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Composer of the Week

Composer of the Week

BBC Radio 3's Composer Of The Week is a guide to composers and their music. The podcast is compiled from the week's programmes and published on Friday, it is only available in the UK.

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Andrea and Giovanni Gabrieli

Donald Macleod explores the lives and music of uncle and nephew Andrea and Giovanni Gabrieli

Andrea and Giovanni Gabrieli share a name that dominated Venetian music during the late 16th and early 17th century. Both uncle and nephew were organists and composers, and their music was linked inextricably with the exceptional city in which they lived and worked. From the organ loft of St Mark?s Basilica to the resplendent palazzos of merchants and noblemen, they provided the soundtrack to Venice?s golden age, with its numerous feast days and celebrations. But together, they would also pioneer an ambitious way of writing choral music - playing with texture and architecture? that would eventually echo beyond the Venetian waterways and profoundly affect the music of the future.

Music Featured:

Andrea Gabrieli: Benedictus dominus Deus sabbaoth Andrea Gabrieli: Fantasia allegra del duodecima toni Andrea Gabrieli: Hor chel nel suo ben seno; Vaghi augelletti; Angel del terzo ciel; O suave a mio cor Andrea Gabrieli: Aria della battaglia Andrea Gabrieli: Laudate dominum omnes gentes a 5; Laudate Dominum in sanctis eius a 10; Giovanni Gabrieli: O magnum mysterium Andrea Gabrieli: Ricercar del settimo tuono Giovanni Gabrieli: Deus qui beatum Marcum Andrea Gabrieli: Sancta et immaculata; Laetare Jerusalem Andrea Gabrieli: Maria Magdalenae et altera Maria; Maria stabat ad monumentum Andrea Gabrieli: Kyrie a 5; Christe a 8; Kyrie a 12; Gloria a 16 Giovanni Gabrieli: Exaudi me domine a 16 Giovanni Gabrieli: Hic est filius Dei (arr. Timothy Higgins) a 18 Giovanni Gabrieli: Hodie Christus natus est Giovanni Gabrieli: Sonata pian e forte Giovanni Gabrieli: Udite, chiari e generosi figli Andrea Gabrieli: Psalmi Davidici, Psalmo 31:Beati quórum remissae; Delictum meum cognitum tibi feci; Tu es refugium meum a tribulatione; In camo et fraeno Giovanni Gabrieli: Audite príncipes Giovanni Gabrieli: Litaniae Beatae Mariae Virginis Andrea Gabrieli: O salutaris hostia Giovanni Gabrieli: Cantate Domino a 8 Giovanni Gabrieli: Sonata con tre violini - XXI Giovanni Gabrieli: Timor et tremor Giovanni Gabrieli: Jubilate Deo Giovanni Gabrieli: Sonata a 22; Magnificat a 33 Giovanni Gabrieli: Sonata octavi toni a 12; Omnes gentes Giovanni Gabrieli: Sacri di Giove augei, sacre Fenici Giovanni Gabrieli: Canzon XXVIII a 8 ?Sol sol la fa mi? Giovanni Gabrieli:Buccinate in neomenio tuba Giovanni Gabrieli: Canzon per sonar primi toni a 10; Canzon a 4 ?La Spiritata?; Canzon 3 a 6 Giovanni Gabrieli: Maria virgo a 10; Canzon in echo duodecimo toni; Hic est filius Dei Giovanni Gabrieli: Quem vidistis pastores Giovanni Gabrieli: In eclesiis

Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Amelia Parker for BBC Audio Wales and West

For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Andrea and Giovanni Gabrieli https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001x3y2

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we?ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

2024-03-22
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Ennio Morricone (1928-2020)

Donald Macleod explores the life and music of Ennio Morricone

Ennio Morricone is cited as one of the most experimental and influential composers of all time, undoubtedly recognised as one of the world?s greatest ever composers of music for film. A legendary figure who over the course of his career won numerous awards, and accolades, his innovative soundworlds helped to define what film music could be for multiple genres of cinema. Morricone?s music extended far beyond the desert landscapes of Spaghetti Westerns, not just to other genres on the Silver Screen, but also into the worlds of pop music, and into the concert hall ? where his study and composition of avant garde music gave him the techniques to experiment within his scores for film as well. Over the course of this week, following on the heels of the 2024 Academy Awards, Donald Macleod explores the incredible career of Ennio Morricone, a composer who quite astoundingly wrote over 500 scores for film and television, as well as over 100 classical works.

