Gounod would say that he acquired his vocation with his mother’s milk, for she sang as she suckled him. Signs of an inherited musical gift—his mother, widowed young, supported the family by giving ...

Gounod’s ‘Ave Maria’ sounds absolutely divine on this bizarre instrument. Also called a singing saw, the musical saw is a genuine instrument that looks a bit like a hand saw. It is played with a ...

‘Write me symphonies like Beethoven’s and I’ll play them!’ Jules Pasdeloup told Charles Gounod. Nowadays, we associate the French composer with operas – principally Faust – and his kitschy reworking ...