quartet’s album uniting three 20th-century masterpieces from Bacewicz, Britten and Weinberg
Review: Mozart Piano Concertos, etc (Evren Ozel et al)
This concerto album is full of sparkle and charm, says Michael Jameson
Review: Nei giardini d’amore (arias by Handel, Monteverdi et al)
Hugh Cutting and Carlo Vistoli are ideally matched in these Baroque works, says Kate Bolton-Porciatti
Rock music
Explore rock music
Rock’s messiest breakups: 15 bands that ended painfully
Bands fall apart every day – but these splits were absolute carnage: betrayal, addiction, lawsuits, and wounds that still haven’t fully healed
Ranked: Queen's 25 greatest songs
From operatic epics to hard rock anthems, we rank Queen’s 25 greatest songs – celebrating their theatrical flair and timeless musical brilliance
Rock's worst debuts: 15 icons who DIDN'T get it right first time
From tentative experiments to full-blown misfires, these debut albums prove even rock’s greatest heroes didn’t always start their journeys in style.
Audio equipment reviews and advice
A selection of the best reviewed albums from the latest issue of BBC Music Magazine
