Philip Clark
@musicclerk.bsky.social
Writer, author & journalist; Dave Brubeck biographer; new book “Sound and the City" coming in 2026 from White Rabbit (UK), Hachette (US); Eccles Centre & Hay Festival Writer's Award Winner, 2022.
Info: curtisbrown.co.uk/client/philip-clark
Oxford/London
Info: curtisbrown.co.uk/client/philip-clark
Oxford/London
In which I write about the new Alan Partridge series & conclude all paths in British comedy lead back to Tony Hancock.
Subscribe to @prospectmagazine.co.uk culture newsletter - www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/newsletters
Online link: www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/culture/the-...
@tonyhancock.bsky.social
Subscribe to @prospectmagazine.co.uk culture newsletter - www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/newsletters
Online link: www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/culture/the-...
@tonyhancock.bsky.social
November 6, 2025 at 10:46 AM
In which I write about the new Alan Partridge series & conclude all paths in British comedy lead back to Tony Hancock.
Subscribe to @prospectmagazine.co.uk culture newsletter - www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/newsletters
Online link: www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/culture/the-...
@tonyhancock.bsky.social
Subscribe to @prospectmagazine.co.uk culture newsletter - www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/newsletters
Online link: www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/culture/the-...
@tonyhancock.bsky.social
A memory of the great and irreplaceable Jack DeJohnette for @theguardian.com music
www.theguardian.com/music/2025/o...
www.theguardian.com/music/2025/o...
Jack DeJohnette was more than a jazz drummer – his staggering range made him a superhuman force in music
With a complex playing style that was nevertheless generous towards other musicians, the US musician was in a category all of his own
www.theguardian.com
October 27, 2025 at 4:28 PM
A memory of the great and irreplaceable Jack DeJohnette for @theguardian.com music
www.theguardian.com/music/2025/o...
www.theguardian.com/music/2025/o...
My piece about Francesca Wade's thoughtful Gertrude Stein biography - not that Stein made life easy for her biographers.
thespectator.com/book-and-art...
thespectator.com/book-and-art...
Francesca Wade’s Gertrude Stein biography is a study in frustration
This new Stein biography by the British writer Francesca Wade unfolds as a study in frustration. Wade divides the book down the middle.
thespectator.com
October 7, 2025 at 12:12 PM
My piece about Francesca Wade's thoughtful Gertrude Stein biography - not that Stein made life easy for her biographers.
thespectator.com/book-and-art...
thespectator.com/book-and-art...
Some thoughts about Mingus in Argentina: The Buenos Aires Concerts and the perfect imperfection of jazz.
www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-...
www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-...
The very essence of jazz: Mingus In Argentina reviewed
Grade: B Charles Mingus arrived in Buenos Aires at the start of his 1977 Argentinian tour with aching joints, an ominous first sign of the muscle-wasting Lou Gehrig’s disease that would claim his life...
www.spectator.co.uk
September 30, 2025 at 10:38 AM
Some thoughts about Mingus in Argentina: The Buenos Aires Concerts and the perfect imperfection of jazz.
www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-...
www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-...
"A novel that speeds away in a thousand directions at once - a free improvisation sprawling over nearly 400 pages."
My piece about that other great 1925 American novel, John Dos Passos' Manhattan Transfer, for @prospectmagazine.co.uk
My piece about that other great 1925 American novel, John Dos Passos' Manhattan Transfer, for @prospectmagazine.co.uk
The other great American novel of 1925
You can’t miss the centenary celebrations for ‘The Great Gatsby’. But what about John Dos Passos’s compulsive, cacophonous ‘Manhattan Transfer’?
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk
July 1, 2025 at 6:35 AM
"A novel that speeds away in a thousand directions at once - a free improvisation sprawling over nearly 400 pages."
My piece about that other great 1925 American novel, John Dos Passos' Manhattan Transfer, for @prospectmagazine.co.uk
My piece about that other great 1925 American novel, John Dos Passos' Manhattan Transfer, for @prospectmagazine.co.uk
The compositional mysteries and acoustic splendour of Palestrina - my piece for this week's @thespectator1828.bsky.social
www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-...
www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-...
