The symphony that began on a tram

It is fifty years since the death of Hungarian composer Zoltan Kodály.

Rachmaninov under the auctioneer’s hammer

The autograph manuscript of Rachmaninov’s Second Symphony – the one with all the great tunes – has been sold at auction for £1.2 million. The 320-page score was presumed lost until it was discovered in the cellar of a Swiss collector in 2004.

Jean Sibelius: A voyage of discovery

Is anything more beautiful than the symphonies of Sibelius? Well, of course – from time to time. Two of these uplifting works are just over 100 years old, but they sound as fresh and bracing as the landscapes from which they were hewn.