麻豆社

Beethoven鈥檚 piano sonata, Op. 111. Schubert鈥檚 Schwanengesang. Brahms鈥檚 Six pieces for piano, Op. 119 - all were written as the composers approached the end of their lives, and all have become a source of fascination for the American pianist Jonathan Biss, who performs them as part of his 鈥楲ate Style鈥� concert series.聽

From Mozart鈥檚 placid final works to Brahms鈥檚 grim reckoning with death, Biss shares his insights into how some of the giant figures of classical music responded to their final days - whether they stepped calmly towards their end, or raged against the dying of the light.

Before the final curtain falls, there is a life to be lived 鈥� with all its twists and tribulations. And in the iPod era, music 鈥� more than ever - the soundtrack to our joys and exasperations. So which pieces should go on your playlist, come what may? Music critic Fiona Maddocks suggests 100 works 鈥榯o carry you through鈥�, in her new book, Music for Life.聽

The Scottish Chamber Orchestra has launched a proposal to build a new mid-sized concert hall in Edinburgh. If the proposal comes to fruition, the new hall will be part of a larger arts centre in the heart of the Scottish capital.

The Scotsman鈥檚 classical music critic, Ken Walton, explains why he believes the new hall is essential to Edinburgh鈥檚 cultural future, despite the city already being home to two other concert venues.

Until it was dismantled in October, the Calais camp 鈥� known as The Jungle 鈥� was home to 10,000 migrants living in desperate conditions. In the summer before it was closed, a small group of musicians set up a makeshift studio in the camp, and recorded some of the music the migrants had brought with them on their journeys.聽

Jungle resident Rekan Ibrahimi describes his life in the camp, while UK-based violinist Bogdan Vacarescu explains the part he played in the Calais Sessions, and the former director of the Pavarotti Music Centre in Mostar, David Wilson, offers his view of how music can transform lives, even in the most appalling circumstances.