Classical music : rise and fall, and rise -- Opera and the morbidity of music -- Two cheers for Rach 3 -- Labyrinth music -- William Byrd and the Catholics -- The operas of Monteverdi -- Bach : a short life -- A guide to the Well-tempered clavier -- Wilfrid Mellers on Bach -- Mozart : four biographies -- Mozart's last year -- Playing Mozart : the piano concertos -- The magic flute -- Sonata forms -- Beethoven : works and life -- Beethoven hero.