Music Featured:

Invenzione The Ecstasy of Gold from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly Party Prohibito from I malamondo Musica per undici violini Eduardo di Capua and Alfredo Mazzucchi: O sole mio (arr. Morricone) Edoardo Nicolardi and Ernesto de Curtis: Voce e?notte (arr. Morricone) Concerto for Orchestra Scambio di prigionieri from A Fistful of Dollars The Man with the Harmonica from Once Upon a Time in the West Woody Guthrie: Pastures of Plenty (arr. Enrico Morricone) The Trio (extended version) from The Good the Bad and the Ugly Titles & A Fistful of Dollars (version 2) from A Fistful of Dollars Sixty Seconds to What? & Main Theme from For a Few Dollars More Requiem per un destino (Excerpt) Main Title from The Good the Bad and the Ugly Opening credits from Uccellacci e uccellini Addio a Pier Paolo Passolini Ostia from Pasolini, un delitto Italiano Birth of a City & Finale from Once Upon a Time in the West Suoni per Dino Delirio Secondo from Un Tranquillo Posto Di Campagna La Lucertola from Una Lucertola con la Pelle Di Donna Silenzio nel caos from The Bird with the Crystal Plumage Four Flies on Velvet (take 6) from Four Flies on Grey Velvet Deborah's Theme from Once Upon a Time in America Cockeye?s Song & Once upon a time in America ? theme from Sergio Leone Suite Theme from Rampage La classe operaia va in paradiso from The Working Class Goes to Heaven or Lulu the Tool Fire from Days of Heaven Humanity (Part 2) from The Thing Four studies (Nos 1 & 2) Bugsy Cinema Paradiso Miserere & Gabriel?s Oboe from The Mission Theme from The Untouchables Voci dal silenzio (Excerpt) Theme from Il Mercenario Volti e fantasmi from La Migliore Offerta ?Ultima Diligenza di Red Rock from the Hateful Eight On Earth as it is in Heaven from The Mission

Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Sam Phillips for BBC Audio Wales and West

For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Ennio Morricone (1928-2020) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001wyr0

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we?ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

2024-03-15
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Johanna Senfter (1879-1961)

Kate Molleson & Nastasha Loges explore the life and music of Johanna Senfter.

If you know the name Johanna Senfter, it is probably in connection with her teacher, the composer, Max Reger. Senfter won the Arthur Nikisch prize for composition in 1910, and went on to be one of the most prolific of all late-Romantic female composers, writing at least 150 works, yet she has all but disappeared from our history books. In between the two World Wars she was very active within the world of music too, founding the Oppenheim Music Society, organizing her own concert series and founding the Oppenheim Bach Society. However, her personal life is shrouded in mystery with little information published about either her biography, or her music, and there are substantial gaps in her story when we know nothing about Senfter. Unsurprisingly then, there are also questions hanging over certain elements of her personal life, and her political allegiances. Over the course of this week, Kate Molleson is joined by Professor Natasha Loges to explore the life of Johanna Senfter. They also examine the tumultuous world of early 20th Century Germany in which Senfter was working, and speculate on the reasons for her anonymity today.

Music Featured:

Suite for two violins No 2 (Menuet) Symphony No 4 (2nd mvt) Drei Klavierstucke, op 77 Violin Sonata in G minor, Op 32 (4th mvt) Trio for clarinet, horn and piano (3rd mvt) Vogelweise Clarinet Quintet (2nd mvt) Symphony No 4 (3rd mvt) Viola Sonata No 1 in F minor, Op 41 (3rd mvt) Chorale Preludes, Op 70 (Nos 4, 2 & 9) Sonata for cello in A Major, Op 10 (4th mvt) Suite for two violins No 91 No 2 (1st mvt) 5 pieces for viola and piano, Op 76 (No 5) Piano Concerto in G minor, Op 90 (3rd mvt) 6 Little Pieces for violin and piano, Op 13 (No 3 Elegie) Sonata for cello and piano in E flat major, Op 79 (2nd mvt) Clarinet Sonata (3rd mvt) Drei Klavierstucke Op 83, No 1 Sonata for violin and piano in A major, Op 26 (4th mvt) Concerto in C minor for two violins and orchestra, Op 40 5 pieces for viola and piano, Op 76 (Weihnachten. In ruhiger Bewegung) Piano Concerto in G minor, Op 90 (1st mvt) Suite for two violins No 1 (Courante) Piano Concerto in G minor, Op 90 (2nd mvt) Symphony 4 (1st mvt) Quintet for clarinet and string quartet in B, Op 11 (3rd mvt) 6 Little Pieces, for violin and piano (No 1, Melodie) Mazurka: Allegretto