The Renaissance master who rescued polyphonic music
Last month I watched conductor Harry Christophers blow through what sounded like an arthritic harmonica but in fact was a pure-toned pitch pipe, which handed the singers of his vocal group the Sixteen...
www.spectator.co.uk
June 12, 2025 at 6:44 AM
The compositional mysteries and acoustic splendour of Palestrina - my piece for this week's @thespectator1828.bsky.social
www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-...
www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-...
A little memory of interviewing the great Per Nørgård, who died today aged 92.
www.spectator.co.uk/article/rip-...
www.spectator.co.uk/article/rip-...
RIP to new music's gentle, smiley radical
Danish composer Per Norgard – whose death at the age of 92 was announced this morning – was a towering presence in European new music, and the shine-bright timbres and heady narrative drive of his eig...
www.spectator.co.uk
May 28, 2025 at 7:24 PM
A little memory of interviewing the great Per Nørgård, who died today aged 92.
www.spectator.co.uk/article/rip-...
www.spectator.co.uk/article/rip-...
Does Arnold Schoenberg matter? You bet he does!
My essay for the latest issue of New York Review of Books, @nybooks.com, published today.
www.nybooks.com/articles/202...
My essay for the latest issue of New York Review of Books, @nybooks.com, published today.
www.nybooks.com/articles/202...
The Atonal Genie | Philip Clark
Arnold Schoenberg's music still challenges listeners, but his twelve-tone technique also turns up in all sorts of unexpected places, from horror film scores to cartoons to jazz.
www.nybooks.com
May 22, 2025 at 12:27 PM
Does Arnold Schoenberg matter? You bet he does!
My essay for the latest issue of New York Review of Books, @nybooks.com, published today.
www.nybooks.com/articles/202...
My essay for the latest issue of New York Review of Books, @nybooks.com, published today.
www.nybooks.com/articles/202...
A piece about Charles Ives, how his work changed ideas about ways in which music could be recorded, how he queried the boundaries of symphonies and sonatas, and about why he still matters, inspired by an essential recent box set of his music.
thespectator.com/book-and-art...
thespectator.com/book-and-art...
Charles Ives was a composer before his time
Ives left his distinctive mark on the form, yet paradoxically barely any of the material in the symphony was his. The Second Symphony operated
thespectator.com
May 6, 2025 at 9:12 AM
A piece about Charles Ives, how his work changed ideas about ways in which music could be recorded, how he queried the boundaries of symphonies and sonatas, and about why he still matters, inspired by an essential recent box set of his music.
thespectator.com/book-and-art...
thespectator.com/book-and-art...
My review of @reversediorama.bsky.social's tasty new collection of music journalism.
www.spectator.co.uk/article/my-a...
www.spectator.co.uk/article/my-a...
My adventures in experimental music – by David Keenan
David Keenan acquired his craft as a music writer, he says, from reading the crème de la crème of critics who milked rock music for all it was worth during the 1970s – Lester Bangs, Griel Marcus, Paul...
www.spectator.co.uk
April 24, 2025 at 7:15 AM
My review of @reversediorama.bsky.social's tasty new collection of music journalism.
www.spectator.co.uk/article/my-a...
www.spectator.co.uk/article/my-a...
Massively excited to be in the latest @sherlockholmesmag.co.uk!
April 20, 2025 at 9:42 AM
Massively excited to be in the latest @sherlockholmesmag.co.uk!
My piece about Mahan Esfahani @mahanesfahani.bsky.social and the harpsichord past, present and future, from JS Bach to George Lewis, for New York Review of Books @nybooks.com
www.nybooks.com/online/2025/...
www.nybooks.com/online/2025/...
All the Stops | Philip Clark
During an afternoon concert in Cologne in 2016, an audience that had been expecting Baroque classics hissed and booed when the harpsichordist Mahan
www.nybooks.com
April 13, 2025 at 4:45 PM
My piece about Mahan Esfahani @mahanesfahani.bsky.social and the harpsichord past, present and future, from JS Bach to George Lewis, for New York Review of Books @nybooks.com
www.nybooks.com/online/2025/...
www.nybooks.com/online/2025/...
