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Mrs Eleanor Purce
From 1976 to 1980 I had piano lessons from Eleanor Purce at Keele University. She had been a pupil of the great Alfred Cortot and as his writing on music did not include his method she decided to write her own version of how she taught based on the wisdom he passed on to her. …
Hector Berlioz
Berlioz, his Life in Music An examination of his life and music using his own remarkable autobiography as a guide. Unlike many of his contemporaries such as Mendelssohn, Chopin and Liszt, Berlioz was not an infant prodigy. In fact he never mastered any instrument and always composed in silence away from the piano, an instrument…
String Quartet No. 3
I have always enjoyed chamber music and this is the latest of my string quartets written between 1987 and 1994. First movement – Allegro This movement was influenced by Schubert, a favourite composer of my piano teacher, Eleanor Purce, a pupil of Alfred Cortot. String Quartet No. 3 1st movement Second movement – Adagio This…
Fanny Mendelssohn
Mendelssohn and Mendelssohn Fanny and Felix had a closer bond than probably any two other musicians but had very different careers due to their difference in gender. In his youth, Felix was described as the Mozart of the C19th but some considered his sister Fanny to be even more talented. She was destined by convention…
Viola Sonata
Viola players often complain that there is not enough music for them. Perhaps they would like to try this. First movement Viola sonata I First movement Second movement Viola sonata II Second movement Third movement Viola sonata III Third movement If you would like free copies of the sheet music for this work please contact…
Maurice Ravel
Unravelling Ravel A study of his life and music and that of his contemporaries. Maurice Ravel was a very private man who wrote some of the best-loved music of the twentieth century although he always dismissed Bolero as merely an academic exercise – but then he never saw Torvill and Dean. Works studied include Pavane pour…