Emma’s Articles

‘Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast. To soften rocks, or bend the knotted oak’  William Congreve. Music never ceases to astonish me. With its power to sweep listeners …

I’m working towards a performance of the Clarinet Trio by nineteenth century musician, Louise Farrenc (1804-1875) https://www.emmajohnson.co.uk/concerts/ It’s a sparkling piece, well written for clarinet, piano and cello and dating …

Does Birdsong Have the Same Origins as our Music? It’s always a privilege to work towards a performance of Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time, as I currently am …

Sometimes wind players are under the impression that the sound they make is purely due to their instrument. They create  oscillations in air flow by blowing across a reed, or …

Last year I had the pleasure of meeting the Beethoven scholar, Jonathan del Mar. I was just about to give a performance of Vittorio Monti’s Czardas, so we fell to …

Recently I was invited by my old secondary school to come and give a talk. They’d noticed a reduction in the number of students taking part in musical events, so …

The pandemic has really brought home to me how much the work of a concert artist is about bringing people together to share a musical experience. In normal times there …

Mozart, Haydn, Gluck, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, Strauss, Mahler, Bruckner, Schoenberg – it reads like a roll call of the great and good in classical music – but the amazing thing …

Running commentary (A few light-hearted lessons learned training for a half marathon) When you tell people you’re going to train for a half marathon they divide into two groups: the …

A look at the funnier moments in music….   SOMM Recordings have just issued a CD taken from a live performance by my instrumental group at the Turner Sims Concert …