There is an uncanny symmetry in the life of the French–Canadian composer Claude Vivier: we do not know the exact time or circumstances of his birth, and we do not know the exact time or circumstances of his death. The first of these two facts haunted Vivier all his life. Born to unknown parents in Montreal in April 1948 and placed in an orphanage, he became obsessed with the identity of his birth mother, whom he never knew. Several of his compositions can be heard as a poignant attempt to communicate with her. The second fact – his murder in March 1983 by a young Parisian criminal in circumstances that remain not fully investigated – has, you might say, haunted the posthumous reputation of his music. It seems impossible to discuss Vivier's work without mentioning the cruel and sordid circumstances of his death. For some, his murder is the key to an understanding of his life and – even more controversially – of his work.

The following interview between Percy Grainger and Daniel Sternberg was broadcast live over radio on 15 May 1946. Richard Morse, then conductor of the Baylor Golden Wave Band, Baylor University, Waco, Texas, captured the interview onto a 16-inch, 33 1/3; rpm acetate transcription record. The original recording is currently owned by Mrs. Richard Morse, the widow of Richard Morse.

The existence of this recording was brought to my attention by my dear friend Paul Concilio, a relative of Mrs. Morse. Because the original recording is in poor condition, Mr. Concilio transferred the recording to a compact disc using software to filter noise. This improved the recording greatly; however, portions of the interview are still indistinct. I am grateful to Mrs. Richard Morse and Mr. Concilio for their support and invaluable assistance in this project.

Did Luigi Nono succeed in creating the ‘new music theatre’ that he wished to create – and does his second theatrical work Al gran sole carico d'amore (1975) represent such a theatre? The theatre was certainly a constant siren beckoning the composer. Right from the start of his creative life, Nono's primary concern as a composer had been with musical expression, and he cast the most powerful and often provocative literary texts in musical terms, as can be seen in the settings he made of Lorca poems during the early 1950s.

When the Swiss composer Heinrich Sutermeister (1910–1995) celebrated his 80th birthday in 1990, a discordant note was sounded by Antje Müller in the main Swiss musicological journal Dissonanz. Sutermeister had enjoyed his first major successes in Nazi Germany, and Müller now subjected this fact to more intensive scrutiny than had anyone before her, questioning how ‘neutral’ a creative artist can be in his dealings with a totalitarian state.

London, Royal Albert Hall: Proms 2006 Martin Anderson, Robert Stein, Rodney Lister, Malcolm Miller

Belgrade: Jon Gibson's ‘Violet Fire’ Donata Premeru

London, St Pancras Church: Francis Pott Jill Barlow

Cheltenham Festival 2006 Paul Conway

Edinburgh: Stuart MacRae's ‘The Assassin Tree’ David Johnson

Lucerne Festival: Heinz Holliger Peter Palmer

London, Globe Theatre: ‘Edges of Rome’ Jill Barlow

Blonay Report: Contemporary String Quartets Leo Hepner

Further London reports Paul Conway, Jill Barlow

Messiaen Robin Holloway

The John Adams Reader Robert Stein

Richard Barrett's ‘transmission’ Evan Johnson

Lou Harrison and Eve Beglarian Rodney Lister

Mátyás Seiber Alan Gibbs

Julius Röntgen round-up Martin Anderson

Franz Waxman's ‘Joshua’ Bret Johnson

David Fanshawe Jill Barlow

‘The Refined Ear’ Evan Johnson

Diamond and Avshalomov Bret Johnson

Antheil Guy Rickards

Arnold Cooke sonatas Calum MacDonald

The songs of Kaprálová Peter Palmer

‘Spirit of England’ Calum MacDonald