Presented by Kate Molleson Produced by Sam Phillips for BBC Audio Wales and West

For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Johanna Senfter (1879-1961) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001wqp7

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we?ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

2024-03-08
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Maddalena Sirmen and her World

Donald Macleod delves into the world of Venetian composer, Maddalena Sirmen

Maddalena Sirmen was born in Venice in 1745 and christened Maddalena Laura Lombardini. Her poverty-stricken family were unable to support her and by the age of seven she was admitted to one of Venice?s ?Ospedali?. The Ospedali were hospitals and orphanages set up to help the needy but also celebrated for the musical education they provided to their residents . Sirmen soon excelled in her training. By the age of fourteen she was accepted for additional music lessons in Padua with the famed violinist, Tartini, and became one of his favourite students. In 1767 she married fellow composer, Lodovico Sirmen, and was able to leave the Ospedale, at last. There followed many successful years of travelling and performing as a virtuoso violinist, often presenting her own works. Sirmen?s music was published in many leading European cities, and Leopold Mozart said of one of her works, that it was ?beautifully written?. When visiting London for a third time, Sirmen decided to present herself as a singer, rather than a violinist. This proved to be a mistake and she was greatly criticised in the press. From this point onwards her reputation diminished despite further concerts, as a violinist, in Paris, Dresden and St Petersburg. Sirmen eventually settled back in Venice, where she died in 1818.

Music Featured:

Violin Concerto No 3 in A major, Op 3 No 3 (excerpt) Trio Sonata No 5 in G, Op 1 No 5 (Allegro Moderato) Ferdinando Bertoni: Veni Creator (excerpt) Trio Sonata No 5 in G, Op 1 No 5 (Rondo Allegro) Ferdinando Bertoni: Orfeo (excerpt) String Quartet No 5 in F major Violin Concerto No 3 in A major, Op 3 No 3 Giuseppe Tartini: Violin Sonata in G minor, ?Devils Trill? (excerpt) String Quartet No 1 in E flat major (Andante) String Quartet No 1 in E flat major (Allegretto) Giuseppe Tartini: Stabat Mater Violin Concerto No 2 in E major, Op 3 No 2 String Quartet No 4 in B flat major String Quartet No 2 in E flat major (excerpt) Duet in C major, Op 4 No 6 Ludovico Sirmen: Sonata in A major (Moderato) Violin Concerto No 5 in B flat major, Op 3 No 5 Ludovico Sirmen: Sonata in A major (Lento) String Quartet No 2 in E flat major Violin Concerto No 1 in B flat major, Op 3 No 1 (Allegro) J. C. Bach: Gioas, re di Giuda (Fe giuriamo) Maddalena Sirmen: Violin Concerto No 1 in B flat major, Op 3 No 1 (excerpt) J. C. Bach: Sonata in G, Op 10 No 3, W. B4 (Rondeaux) String Quartet No 3 in G minor Violin Concerto No 6 in C major, Op 3 No 6 Violin Concerto No 4 in C major, Op 3 No 4 (excerpt) String Quartet No 6 in E major (Andantino) Thomas Linley Junior: The Song of Moses (Chorus: Praise be to God, and God alone) String Quartet No 6 in E major (Con brio) Ludovico Sirmen: Sonata in A major (Adagio cantabile) Violin Concerto No 4 in C major, Op 3 No 4 String Quartet No 5 in F minor

Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Luke Whitlock for BBC Audio Wales and West

For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Maddalena Sirmen and her World https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001w8gx

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we?ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

2024-02-23
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Karl Jenkins

Karl Jenkins has had a career of contrasts ? from accomplished jazz fusion, prog rock and the worlds of film and advertising, to phenomenal success in concert halls around the world as a composer of music that delights audiences and often defies categorisation; music that is rhythmic, emotional ? and hugely popular: he just might be the most performed living composer in the world.

