11 h. ago Know the score? I don’t read music, but that’s no hindrance to reimagining great classical works

Folk duo Pound & Stevens have transformed, and added to, Holst’s The Planets Suite and tour the new work this week with Britten Sinfonia. Will Pound explains why playing by ear is his greatest strengthI’m a harmonica and accordion player and one half of folk-classical duo Stevens & Pound. As a multi-instrumentalist I am rooted in a folk tradition that is oral, aural and communal. Music and song are passed down by ear, either through recordings or – more fun – traditional music sessions. Here, players and singers get together to share, swap and play tunes, drawing from a repertoire that is always evolving. While collections of tunes are certainly notated, their scores act as a skeleton – providing the basic architecture of pitch and rhythm but rarely offering explicit guidance on how the music should be played.Delia Stevens and I are about to head out on tour, performing with the Britten Sinfonia and Robert Macfarlane in a new work called The Silent Planet, a recomposition of...

Politics

35 h. ago Classical music brings us joy and meaning. In this time of doom and gloom, we need to talk about that | James Murphy

Why do we focus on the bad news stories about cuts and crises in classical music ? Musicians are doing incredible things to engage, support and sustain us; we should tell those stories tooWhen did you last read a good news story about classical music?Think of the stories that have made the headlines in recent years: funding cuts to national opera companies, closure threats to university music departments, councils axing local provision, classroom music-making in decline. Continue reading...

Politics

36 h. ago Revealed: The easiest university courses to get into prestigious Oxford and Cambridge

Modern languages, classics, and music are among the subjects where more than half of the students who applied were offered a place into Oxbridge.

Politics

48 h. ago Police ordered to respond to emergencies in 15 minutes as Home Secretary slams delays

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood will call time on unacceptable delays which can mean perpetrators and witnesses have disappeared when officers arrive at the scene

Society

64 h. ago Fitness fraud: gym goers warned over fake deals on memberships and personal trainers

January is a prime time for people looking to get fit, so fraudsters create fake websites and appsA new year means a new start – it’s time to get fit and there are quite a few deals out there. On Facebook you see a local gym advertising a discount on membership if you sign up within the next few hours. There are limited spaces so you act quickly.It’s only after you pay that you realise the ad was a fraud: you’ve received no membership details and when you contact the gym it has no record of your payment. Continue reading...

Events

3 d. ago Robbie Williams says he's 'an absent parent' as touring takes a toll on him

Ahead of his Long '90s UK tour, Robbie Williams has revealed his busy music career has meant sacrificing precious time with his children Teddy, Charlton, Colette and Beau

Politics

3 d. ago Dog and cat owners can win £200 voucher with a photo of their pet

Animed has launched a competition celebrating the joy pets bring, with one lucky owner winning a £200 voucher for pet food, medicine and supplies. Enter before January 25

Economics

6 d. ago Girl, 15, shares family's reaction to her getting pregnant by 12

Bella, 15, and Hunter, 13, who hail from Arkansas in the US, became parents to a boy named Wesley in March last year, meaning they were just 14 and 12-years-old at the time

Politics

1 week ago ‘He was, above all, a treasured spirit, who understood how vital music is for the human soul’: tributes to Andrew Clements

In the week that we mourn the death of the Guardian’s long-serving classical music critic, composers, performers, colleagues and others who knew and worked with him pay tribute to a writer whose passing is a huge loss to the music worldI owe Andrew Clements big time. He wrote so positively about my music early in my career and the last article he wrote was singling out my opera Festen for special praise. He did seem to go off me a bit in mid career but he was such a serious and thoughtful critic that I often agreed with him. I got to know him very well in the late 90s as he was the partner of the librettist and translator Amanda Holden. He had such a broad knowledge of music and a great enthusiasm for new music which he wrote and spoke about with such warmth and humour. We spent many evenings in Highbury talking about Stravinsky, politics and Arsenal football club – he cared about the most important things in life. Mark-Anthony Turnage, composer*** Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Burns night 2026: The best whiskies under £70 to toast the haggis

Burns night falls this month, meaning it's an ideal time to try a new whisky or rediscover an old favourite.

Economics

1 week ago Today at the Masters Snooker 2026: Friday order of play, prize money, semi final draw, odds

It’s day six at one of the biggest snooker competitions of the season - which means it’s time for the last two quarter finals.

Politics

1 week ago How much Kayla Itsines, the Kardashians, Darcy Laceby and Ella Mills are REALLY making revealed in our Wellness Rich List. They flog everything from sex dust to silver tea... now we have the truth

There was a time when 'wellness' simply meant not being ill. Today, it's not just a buzzword.

Politics

1 week ago Thursday at the Masters Snooker 2026: Prize money, todays's order of play, quarter final draw, trophy, odds

It’s day five at one of the biggest snooker competitions of the season - which means it’s quarter final time.

Politics

1 week ago Family has nightmares about woman's hospital treatment after cancer death

Delays meant by the time she had a diagnosis she was too ill to be helped

Events

2 w. ago Cardiff City forward primed for loan move as January exits mount

The Bluebirds winger is set to leave on loan in order to gain some more meaningful game time in the second half of the season

Politics

2 w. ago Coronation Street star Wendi Peters explains why she's stopped watching ITV soap

Coronation Street legend Wendi Peters, who starred as Cilla Battersby-Brown, has stopped watching the show in the years since she left because of the "doom and gloom" in current episodes

Politics

2 w. ago Andrew Clements, Guardian’s classical music critic, dies aged 75

An outstanding critical voice, his deep knowledge and love of music was evident in everything he wroteThe Guardian’s long-serving and much admired classical music critic Andrew Clements died on Sunday aged 75 after a period of illness.Clements joined the Guardian arts team in August 1993, succeeding Edward Greenfield as the paper’s chief music critic. His appointment was clinched by a personal recommendation to the editor from the late Alfred Brendel, who argued for Clements to get the job on account of his deep understanding of contemporary music. For the next 32 years, Clements ranged across all fields of classical music in his writing for the Guardian, and often beyond. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago ‘There is one story we never tell’: will old family photos bring joy to my ailing mother – or remind us of dark secrets?

As Alzheimer’s tightens its grip, we have started making our way through the hundreds of albums in my childhood home. But some are too painful to revisitA couple of months ago, my mother moved into a nursing home. Her Alzheimer’s has progressed to a point where it’s no longer safe for her to live alone, and she now needs round-the-clock care. It has been my task to empty out her house, where she lived for more than 50 years.It’s not a job I would have asked for; it requires that I trawl through memories that aren’t mine, or shared memories that are painful for one reason or another. But my mother is no longer able  to make these decisions herself, about which of her possessions are worth keeping hold of and which should be discarded, either for practical reasons of space or necessity or because a continued attachment to the stories behind them might do more harm than good. By deciding these things for her I’m curating her life story. Continue reading...

Society

2 w. ago Jellycat fanatic vows to keep growing astonishing World Record breaking collection

Hope Roberts, 19, has accrued a staggering 1,021 Jellycat toys after revealing the collection brings her "so much joy"

Politics

2 w. ago INGRID TARRANT: I have no time for Rolexes... they're vulgar and common!

Ingrid, 71, is a journalist and television personality best known for shows such as TV Mail, Celebrity Coach Trip and Our Shirley Valentine Summer.

Politics