New in VAN
Essay
Incoherence and Indignity in the Classic FM Hall of Fame
An enraging weekend with the world’s most relaxing music
Mozart as Snake Oil
How pseudoscience advocates exploit classical music in their campaigns against autism
Most read last week
Mozart as Snake Oil
How pseudoscience advocates exploit classical music in their campaigns against autism
What Remains Behind
After hearing loss, facing a changed relationship with the music that felt like everything
I Know, But: Andrea Bocelli
In an opera world flailing for mass appeal, there are worse things than an enthusiastic if underqualified crooner
The Art of the Ideal
What classical institutions mean when they say that “music can change the world”
An Actually Erotic Classical Music for Sex Playlist
Quiverings, tappings, and indecorous counterpoint
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In the countryside
I Know, But: “Appalachian Spring”
A politically muddled masterpiece for a country at (endless) war
13 Ways of Looking at “Sheep May Safely Graze”
On Bach as spiritual life support in the age of Trump
Fall In Love Again and Again
Daniel Pioro on his lifelong relationship with Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons”
On ambience
Unwind, Unwound
Ambient music is a powerful, boundary-pushing genre. So how did it get caught up in the contemporary wellness algorithmic-industrial complex?
The Disappearing Monument
William Basinski’s “The Disintegration Loops,” a quarter-century later
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New in VAN
A Matter of Perspective
The manuscripts of recently rediscovered works by Bach and Mozart have been around for decades. What changed?
Welcome 2 Shorworld
With the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the Philharmonia and Max Richter all playing CMDI events, Shorworld is back—and even more ambitious
Stand By Your Man
As emails seen by VAN show a high level of internal pushback regarding Norman Lebrecht’s rehiring by BBC Radio 3, why did the station’s controller sack him now—and why was he rehired in the first place?
Is Post-Piece Silence a Recession Indicator?
Silence is a precious and dangerous tool. Use it at your peril.
From five years ago…
I Know, But: “Boléro”
More than an artifact of classical music gone pop, Ravel’s most famous work is a masterclass in orchestration
An Old, New Song
What happens when the haunting imagery of “Winterreise” darkens into pathology?
From ten years ago…
Last But Not Least
