Music of the Day: 20–26 September 2026
Rock guitar, orchestral music, choral writing, film scores, Brazilian music and even a composer who was also a celebrated painter – there is plenty of variety on Music of the Day this week.
We begin on 20 September with Nuno Bettencourt, the guitarist best known for his work with Extreme and a musician admired for both his technical ability and distinctive rhythmic playing.
On 21 September, the focus moves to English composer Gustav Holst. Although The Planets remains his best-known work, Holst composed across a much wider range of genres and spent much of his career teaching music.
22 September – Mikalojus Čiurlionis
A Lithuanian composer and painter whose two creative worlds frequently overlapped. His story provides a fascinating opportunity to explore the relationship between music and visual art.
23 September – Malcolm Arnold
A prolific British composer who wrote nine symphonies, concertos, works for brass and an enormous catalogue of film music.
24 September – John Rutter
One of the most familiar names in modern choral music, with works performed by choirs around the world.
25 September – Dmitri Shostakovich
One of the twentieth century’s major composers, whose symphonies, chamber works and other music were written amid the pressures and uncertainties of life in the Soviet Union.
26 September – Baden Powell
The Brazilian guitarist and composer combined classical technique, jazz and Brazilian traditions to create a highly distinctive musical voice.
Explore September in the classroom
Every musician featured this week is also included in the September Music Reading Comprehension – 30 Composer Activities collection.
There is one activity for every day of September, each combining an accessible biography with five comprehension questions, suggested answers and QR-linked listening.
The activities work well for music starters, reading comprehension, independent learning, homework, cover lessons or simply broadening the range of music pupils encounter.
MusicOfTheDay.co.uk – discover someone new every day.
