The magical world of composers’ handwriting

Composers’ hands (l-r): Felix Mendelssohn, R Schumann, Clara Schumann, Buxtehude, JS Bach, Beethoven

Liza Lim: sketch for A Sutured World

Baude Cordier: “Tout par compas”

From Emilio de’ Cavalieri’s Lamentations of Jeremiah (c.1590)

Sketch for Robert Schumann’s First Symphony

Excerpt from Lili Boulanger’s Faust et Hélène

By Lawrence Dunn, 17 December 2025

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“the hand-eye coordination puts you in a flow state”

Bachtrack, 8th June

The leading US soprano talks about her experiences singing one of opera’s most devastating roles, which she takes to Brno this autumn.

Ambassadors for chamber music: Quatuor Ébène

Charlotte Gardner, 2nd June

Ahead of the 2026 ARD International Music Competition, Quatuor Ébène’s Pierre Colombet and Gabriel Le Magadure talk about the competition’s transformative effect on their career, performing Beethoven around the world, and advocating for chamber music.

Bachtrack top ten: Robert Schumann

Mark Pullinger, 1st June

Robert Schumann’s music is intensely personal. Unlike the architectural grandeur of Beethoven or the theatrical brilliance of Franz Liszt, Schumann specialised in emotional intimacy and nuance.

From Salzburg, with love: Hans Graf bids farewell to Singapore

Peter Quantrill, 7th April

The Austrian conductor reflects on his seven year tenure with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, work and life, returning to old scores, and why a musical ensemble is like a giant human body.

Bach transformed: Jean Rondeau on remaking the Goldberg Variations

Bachtrack, 1st April

Renowned harpsichordist Jean Rondeau presents a new view of Bach’s Goldberg Variations at this year’s Bachfest Schaffhausen, including in arrangement for Baroque ensemble, and as a new composition for piano, percussion and electronics inspired by the cycle.

Cristian Sandrin presents a new view of Mozart’s piano concertos

Bachtrack, 16th March

How to defamiliarize Mozart’s well known piano concertos? This April pianist Cristian Sandrin joins the London Mozart Players for new chamber arrangements of three concertos, for solo piano and string quartet.

Lawrence Dunn

Lawrence is commissioning editor at Bachtrack. He is a composer, improviser, pianist and writer. He has taught at Cambridge, Huddersfield and Sheffield universities. He has written music for, among others the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble Modern, Slagwerk Den Haag, Philip Thomas, Juliet Fraser, Ilya Gringolts, Plus-Minus, Exaudi, Apartment House and Explore Ensemble.

Traces and scratches: the magical world of composers’ handwriting