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Oct 8, 2015

George Eliot on violin-making obsession and the genius of Stradivarius

To mark the UK's National Poetry Day, 8th October, here's George Eliot's great poem about violin making and the obsession with which...

Aug 29, 2014

Everything you need to know about violin playing (but were never taught)

Musical timing and closure, hearing and thinking for ourselves – just some of the things that teaching often fails to help us with,...

Aug 22, 2014

The real secret of Stradivarius?

I had a lovely morning yesterday talking to cellist Natalie Clein for two forthcoming articles – about her new Saint-Saëns disc, for...

Aug 21, 2014

Leopold Auer weighs in on the vibrato debate

Responses to my post about Menuhin's vibrato drew a mixture of responses. I’d remarked on it being ‘perfectly shaped’ and ‘fluid’ and...

Aug 11, 2014

James Ehnes on violin obsession and existential crisis

My latest interview for Cozio, with violinist James Ehnes, has just gone live, so please go and visit. He had so much to say about his...