December 2020 marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of Ludwig van Beethoven, one of Europe’s greatest composers, a musician of a revolutionary era who revolutionised music.1 Why should socialists be interested? The answer is twofold. Firstly, the need for… Continue Reading
The recent centenary of the Russian Revolution produced a renewed flurry of interest in the events of 1917 and reminded us of their huge impact. The focus of those discussions for revolutionary socialists was quite rightly the significance of the… Continue Reading
A review of Dave Randall, Sound System: The Political Power of Music, Pluto Press/Left Book Club (2017), £12.99 The inter-relationship of music and politics, and their immersion into each other’s spaces, has been a source of inspiration for many great… Continue Reading
For the best part of 50 years it has been common to ask whether “classical” music is dead/dying.1 More than classical theatre, literature or art, classical music seems more and more to be the preserve of a tiny elite. Are… Continue Reading