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Before this festival I had never heard of the Alliance for Women Film Composers, but when I saw they were involved with one of the events I thought I should make sure to be there. Renowned music supervisor Gemma Dempsey hosted the Sunday morning discussion, which also included live performances of the featured composers’ music […]
On Saturday afternoon, having had a day and a half to recover from the Homegrown Heroes: From Bond to Thunderbirds concert at the Barbican, British soundtrack composer extraordinaire David Arnold was back for another taste of the London Soundtrack Festival – this time in conversation with journalist Sean Wilson at the Royal College of Music. […]
Rounding off the 2026 London Soundtrack Festival was the aptly titled Rachel Portman & Friends – Beyond the Screen, as the celebrated composer was joined on stage at Cadogan Hall by friends and collaborators Gill Graham, Niklas Liepe & Nils Liepe to talk and play through her illustrious career to date. Not only was Portman […]
From Sunday evenings on ITV1 to Saturday night at Central Hall Westminster (via the big screen), An Evening at Downton Abbey was a true celebration of all things related to the fictional Crawley family. Alastair King conducted the Chamber Orchestra of London, who were responsible for recording the scores to all of the Downton Abbey TV […]
A reimagined version of George Bernard Shaw’s Saint Joan is currently playing at the Arches Lane Theatre. Adapted by Ruthie Black, Peter Hinton-Davis & James Saxby, the typically three/four-hour long play has been compressed down to a suggested running time of 90 minutes (although it actually only ran to 70 minutes at my performance), and […]
Hosted by the queen of soundtrack nerdery herself, Edith Bowman, Homegrown Heroes: From Bond to Thunderbirds was both a great way to mark the end of the first day of this year’s London Soundtrack Festival, and also celebrate the incredible ongoing career of British composer David Arnold. It took place in Barbican Hall (the home […]
“He thinks in song” Upon its arrival in the West End in 2024, this jukebox musical about The Kinks proved the surprise hit of the season, scooping four Olivier Awards and completing a two-year run at the Harold Pinter Theatre. Now Sunny Afternoon is off on its second nationwide tour, bringing the music of Ray […]
The VitalsRelease date: 20 June 1966UK chart peak: #3Running time: 72:37Singles: One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later) (#33), Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 (#7), I Want You (#16) Despite being considered one of the greatest albums of all time, Blonde on Blonde didn’t make as spectacular a splash in 1966 as you’d expect […]
Surprisingly, the 2025 edition of the London Soundtrack Festival was also its inaugural running. As someone who has taken great joy in soundtracks to both film and TV over the years – be it Murray Gold’s incredible Doctor Who compositions, Quentin Tarantino’s mixtape approach, or the classic discography of John Williams (and many more besides) – […]
I have been fortunate enough to see Klaus Mäkelä give a couple of concerts as part of the BBC Proms over the past two years – before the first of these I had no idea about his growing reputation, I was simply interested in hearing Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique. Instantly mesmerised, I quickly got up to speed, […]
The VitalsRelease date: 26 October 1981UK chart peak: #1Running time: 58:19Singles: N/A Queen’s Greatest Hits proved to be a hit outside of the UK as well, reaching number 1 in Austria, the Netherlands, Germany & New Zealand – plus it hit the top 30 in Australia (#2) and Norway (#21). It has sold consistently in the […]
It’s the historical conspiracy theory that seems to sprout more tendrils whenever you think you’ve snipped the very last one off: there can’t have been one person behind the plays of the so-called William Shakespeare. Most of the time they’re borne out of elitism and snobbery, using his ‘basic’ education and status as the son of […]
The VitalsRelease date: 5 August 1966UK chart peak: #1Running time: 35:01Singles: Yellow Submarine/Eleanor Rigby (#1) Revolver also proved popular across the world, hitting the top spot in Australia, Finland, Germany, Sweden & the USA (Billboard 200), as well as reaching the top twenty in France (#5) & Norway (#14). Crooners & film soundtracks stood side-by-side […]
Whilst the AIDS crisis of the 1980s is an episode with widespread awareness, thanks to tireless campaigns to destigmatise the condition and lead the charge to find a cure, the first heterosexual HIV cluster in the UK in the late 90s is less well known about. Danielle Phillips’ debut play, Children of the Night, has […]
