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Song of Thanksgiving 

Richard Bratby

The Catholic Beethovenby nicholas chongoxford university, 336 pages, $99 On the cover of ­Nicholas Chong’s new book, The Catholic ­Beethoven, the skies are blue. That in itself deserves comment....

Modernist Enchantment

Richard Bratby

Olivier Messiaen:A Critical Biographyby robert shollreaktion, 208 pages, $35 In May 1988, just under four years before his death, France’s greatest living composer made his only visit to Australia....

Mozart’s God

Richard Bratby

In a glass case at Mozart’s birthplace in Salzburg is a small wax doll. Its eyes look demurely downward, it wears a crown several times the size of its...

A “Somewhere” Composer

Richard Bratby

It’s about a quarter to ten at night on August 17, 2019, and I’m standing outside the Usher Hall in Edinburgh, smiling. It’s one of those Edinburgh Festival nights...