BBC Music Magazine

Home comforts

With concert engagements and recording sessions cancelled, and forced to share their own company at home, classical musicians have had their normal existences brought to a shuddering, unwelcome halt by coronavirus. In many cases, however, this has by no means meant giving up and doing nothing.

Faced with the challenge of enforced lockdown, performers across the globe have been hugely inventive in finding ways of sharing their talents with audiences via the internet. New repertoire has been learned, skills in filming and multitracking have been finely honed and, in some instances, composers have even been commissioned for the occasion. Here, we present some of the best examples, described by the musicians themselves.

Fenella Humphreys violinist

When every email that came through was another concert cancellation, it became clear I was going to have to adapt. I don’t teach, so I had nothing

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from BBC Music Magazine

BBC Music Magazine3 min read
English Master
Vaughan Williams Howells Delius Elgar Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis; Concerto for String Orchestra; Late Swallows; Introduction and Allegro Sinfonia of London/John Wilson Chandos CHSA 5291 John Wilson has become a familiar face on the BBC Musi
BBC Music Magazine2 min read
Music To My Ears
An Easter trip to Crantock in Cornwall presented the perfect opportunity for a clifftop walk, complete with headphones. First up, to accompany crashing waves and gliding seagulls, was Vaughan Williams’s Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus, performed b
BBC Music Magazine2 min read
Vocal Award Jakub Józef Orliński
Works by Monteverdi, Caccini, Frescobaldi, Kapsberger, Saracini et al Jakub Józef Orliński (countertenor); Il Pomo d’Oro Erato 5419772645 ‘Early Baroque music is really difficult,’ explains Jakub Józef Orliński. ‘When I was younger, I knew it was tri

Related Books & Audiobooks