Thoughts on Pierre Boulez, how not to review concerts, and the politics of modernism for the @prospectmagazine.co.uk weekly culture newsletter, which you can sign up for here - prospectmagazine.co.uk/newsletters
April 10, 2025 at 7:17 AM
Thoughts on Pierre Boulez, how not to review concerts, and the politics of modernism for the @prospectmagazine.co.uk weekly culture newsletter, which you can sign up for here - prospectmagazine.co.uk/newsletters
I wrote about Erik Satie, slithery chromatic rabbit holes, the difference between 'place and plaice', and foxtrotting to free jazz for @thespectator1828.bsky.social
www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-...
www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-...
The unnerving world of Erik Satie's 20-hour composition
Once Igor Levit starts playing Erik Satie at 10 a.m. on 24 April at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, he can expect to be there for a long time. Satie’s Vexations is a piece that looks innocent enough, like b...
www.spectator.co.uk
April 10, 2025 at 6:56 AM
I wrote about Erik Satie, slithery chromatic rabbit holes, the difference between 'place and plaice', and foxtrotting to free jazz for @thespectator1828.bsky.social
www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-...
www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-...
“Duke Ellington, the core of everything” - a short piece for @londonsymphony.bsky.social about jazz and the soundscape of New York City.
www.lso.co.uk/the-sound-of...
www.lso.co.uk/the-sound-of...
The Sound of New York: Marsalis and Ellington | London Symphony Orchestra
Philip Clark explores Wynton Marsalis and Duke Ellington's depictions of New York City
www.lso.co.uk
March 6, 2025 at 5:14 PM
“Duke Ellington, the core of everything” - a short piece for @londonsymphony.bsky.social about jazz and the soundscape of New York City.
www.lso.co.uk/the-sound-of...
www.lso.co.uk/the-sound-of...
Jean-Philippe Rameau to Mary Halvorson and Helmut Lachenmann, via Elaine Mitchener, Robert Schumann and Alice Coltrane - my ten albums of the year for
@prospectmagazine.co.uk
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/culture/6895...
@prospectmagazine.co.uk
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/culture/6895...
Classical & Jazz Albums of the Year: 2024
From elusive melodies to swooping harps, here’s our critic’s top ten for the year
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk
December 29, 2024 at 7:54 AM
Jean-Philippe Rameau to Mary Halvorson and Helmut Lachenmann, via Elaine Mitchener, Robert Schumann and Alice Coltrane - my ten albums of the year for
@prospectmagazine.co.uk
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/culture/6895...
@prospectmagazine.co.uk
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/culture/6895...
@artreview.bsky.social asked me to watch Johan Grimonprez's new film Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat and I didn't much care for it.
artreview.com/soundtrack-t...
artreview.com/soundtrack-t...
‘Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat’ Loves Politics and Butchers Jazz
The temptation to selectively build a narrative from the various fragments of footage and sound ultimately patronises the era’s Jazz titans
artreview.com
December 19, 2024 at 3:44 PM
@artreview.bsky.social asked me to watch Johan Grimonprez's new film Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat and I didn't much care for it.
artreview.com/soundtrack-t...
artreview.com/soundtrack-t...
“Nothing says Christmas in my house like Jon Fosse.” A Christmas recommendation for the seasonal @prospectmagazine.co.uk culture newsletter. Good stuff too from @katemaltby.bsky.social, @alexlarman.bsky.social et al.
December 19, 2024 at 8:44 AM
“Nothing says Christmas in my house like Jon Fosse.” A Christmas recommendation for the seasonal @prospectmagazine.co.uk culture newsletter. Good stuff too from @katemaltby.bsky.social, @alexlarman.bsky.social et al.
For @prospectmagazine.co.uk I talked to legendary filmmaker Ken Burns, @kenlburns.bsky.social, about his new Leonardo da Vinci documentary, now showing on BBC4, about Donald Trump and Kamala Harris - and about America's instinct for improvisation.
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/culture/6885...
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/culture/6885...
“This situation is a greater crisis, I fear, than the Civil War”
The great US documentarian’s latest film is about Leonardo da Vinci. We spoke to him about genius, AI—and the state of American democracy
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk
December 17, 2024 at 10:46 AM
For @prospectmagazine.co.uk I talked to legendary filmmaker Ken Burns, @kenlburns.bsky.social, about his new Leonardo da Vinci documentary, now showing on BBC4, about Donald Trump and Kamala Harris - and about America's instinct for improvisation.
