The poor French. When we think of classical music, we always think of the Germans. It’s understandable. Instinctive. Ingrained. But unfair. We forget that most of the heavy lifting — most of the intrepid leaps forward in harmony, colour, rhythm and form — was done by the likes of Berlioz, Debussy and Boulez.
Igor Toronyi-Lalic
Forget the Germans. It’s the French who made classical music what it is
2014 was the 250th anniversary of one of great French musical adventurers, Jean-Philippe Rameau. Were the celebrations generous enough?

Comments
Don't miss out
Join the conversation with other Spectator readers. Subscribe to leave a comment.
UNLOCK ACCESSAlready a subscriber? Log in