In these special programmes, Sir Karl Jenkins joins Donald Macleod to talk about his life and music ahead of the composer?s 80th birthday.

Music Featured:

Benedictus One World: In the Beginning One World: Let?s Go (The Tower of Babel), One World: Yet, Here I Am Sarakiz (Dance) Stabat Mater (excerpt) One World: Tikkun Olam Suo Gan Quirky Blue Hazard Profile, pt 1 Carol Ann La Folia ? concerto for marimba and strings Cantata Memoria (excerpt) Cantilena Adiemus Hymn Kayama Cancion Plateada Palladio, concerto grosso for string orchestra (i Allegretto) Stella Natalis (excerpt) Gloria (excerpt) The Peacemakers (excerpt) The Armed Man ? A Mass for Peace (excerpt) Quirk (Chasing the Goose) White Water One World: The Golden Age Begins Anew Concerto for Euphonium and Orchestra (?It takes two?? Seductively) Over the Stone (iv, Tros y Garreg) One World: Sakura, Spring has Come Requiem (excerpt)

Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Martin Williams for BBC Audio Wales and West

For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Karl Jenkins https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001w1jw

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we?ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

2024-02-16
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Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)

Kate Molleson explores the legends and lore of Igor Stravinsky

Music Featured:

Rite of Spring Fireworks Three Movements from Petrushka (Russian Dance) The Firebird: Infernal Dance The Rite of Spring, Part 2: The Sacrifice Three Pieces for String Quartet (Excentrique) Four Russian Peasant Songs Song of the Nightingale (The Mechanical Nightingale) Renard (excerpt) Soldier?s Tale (excerpt) Les Noces: The Wedding Feast Pulcinella Suite (Sinfonia) Suite Italienne Sonata for Piano Symphonies of Wind Instruments Octet Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments Oedipus Rex(excerpt) Serenade in A for piano (Romanza) Orpheus (excerpt) Apollo (excerpt) Duo Concertant Otche nash Symphony of Psalms Mass (Santus) Ode (iii Epitaph) In Memoriam Dylan Thomas Requiem Canticles

Presented by Kate Molleson Produced by Martin Williams for BBC Audio Wales and West

For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001vld7

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we?ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

2024-02-02
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Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880)

Donald Macleod explores the life and music of Jacques Offenbach

Jacques Offenbach?s life throws a light on the political turbulence and identity within 19th century Europe. He struggled to break into the musical establishment of Paris, but he didn?t struggle with creating a dazzling array of work for the theatre. His 98 stage works established and defined what operetta was, paving the way for modern musical theatre.

Music Featured:

Les contes d'Hoffmann (The Tales of Hoffmann), Act III: Barcarolle (arr. A. Sedlar) Grand Concerto in G Major for cello and orchestra, Concerto Militaire (I. Allegro maestoso) Les fleurs d?hiver Musette, Op 24 Pepito (excerpt) Les bavards: Overture Decameron dramatique (excerpt) Le ?66?(excerpt) 6 Fables de Lafontaine (orchestrated by J.-P. Haeck) (excerpt) Rends-moi mon âme L'etoile Les brigands: Overture Ba-ta-clan (excerpt) Orphee aux enfers (excerpt) Le Papillon (excerpt) Die Rheinnixen: Overture Abendblatter La Vie parisienne: Overture La belle Helene (excerpt) Barbe-bleue (except) La Grande-Duchesse de Gerolstein (excerpt) La Haine, Act IV: Marche religieuse Les contes d'Hoffmann (excerpt) American Eagle Waltz Le voyage dans la lune (except) Madame Favart: Overture Ouverture a grand orchestra

Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Iain Chamber for BBC Audio Wales and West

For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001vcpj

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we?ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

2024-01-26
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Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)

Donald Macleod explores Mendelssohn?s experience in the British Isles

Mendelssohn?s relationship with Britain began when he was 20 years old, when London became the first stop of his Grand Tour. This week Donald Macleod explores the composer's experiences in Britain, considering the mark he left on musical life in these islands, the works he wrote here, and what he got up to in the course of the ten visits he made across his lifetime. Mendelssohn took inspiration from the scenery, but he also got his first professional engagements in Britain, and in return, by the end of his life, Britain lionized him.

