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Adrienne Fried Block provides insight into Mrs. Amy Beach in 'Amy Beach, passionate Victorian: the life and work of an American composer 1867-1944' to show her to be a wife first, and a composer second.

The article focuses on conductor, organizer and animateur George Smart. Topics mentioned include the contribution in the music and culture in Great Britain, the research of music director John Carnelley which shows his financial stability, and the Irish knighthood that was bestowed on him by Charles Spencer, the Earl of Spencer.

'Roberto Gerhard and his music' by Joachim Homs, and 'Gerhard on music: selected writings' by Meirion Bowen provide insight into this Anglo-Catalan composer of the twentieth century, and his criticism of Arnold Schoenberg.

The article discusses the possibility of more extended layers of meaning and symbolism in Gustav Mahler's Sixth Symphony and Edward Elgar's Second by proceeding beyond clues provided by the composers. It cites a range of musicological references and psychoanalytic sources mainly Sigmund Freud's "Beyond the Pleasure Principle" to show the idea of pleasure and joy turning to pain and tragedy. It notes that both works deal symbolically with traumas too painful to be expressed except via music.