Perfectionism in music is a modern scourge, and Peter Cropper, who died in May, demonstrated that it is a distracting priority for musicians The word ‘unique’ is one of the most over-used in the English language; the frequent addition of ‘very’, the most annoyingly redundant. The fact is that most of us are replaceable. Whether we’re musicians, teachers, writers or editors, there’s usually someone else around the corner who will do what we do just as well as us. Peter Cropper

The great violinist, former leader of the Lindsay Quartet, and one of the unique and most charismatic voices in chamber music, died on Friday, 29 May, aged only 69. In a recent interview, he challenged notions of what makes a performance great I interviewed Peter Cropper earlier in the year for ChamberStudio, ahead of his March masterclass for the organisation. Here is the blog I wrote in February about the experience, and the important questions Cropper asked: My latest inte

How often do you leave a concert feeling as if you've experienced something special? As often as you'd like? If not, why not? My latest interview for ChamberStudio has just gone online – with one of the organisation’s mentors, former Lindsays first violinist Peter Cropper. Snatched during lunch between masterclasses at Kings Place, it was a fun interview to do, with him reciting Shakespeare and singing me opera and quartet music. Cropper is one of life’s born communicators –