Music

This print from 1807 shows John Bull sat between the rival singers Elizabeth Billington (left) and Angelica Catalani, who sing lines adapted from The Beggar’s Opera.

Sex, lies and arias: the prima donnas of Georgian London

Three medieval carol singers, image dated 1911

Christmas carols: the history behind 9 festive favourites

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From players who captivated audiences to composers who pushed boundaries, Susan Tomes explores the history of the piano. (Image from Getty Images)

The piano: a musical history . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Queen Elizabeth I dancing with Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. Artist unknown. (© Lebrecht Music and Arts Photo Library/Alamy)

Tudor tunes: music at the courts of Henry VIII, Elizabeth I and James VI and I

Claude-Joseph Rouget de Lisle

Q&A Who wrote the French national anthem?

Portrait of Carlo Broschi (stage name Farinelli), the most famous opera singer of the 18th century. (Photo By DEA/A. DAGLI ORTI/De Agostini/Getty Images)

Castrated Georgian opera stars: the stars of the 18th century

An Australian Sea Shanty band, c1988

A brief history of sea shanties

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David Hepworth tells the story of the British rock bands. (Image by Getty Images)

When British pop invaded America . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom' (2020): Viola Davis as Ma Rainey. (Photo by David Lee/Netflix)

Who was Ma Rainey, “mother of the blues”?

A bust of Ludwig van Beethoven before the original handwritten score for his Piano Sonata no. 28 in A major, Op. 101. The composer stood at the vanguard of a new artistic movement that celebrated emotion and nature. (Getty Images/Alamy/Dreamstime)

The soundtrack of Beethoven’s life

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On the trail of the lost pianos of Siberia (Photo by Michael Turek)

Russia’s musical journeys . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Charles Manson stares out from fabric on sale in San Francisco

The afterlife of Charles Manson

Photo of a gramophone

Q&A Who do we say 'put a sock in it'?

Ballerina Margot Fonteyn in a tutu

Q&A Who invented the tutu?

Courtiers dancing La Volta in a scene from 1953 film The Sword And The Rose

Strictly shocking: the dances that shook the world