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Pluralism is the defining feature of music at the end of the 20th century – from the minimalist film music of Michael Nyman to the lush sounds of Toru Takemitsu to the spectralist works that explored sound itself, writes Gillian Moore

"We live in a time not of mainstream but of many streams," John Cage mused as he surveyed the musical scene shortly before his death in 1992, "or even, if you insist upon a river of time, then we have come to the delta, maybe even beyond a delta to an ocean which is going back to the skies … "

The 12th and final episode of The Rest Is Noise festival is called New World Order. It may still be too early to have the historical distance to tell what really mattered in classical music at the end of the 20th century. What is clear, however, is that in the closing decades...

When I was growing up, New York 's best (now long-defunct) classical radio station, Wncn, played only American composers' music each Fourth of July. With the classical world dominated by Europeans, this was a welcome and educational corrective. In the history of American music, independence wasn't achieved until the 20th century; 19th century composers such as John Knowles Paine and George Whitefield Chadwick studied in Europe and blatantly imitated European models. Listening to their music "blind," few would guess they were Americans. There was Revolutionary War-era vocal writer William Billings, but his originality was more a lack of proper technique. Continuing Wncn's tradition, here's a look at true American classical. music. 

There is a bit of chauvinism in this article, as "American" here refers not to all the Americas (North, Central, and South) but rather the colloquial usage in the United States to mean that country's residents (hence, the Mexican Carlos Chavez,...

Our critics' picks of this week's openings, plus your last chance to see and what to book now

• Which cultural events are in your diary this week? Tell us in the comments below

Opening this week

Theatre

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

With the ever-inventive Rupert Goold both writing and directing, there should be no whiff of mothballs about this staged version of the Cs Lewis classic. Threesixtytheatre, Kensington Gardens, London W8 (0844 871 7693), Tuesday until 9 September.

Chariots of Fire

Sprinting in before the rerelease of the 1981 movie and the Olympics, Mike Bartlett's version promises to be no mere screen-to-stage adaptation. A nifty young cast of rising stars alongside some established talent should make sure this is a show that runs and runs. Hampstead theatre, London NW3 (020-7722 9301), Wednesday until 16 June.

Film

Goodbye First Love (dir. Mia Hansen-Løve)

Two young people pick up the romance that first flowered between...

Our critics' picks of this week's openings, plus your last chance to see and what to book now

• Which cultural events are in your diary this week? Tell us in the comments below

Opening this weekTheatre

Enquirer

The Guardian's Deborah Orr is one of a team conducting the interviews with journalists for this timely site-specific verbatim piece about the media. Andrew O'Hagan co-edits a project directed and edited by Vicky Featherstone and John Tiffany. The Hub, Glasgow (0141-429 0022), 19 April to 13 May.

A History of Everything

The controversial Ghent-based company Ontroerend Goed returns to the UK with a show that offers a history of everything, from now back to the Big Bang. No small undertaking from a company that has delighted and challenged spectators with previous shows including the outrageous Audience. Drum, Plymouth (01752 267222), until 28 April.

Film

The Cabin in the Woods (dir. Drew Goddard)

A bunch of great-looking teens take a...

Our critics' picks of this week's openings, plus your last chance to see and what to book now

• Which cultural events are in your diary this week? Tell us in the comments below

Opening this weekTheatre

I Dreamed a Dream

SuBo is played by Elaine C Smith in this new musical based on the life of the Britain's Got Talent sensation, who has given her personal endorsement to this money-spinner – sorry, show. Theatre Royal, Newcastle (0844 811 2121), until 31 March, then touring.

Fierce festival

Birmingham gets ready for boundary-busting performances from UK and international performers, including Ann Liv Young, Playgroup and Graeme Miller. The festival takes place in unusual spaces all across the city, including the soon to be demolished library and under Spaghetti Junction. Various locations, Birmingham, Thursday to 8 April.

Film

The Hunger Games (dir. Gary Ross)

Suzanne Collins's teen bestseller is turned into an exciting dystopian thriller. Jennifer Lawrence stars.

