'Cold Old Fire' by Lynched, a Dublin-based folk group, was written after the financial crisis in Ireland that would end up sending 80,000 people a year overseas. 'The Button Factory' refers to the main Dublin dole office. See also Poets, Presidents and Politics. We always sing, even when were losing'Cos…

Haydn Greenway analyses the hidden meanings of Berlioz's great opera,'The Trojans'. Classical music can arouse extreme emotional responses. It also requires an intellectual engagement in order to decipher the language hidden within the complexity of sonic patterns. This can require repeated listenings, say, of a Beethoven symphony, to fully understand…