Music Featured:

Songs Without Words Op 19b No 1 Symphony No 1 in C minor (1st mvt) 12 Lieder Pp 9: III ? Wartend Octet in E flat major (3rd mvt) Concerto in E major for Two pianos (2nd & 3rd mvts) Fantasie in F# minor (Mvt 1) Symphony No 3 in A minor 'Scottish' (1st mvt) 3 Fantasies (or Caprices) Op 16 String Quartet in E flat Major (1st mvt) Organ Sonata No 3 (1st mvt) Symphony No 3 in A minor 'Scottish' (4th mvt) Songs without Words Op 19b No 3 Hebrides Overture Piano Concerto No 1 in G minor (2nd & 3rd mvts)) Songs Without Words Op 19b (Nos 2, 5, 6) Symphony No 4 in A major 'Italian' (3rd & 4th mvts) Songs Without Words Op 102 No 1 Piano Concerto No 2 in D minor (2nd & 3rd mvts) Piano Trio No 1 (1st mvt) A Midsummer Night?s Dream (Nos 5 & 7) Violin Concerto in E minor (1st mvt) 6 Songs Op 99 No 5 Elijah Part 1 (excerpt) Octet in E flat major (1st mvt) String Quartet No 6 in F minor (3rd mvt) Elijah Part 2 (excerpt)

Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Megan Jones for BBC Audio Wales and West

For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001v4jh

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we?ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

2024-01-19
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Caroline Shaw

Kate Molleson talks to Pulitzer Prize winning composer, Caroline Shaw

At the age of just 30, in 2013 American composer Caroline Shaw made the headlines when she became the youngest person to win a Pulitzer Prize for her vocal work "Partita for Eight Voices". It's a mind blowing, joyous celebration of every sound and technique the human voice can achieve. The unexpectedly gained Pulitzer could have pigeon-holed Shaw's future career, as a "composer", but central to her identity as a creator is the fact that Shaw regards herself as musician. She's a violinist, a vocalist, producer, and a composer and it's the sum of all these parts that make up the creative impetus for her music. Blending performance with composition, blurring the lines between different musical genres, Shaw has avoided categorisation in the multiplicity of her enthusiasms. She's worked with rappers Kanye West and Nas, and soprano Renée Fleming, and mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter. Her more than one hundred works encompass classical works, film scores, vocal music, and performing and working collaboratively she continues to engage in a diverse range of multi-media projects.

Shaw's passion for music formed early. Born in North Carolina in 1982, Shaw was taught the Suzuki method of violin by her mother from the age of 2. Her father, a specialist in respiratory disease, was a keen amateur pianist. Shaw grew up in a culture of community music-making, singing in the church choir and summer camp. Formal studies followed at Rice in performance and Yale in composition, after which she undertook a doctoral programme in composition at Princeton.

Plan and Elevation (IV: The Orangery) And So Partita for 8 Singers (IV: Passacaglia) Gustave Le Gray Entr?acte (version for String Orchestra) Valencia Limestone and Felt Punctum Boris Kerner Thousandth Orange for violin, viola, cello, piano Fleishman is in Trouble (Beef Lo Mein) And the Swallow Partita for 8 Singers (I: Allemande) To the Hands (Seven Responses project) (excerpt) Narrow Sea (excerpt) Its motion keeps ?The Listeners? (excerpt) Plan and Elevation (V: The Beech Tree) Three Essays (III: Ruby) The Isle (excerpt) Taxidermy Blueprint for String Quartet To the Sky Partita for 8 Singers (II: Sarabande) Fleishman is in Trouble (excerpts) Ritornello 2.sq.2.j.a for string quartet

Presented by Kate Molleson Produced by Johannah Smith for BBC Audio Wales and West

For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Caroline Shaw https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001trhs

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we?ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

2024-01-05
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Greatest Showstoppers

The 19th century was an exciting time for classical musicians. Urban centres across Europe and the New World were expanding rapidly, creating a profitable music circuit for touring performers ? particularly if you had the talent and star-power to attract audiences in large numbers! A new breed of performer began to emerge: extraordinary virtuosos whose dazzling abilities made them into international sensations. Liszt, Chopin, Clara Schumann and Paganini are among the names best remembered today but there were many others. This week, Donald Macleod explores the life and music of four more 19th century ?showstoppers? who were equally celebrated in their day, and who also turned their talents to composing.