Our critics' picks of this week's openings, plus your last chance to see and what to book now

• Which cultural events are in your diary this week? Tell us in the comments below

Opening this weekTheatre

The Master and Margarita

Bulgakov's poetic maelstrom is transferred from page to stage by Simon McBurney and Complicite. The devil is abroad in a godless Ussr. Barbican, London EC2 (0845 120 7550), to 7 April.

Anne Boleyn

The Globe goes out on tour with Howard Brenton's delightful and intelligent look at English Protestantism and the woman who furthered its cause. New Alexandra, Birmingham (0844 871 3011), 20-24 March, then touring.

Filumena

Samantha Spiro stars as the canny Neapolitan woman who has been a mistress for 25 years but is determined to be a wife. Michael Attenborough directs this new version of Eduardo de Filippo's lively comedy. Almeida, London N1 (012 7359 4404), to 12 May.

Film

Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (dir. Nuri Bilge Ceylan...

Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood holds Krzysztof Penderecki, Poland's foremost contemporary composer, in awe. And the feelings are very much mutual, the pair explain

It wasn't the most auspicious of meetings: "I shook his hand after a concert like a sad fan-boy." Jonny Greenwood, Radiohead's creative catalyst, one of the world's great guitarists, and floppy-haired pin-up boy for the musically adventurous even in his early 40s, is talking about 78-year-old Polish classical composer Krzysztof Penderecki. For most of the musical world, it would be Greenwood who had the star quality rather than Poland's most eminent living composer – even if Penderecki did break creative barriers in the 1950s and 60s that are still rocking Greenwood's world. In fact, Greenwood's obsessive enthusiasm for Penderecki's music, especially his still radical early work, has brought the sounds of musical modernism to new audiences in ways Penderecki could only dream of.

Greenwood's fan-boyism has also...

Our critics' picks of this week's openings, plus your last chance to see and what to book now

• Which cultural events are in your diary this week? Tell us in the comments below

Opening this weekTheatre

Bingo

Patrick Stewart stars as the ageing Shakespeare in Edward Bond's play in which the playwright, now a rich landowner, is facing pressure from local Stratford people. Young Vic, London SE1 (020-7922 2922), until March 31.

An Appointment with the Wicker Man

National Theatre Scotland take on the cult 1970s movie with a play within a play about an amateur dramatic society on a remote Scottish island who are putting the play on stage. But when one of their actors falls ill, a replacement is called in from the mainland. His Majesties, Aberdeen (01224 641122), Tuesday to Saturday, then touring until 24 March.

Film

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (dir. Stephen Daldry)

Oscar-nominated drama, based on the Jonathan Safran Foer novel.

He was one of Britain's foremost trumpeters with many popular credits

James Watson, who has died following a heart attack aged 59, was one of Britain's leading trumpet players – for a number of years the soloist of choice for major orchestral engagements. As artistic director and head of brass at the Royal Academy of Music, he was active also as a conductor and administrator, preparing students for the challenges of the profession with engaging enthusiasm and directness.

Supported by the Leicestershire musical family into which he was born, Watson became known from an early age for his prowess on the cornet. Not only did he become principal cornet of the Desford Colliery Band at the age of 11, but he also won both the junior and senior champion soloist of Great Britain titles in 1966, aged just 14. In fact he won the national championships of Great Britain on six occasions, as well as...

Our critics pick the season's highlights. From Elisabeth Moss on stage to Adele's new album, these are the dates for your cultural diary

January

5 Film 127 Hours

Danny Boyle's 10th film tells the story of Aron Ralston, played by James Franco who severed his own arm with a penknife to escape after becoming trapped while hiking in Utah.

7 Film The King's Speech

Colin Firth is introverted monarch George VI, battling a debilitating stutter with the aid of an extroverted therapist (Geoffrey Rush). The ensuing friendship is touching – and, when the second world war breaks out, of national importance.

