Stephen Johnson
Journalist and Critic, BBC Music Magazine
Stephen Johnson is a critic and writer for BBC Music Magazine, with work also published in The Independent, The Guardian and Gramophone. He is a regular contributor on BBC Radio 3, 4 and the World Service, and has presented programmes and documentaries on Bruckner, Shostakovich and Vaughan Williams. He has also written books on music, including Bruckner Remembered (Faber, 1999), The Eighth: Mahler and the World in 1910 (Faber, 2020) and How Shostakovich Changed My Mind (Notting Hill Editions, 2020). Johnson's musical life began as a cellist at school in Manchester, before he went on to study composition under Alexander Goehr at Leeds University and subsequently undertaking postgraduate study at Manchester University, focusing on Shostakovich's String Quartets.
Recent articles by Stephen Johnson
Sibelius: Symphony No. 4, etc
Pitch: what is pitch in music?
Stephen Johnson gets to grips with classical music's technical terms. He defines pitch in music, what it means and the context in which it's used in classical music and composing
Music from memory: pros and cons of playing music without the score
How do you learn music by heart? The classical music world is mixed in its views towards playing music without the score, but when does it help or hinder a performance?
What is a melody? And how has it developed through history?
It may be one of music’s fundamental properties, but the art of penning a memorable melody has long proved a notoriously elusive one. Stephen Johnson reveals the story – and the secrets – behind the humble tune
Bruckner: Symphony No. 3
History of memorising music: the trend for binning scores and music stands on stage
Performing from memory hasn’t always been required of our soloists – so why is it universally expected today? We explain the history of performers learning music by heart
Mozart 1791
A guide to Beethoven's piano concerto no.4 and its best recordings
Stephen Johnson is captivated by Beethoven in warm, lyrical mode as he listens out for the finest recordings of his groundbreaking work, Beethoven's piano concerto No.4
Sibelius: Symphonies Nos 3 & 4 (Montreal/Nézet-Séguin)
Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal/Yannick Nézet-Séguin (ATMA Classique)
Beethoven: Violin Sonatas Nos 2, 4 & 9
Antje Weithaas (violin), Dénes Várjon (piano) (CAvi-music)
How the East inspired classical music, from the fictional heroine Scheherazade to the sounds and sights of India
Culminating in rich portrayals of Scheherazade by Rimsky-Korsakov and Ravel, the ‘exotic’ Orient inspired countless composers, says Stephen Johnson
Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5 (Cleveland/Welser-Möst)
Cleveland Orchestra/Franz Welser-Möst (Cleveland Orchestra)
Mahler: Des Knaben Wunderhorn (arr. wind octet)
Peter Schöne (baritone); Philharmonia Octet Prague (Supraphon)
Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos 8-10 (Berlin Phil/K Petrenko)
Berlin Philharmonic/Kirill Petrenko (Berlin Phil)
Mahler: Symphony No. 5 (Montreal/Payare)
Orchestre symphonique de Montréal/Rafael Payare (Pentatone)
Vaughan Williams: Symphonies Nos 7 & 9 (BBC SO/Brabbins)
Elizabeth Watts (soprano); BBC Symphony Orchestra & Chorus/Martyn Brabbins (Hyperion)
Brahms's Clarinet Quintet: a guide to his chamber masterpiece and its best recordings
The charms of post-retirement Brahms enthral Stephen Johnson as he names the best recordings of the German’s late chamber masterpiece, his Clarinet Quintet
What is an apoggiatura?
Know what an apoggiatura is in music? Stephen Johnson explains
Mahler, Gustav
Meet Gustav Mahler, the symphony's great synthesist
R Schumann: Symphonies Nos 3 & 4 (arr. Mahler)
ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra/Marin Alsop (Naxos)
Soiréestücke
Lauri Sallinen (clarinet), Anna Kuvaja (piano) (Alba)
R Schumann: Symphonies (Staatskapelle Berlin/Barenboim)
Staatskapelle Berlin/Daniel Barenboim (DG)
Holst • Vaughan Williams: String Quartets Nos 1 & 2 etc
Tippett Quartet (SOMM Recordings)
Vaughan Williams: Symphonies Nos 6 & 8 etc (BBCSO/Brabbins)
BBC Symphony Chorus; BBC Symphony Orchestra/Martyn Brabbins et al (Hyperion)