Music Featured:

Teresa Carreño: Vals gayo Teresa Carreño: Florence, Cantilène Op.34 Teresa Carreño: Souvenirs de mon pays, Op. 10 Teresa Carreño: Le printemps, Op. 25 Teresa Carreño: String quartet in B minor: I. Allegro, II. Andante Teresa Carreño: Elégie Op. 22, No. 6, ?Plaintes au borde d'une tombe? Teresa Carreño: Little Waltz ?Mi Teresita? Elias Parish Alvars: Introduction, Cadenza & Rondo (extract) Elias Parish Alvars:Grand March Op.67 Elias Parish Alvars: Grand Duo on Donizetti?s Linda di Chamounix, Op.65 Elias Parish Alvars: Harp Concerto in E flat Op.98, I. Allegro brillante Elias Parish Alvars: Grand Study in Imitation of a Mandolin Op.84 Maria Szymanowska: Polonaise in C major Maria Szymanowska: Prélude No. 18 in E major Maria Szymanowska: 24 Mazurkas, Nos. 21-24 Maria Szymanowska: Caprice sur la romance de Joconde in E major Maria Szymanowska: Fantaisie in F major Maria Szymanowska: Cotillon, ou valse figurée Maria Szymanowska Nocturne in B flat major Maria Szymanowska: 18 Dances of Different Genres, Nos. 9-12 & No.18 Joseph Joachim: 3 Stücke, Op.2, No.1, Romanze Beethoven: Violin Concerto in D major (1st movt cadenza by Joseph Joachim) Joseph Joachim: Notturno Op.12 Joseph Joachim: Quartettsatz Joseph Joachim: Violin Concerto No.2 in D minor, Op.11 'A la hongroise': III. Finale alla Zingara: Allegro con spirito

Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Chris Taylor for BBC Audio Wales and West

For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Greatest Showstoppers https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001th7g

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we?ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

2023-12-29
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A Vaughan Williams Christmas

?I?ve always loved carols,? Vaughan Williams wrote to Cecil Sharp in 1911. Despite being called a ?most determined atheist? by Bertrand Russell at University, and in later life ?a cheerful agnostic?, the composer never lost his love for Christmas. It dated back to childhood memories of singing carols from Stainer and Bramley?s Christmas Carols New and Old at his home at Leith Hill Place, Surrey. As an adult, his lifelong passion for the Christmas period was demonstrated in his music - the Fantasia on Christmas Carols, On Christmas Night based on Dickens?s A Christmas Carol, the cantata Hodie and the nativity play The First Nowell. His passion for collecting folk tunes in various counties of England ? armed with a trusty pencil and paper, or at times a phonograph - also led to a plethora of carol settings using these folk tunes, as Vaughan Williams himself said ?Every day some old village singer dies, and with him there probably die half-a-dozen beautiful melodies, which are lost to the world for ever: if we would preserve what still remains we must set about it at once.? This week. Kate Molleson explores Vaughan Williams?s experiences of Christmas across his life alongside some of his best loved pieces, and the music he wrote to celebrate the festive period.

Music Featured:

Dives and Lazarus The First Nowell (extract) Trad. The Murder of Maria Marten Five Variants of ?Dives and Lazarus? Suite for Viola and Small Orchestra ? Group 1 The Wasps Overture I Saw Three Ships Come In Willow Wood Folk Songs of the Four Seasons: Orchestral Suite Trad. The High-low well The Holy Well (version 1) Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis As Joseph was Walking A London Symphony (III. Scherzo) Fantasia on Christmas Carols Symphony 3 (II. Lento) Trad. On Christmas Night Sussex Carol The Lark Ascending Hodie (This Day): The Oxen On Christmas Night (extract) Dona Nobis Pacem (III. Reconcilliation) Trad. Ploughboy?s Dream O Little Town of Bethlehem Prelude: 49th parallel Symphony No 5 in D Major (III. Romanza) God rest you merry, gentlemen The First Nowell: IX: In Bethlehem City On Wenlock Edge (V. Bredon Hill) Epithalamion (the bridal day) ? Procession of the bride Hodie (extract) Symphony No 7 (V. Epilogue) Trad. Seven Virgins (Leaves of Life) The Seven Virgins The First Nowell: XX. The First Nowell

