A new year, and a new set of round-number composer anniversaries about to feature in release schedules and concert hall programmes. Palestrina’s 500th anniversary falls this month, Ravel’s 150th in March and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s in August, and more recent figures Luciano Berio and Pierre Boulez both would have been 100 in 2025. The 100th anniversary of Erik Satie’s death is also to be commemorated this year. I’m sure there are others, but even if just these generate performances that encourage artists and audiences to reevaluate their perceptions of the music involved, then that’s already quite a spread of styles. It’s easy to dismiss coincidences of calendar as exactly that, but considered creatively, any opportunity to draw attention to the work of such fascinating figures – particularly lesser-known areas of their output – is worth supporting, and joining along for the journey.

Robert Schumann doesn’t have an anniversary of note, nor is 1840 neatly related to 2025, but we do describe that remarkable year of his life as his ‘year of song’ – as indeed did he. Over that 12-month period Schumann produced an extraordinary portion of his lieder – including Dichterliebe and Frauenliebe und -leben – and whatever the reasons for this outpouring of song, it has left us some the most beloved works in the genre. Richard Wigmore’s cover feature this month invites us to explore those works informed by the context in which they were crafted and through conversations with some of today’s leading leider artists.

In something of a Schumann special issue, we’ve also invited piano specialist Jed Distler to share his reflections on the recorded history of the composer’s Piano Concerto. Collection articles of such core works necessarily require a starting point one or two steps further along the path of sifting recordings than other works might, and we’ve previously discussed here how best to address the often hundreds of versions – and growing – that such works attract. We’ve considered looking primarily at more recent releases, but overall we believe that there’s something valuable and informative about beginning at the beginning, and bringing in the whole history of the gramophone to fully understand the evolving interpretative approach to a work. If your favourite recording gets passed by do forgive us! It all just reiterates how significant a part personal perspective plays alongside expert analysis in recommending recordings – and also hopefully leads all of us to discover something we haven’t heard before.

As you’ll read elsewhere in this issue, Sir Michael Morpurgo, the much-loved children’s author, has written new poems to accompany Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, and in so doing so inspired the violinist Daniel Pioro in his rethinking of one of the ultimate in well-known core works. Mark Seow’s meeting with them is as thought-provoking as it is moving, as two creatives from different generations discuss what art means to them personally, and to the world around them. At the opposite end of the scale of familiarity, Edward Breen travelled to hear the fascinating reviving of a medieval manuscript from Poland. As we head into a new year, that we do so accompanied by innovative projects such as these leaves me feeling confident and excited about what classical music will continue to hold for us.

martin.cullingford@markallengroup.com