9 Classical Hollywood Rhapsody

The Bbcso and Chorus celebrate Hollywood's golden age. Composers include Korngold, Waxman, Rózsa; films range from The Wizard of Oz to Gone with the Wind. Barbican, London. 9 Jan only.

11 Theatre Twelfth Night

To mark his 80th birthday, Peter Hall returns to the National theatre, which he ran until 1988. He directs his daughter Rebecca,...

Daniel Bjarnason Composer/conductor/pianist Daniel Bjarnason was born in Reykjavik in 1980. He graduated cum laude in 2007 from the Freiburg University of Music. Isafold Chamber Orchestra co-founder Bjarnason's collaborations include the London Sinfonietta, the Ulster Orchestra, the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Olof Arnalds, and Sigur Ros. Accolades include recognition by the International Rostrum of Composers in Dublin (2008), Icelandic Music Awards for Best Composer and Best Composition (2009), and a Nordic Council Music Prize nomination (2010). With three releases to collect, begin by taking "Bow to String I: 'Sorrow Conquers Happiness,'" from his 2010 rapturous Processions. Buy: iTunes.com Genre: ClassicalArtist: Daniel BjarnasonSong: Bow to String I: "Sorrow Conquers Happiness"Album: ProcessionsFrench Kicks French Kicks were formed at Oberlin College in 1998 by Jamie Krents, Matthew Stinchcomb, and Nick Stumpf, propelling the early 2000s garage-rock revival. After a couple of break-ups and make-ups, the band...

Colston Hall, Bristol

Plenty of pop artists have written and performed soundtracks for silent films recently, but few are as fit for the job as Portishead's Adrian Utley and Goldfrapp's Will Gregory. Their groups have always made ambitious, cinematic music, and both men have classical clout – Gregory as a former saxophonist for the London Sinfonietta, and Utley as a composer for film and TV.

This is their first live score together, for a long-lost 1928 expressionist classic. It was found again in 1981, and an ensemble of electric guitars, voices, synthesisers, brass, harp and percussion, conducted by BBC presenter Charles Hazlewood, are here recreating and amplifying its menace and myths.

The eerie whirr of the hall's film projector leads us into the action, but the music begins monotonously. Bass trombones, tuba and drums plod out obvious hints of portent, while shrill sopranos and tenors arrive like godly shorthand. But as Joan's fate darkens,...

Chris Cunningham, On tour

A science fiction-informed imagination, coupled with a mastery of modern manipulation techniques, help create Chris Cunningham's startling, unforgettable images, as seen most famously in videos by Björk and Aphex Twin. Having garnered an avid fanbase, the director can step comfortably into the sometime role of music producer (the Horrors) and performance artist. This live show, presented across multiple screens to a soundtrack of his own compositions and remixes, features new and unseen video work edited with reworked favourites.

Dome, Brighton, Mon; Manchester Opera House, Thu; Royal Festival Hall, SE1, Fri

Marc Rowlands

London Burlesque Week

If seamed stockings, feather boas and nipple tassels are your thing, you'd better kiss this week goodbye, as this celebration of the art of tease and erotic dance brings together almost every burlesque performer on the planet. From a speakeasy-style affair at Proud Cabaret to elaborate costume balls, it features the new hopefuls,...

Can Martin Scorsese pull off a horror movie? Is Glasgow the new Venice? And what's Ricky Gervais up to in Reading? Our critics pick next year's hottest tickets

Film

Cemetery Junction

Having conquered Hollywood, Ricky Gervais is coming home. With his long-time collaborator Stephen Merchant, he has set out to create a British film in the tradition of Billy Liar and the Likely Lads – and of course his own masterpiece The Office – about three blokes working for the Prudential insurance company in Gervais's hometown of Reading. Released on 7 April.

A Single Man

The smart money says Colin Firth will be bringing home a certain gold, bald-headed statuette for his performance as a bereaved gay man in Los Angeles. Based on the 1964 novel by Christopher Isherwood, the movie – fashion designer Tom Ford's directorial debut – follows one day in the life of Firth's literature academic as he confronts his own mortality. Released on 12 February.