Dark Shadow (1955), The Blue Peter (1955), Seven Thunders (1957), and Billy Budd (1962). In November 1953, Hopkins gave a BBC radio talk in which he explained, using musical examples, the intricacies of a Bach fugue. Martin Armstrong in The Listener magazine described Hopkins' programme as "a pyrotechnic display, by which I mean not flashy but brilliant – it did not seem to promise amusing entertainment, yet this was what Mr Hopkins's half-hour analysis was". A producer of the BBC Third Programme, Roger Fiske, subsequently offered Hopkins carte blanche to do whatever he wanted on the radio: Hopkins suggested a half-hour programme on talking about works to be broadcast in the coming week. The resulting series, Talking About Music, ran from 1954 to 1992, and was syndicated to 44 countries. In the 1970s, he revived the long forgotten oratorio Ruth (infamous as 'the Worst Oratorio in the World') by the English composer George Tolhurst; this was heard again in 2009 on the BBC Radio 3 programme The Choir. From 1952 he was Artistic Director of the Intimate Opera Company, being replaced by Stephen Manton in 1963 though remaining a director and as music adviser of the company. From 1959 until his death he was President of Luton Music Club, and also from 1994 President of Radlett Music Club. Personal life Hopkins was appointed a CBE in 1976 for his services to music. He died on 6 May 2014, in Ashridge, Hertfordshire in England. He was survived by his second wife, Beatrix née Taylor. His first wife, Alison Purves, whom he married in 1947, died in 1991. Books Beating Time – autobiography (1982) Downbeat Music Guide Music all Around Me Musicamusings Music Face to Face (with André Previn) Pathway to Music Sounds of the Orchestra: A Study of Orchestral Texture Talking About Concertos Talking About Sonatas Talking About Symphonies The Dent Concertgoer's Companion The Nine Symphonies of Beethoven The Seven Concertos of Beethoven Understanding Music The Concertgoer's Companion Volume 1 Bach To Haydn The Concertgoer's Companion Volume 2 Holst To Webern Articles 'Talking About Hopkins': Antony Hopkins, CBE, in conversation with Mark Doran, Musical Opinion, March 2011, pp. 14–17. Recordings Talking about Symphonies EMI 12" vinyl LP: CFP 40058 Talking about Rachmaninoff Jupiter 7" vinyl: jep OC13 Talking about Bach Jupiter 7" vinyl: jep OC18 Talking about Beethoven Jupiter 7" vinyl: jep OC23 References External links BBC Radio 4 Last Word