Reflections on music with Edward Longstaff
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​​​Edward Longstaff is a composer, cellist and conductor, who was based at The Purcell School
of Music for more than thirty years, teaching academic music, directing choirs and orchestras,
and coaching
chamber ensembles.
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Edward retired from full-time teaching in 2024 to allow himself more time to devote to composition.
He has recently completed a Cello Concerto (which will be premiered in 2027) and is working on
a two-act opera, The History of Mr Polly.
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In his Reflections on Music, he introduces Classic Count listeners to music that they may have not
come across and to offer a musician’s insights into more familiar pieces with the aim of enhancing their enjoyment of the music.
Further details on www.edwardlongstaff.com
The Swan, by Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns
Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (1835 –1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic era.
Canzona No. 9, by Giovanni Gabrieli
Giovanni Gabrieli (1557 – 1612) was an Italian composer and organist. He was one of the most influential musicians of his time and represents the culmination of the style of the Venetian School, at the time of the shift from Renaissance to Baroque idioms.
Francis Poulenc Les Biches 1st movement
Francis Poulenc (1899–1963) was a prolific French composer and pianist, famously described as "half monk, half rascal" due to the striking contrast between his witty, irreverent secular works and his deeply spiritual sacred music.