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/culture/6885...
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/culture/6885...
I spoke to the excellent @jonathancoe.bsky.social for @prospectmagazine.co.uk about his latest novel, Liz Truss, Kwasi Kwarteng, Morecambe & Wise and Roy Jenkins' trousers.
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/views/people...
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/views/people...
Jonathan Coe: When Liz Truss sounds like Trump
The author on his new novel, The Proof of My Innocence, which satirises the world of Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk
December 10, 2024 at 8:29 AM
I spoke to the excellent @jonathancoe.bsky.social for @prospectmagazine.co.uk about his latest novel, Liz Truss, Kwasi Kwarteng, Morecambe & Wise and Roy Jenkins' trousers.
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/views/people...
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/views/people...
Some thoughts on Helmut Lachenmann and the @londonsymphony.bsky.social at the Barbican last week - a piece for the @prospectmagazine.co.uk weekly culture newsletter, which you can sign up for here - prospectmagazine.co.uk/newsletters
December 5, 2024 at 9:06 AM
Some thoughts on Helmut Lachenmann and the @londonsymphony.bsky.social at the Barbican last week - a piece for the @prospectmagazine.co.uk weekly culture newsletter, which you can sign up for here - prospectmagazine.co.uk/newsletters
I wrote about Leonard Bernstein's final stage work - A Quiet Place, and its companion piece, Trouble In Tahiti - for the monthly Bernstein newsletter Prelude, Fugue and Riffs.
leonardbernstein.com/news/blog/28...
leonardbernstein.com/news/blog/28...
Blog | News | Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein, American composer, conductor, pianist, educator, and humanitarian.
leonardbernstein.com
November 20, 2024 at 9:03 PM
I wrote about Leonard Bernstein's final stage work - A Quiet Place, and its companion piece, Trouble In Tahiti - for the monthly Bernstein newsletter Prelude, Fugue and Riffs.
leonardbernstein.com/news/blog/28...
leonardbernstein.com/news/blog/28...
Reposted by Philip Clark
Feel the bounce: Roy Haynes (13 March 1925–12 November 2024)
The great US drummer died on 12 November aged 99. In 2000, Philip Clark interviewed him, discussing some of the stellar moments in his life in jazz
www.thewire.co.uk/in-writing/e...
The great US drummer died on 12 November aged 99. In 2000, Philip Clark interviewed him, discussing some of the stellar moments in his life in jazz
www.thewire.co.uk/in-writing/e...
Feel the bounce: Roy Haynes (13 March 1925–12 November 2024) - The Wire
The great US drummer died on 12 November aged 99. In 2000, Philip Clark interviewed him, discussing some of the stellar moments in a jazz life that traversed the entire history of the music and encoun...
www.thewire.co.uk
November 14, 2024 at 4:53 PM
Feel the bounce: Roy Haynes (13 March 1925–12 November 2024)
The great US drummer died on 12 November aged 99. In 2000, Philip Clark interviewed him, discussing some of the stellar moments in his life in jazz
www.thewire.co.uk/in-writing/e...
The great US drummer died on 12 November aged 99. In 2000, Philip Clark interviewed him, discussing some of the stellar moments in his life in jazz
www.thewire.co.uk/in-writing/e...
Some thoughts about Helmut Lachenmann and how to reverse-engineer a symphony orchestra, ahead of the London Symphony Orchestra's performance of Lachenmann's fantastical My Melodies on November 28th.
www.lso.co.uk/an-introduct...
www.lso.co.uk/an-introduct...
An Introduction to Helmut Lachenmann | London Symphony Orchestra
Philip Clark explores the fascinating sonic world of German composer Helmut Lachenmann.
www.lso.co.uk
November 5, 2024 at 10:25 AM
Some thoughts about Helmut Lachenmann and how to reverse-engineer a symphony orchestra, ahead of the London Symphony Orchestra's performance of Lachenmann's fantastical My Melodies on November 28th.
www.lso.co.uk/an-introduct...
www.lso.co.uk/an-introduct...