Presented by Kate Molleson Produced by Sam Phillips for BBC Audio Wales and West

For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for A Vaughan Williams Christmas https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001t9wp

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we?ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

2023-12-22
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Engelbert Humperdinck (1854-1921)

Donald Macleod explores the life and music of German composer Engelbert Humperdinck

German composer, Engelbert Humperdinck, became an international celebrity with his music for the stage. His lasting hit was his opera, Hansel and Gretel. There were other huge successes too. Die Heirat wider Willen (The Reluctant Marriage) was highly praised after its premiere at the Royal Opera in Berlin, and Humperdinck took 19 curtain calls in London for his stage work Das Wunder (The Miracle). In New York, at the Metropolitan Opera House, after the premiere of Humperdinck?s opera Königskinder (King's Children), the applause just kept going so that the management had to turn the lights off, in order to force the audience to leave.

Humperdinck was born in Siegburg, and from early on his parents encouraged his musical abilities, provided he focused on his other school commitments, too. He went on to study at the Cologne Conservatoire and soon fell under the spell of Wagner whom he met, and later worked with, in the preparation of Wagner?s opera, Parsifal. Humperdinck travelled Europe, and in the early 1890s he saw the premiere of his own opera Hansel and Gretel, which was performed on sixty-nine German stages within one year. Humperdinck became a professor of composition in Berlin and, between his teaching duties, he continued to write many works for the stage. Opera houses clambered to give the premiere of a new work by Humperdinck and he became a giant of his times.

Music Featured:

Evening Prayer (Hansel and Gretel) Weihnachten Piano Quintet in G (Allegro moderato) Hansel and Gretel (Overture) Die Wallfahrt nach Kevlaar (excerpt) Notturno in G, for violin and string quartet Junge Lieder Die Lerche String Quartet in C minor Wagner arr. Humperdinck: Parsifal (Herzeleide) Hansel and Gretel (excerpt) Nachtstück in A flat Christkindleins Wiegenlied An das Christkind Frühlingssehnsucht Altdeutsches Liebeslied Wiegenlied Piano Quintet in G (Adagio) Das Licht der Welt Erinnerung Liebesorakel Königskinder (excerpt) Moorish Rhapsody (Elegy at Sunset) Die Heirat wider Willen (excerpt) Winterlied Shakespeare Suite No 1 (Ferdinand und Miranda) Die Lerche II Verratene Liebe Unter der Linden Das Wunder (excerpt) String Quartet in C (Lebhaft)

Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Luke Whitlock for BBC Audio Wales and West

For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Engelbert Humperdinck (1854-1921) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001t2k8

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we?ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

2023-12-15
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A Medieval Christmas

This week, Donald Macleod marks the beginning of the season of Advent by exploring Christmas music and stories from the Middle Ages. Christmas celebrations encompassed a great variety of colourful traditions and musical occasions during medieval times. Peasants and nobles alike could look forward to many weeks of festivities, from Advent at the start of December, right through to Candlemas on 2nd February. Some of those customs we still recognise and celebrate today. Many are now lost or significantly altered. Donald is joined by early music expert, William Lyons, to examine how Christmas might have felt and sounded to our medieval ancestors.

Music Featured:

Gaudete Personent hodie; Gaudete; Omnis mundus jucundetur Perotin: Alleluia Nativitas Miri it is while sumer ilast Blowe, Northerne Wynd (arr. William Lyons) Seint Nicholas was borne in the citee of Patras; Cantu mirro, summa laude; Sainte nicholaes; Salve cleri speculum - Salve iubar presulum Dufay: Ce jour de l'an Orientis partibus The Play of Daniel (Ludus Danielis) Hec est Clara dies Procedenti puero Pérotin: Salvatoris hodie Dum sigillum summi patris [instrumental] Perotin: Viderunt Omnes Hodie Christus natus est Viderunt Emmanuel Lux hodie, Lux leticie Psallat chorus; Eximie pater et regie; Aptatur Descendit de cælis In natali Domini Isaias Cecinit Perotin: Sederunt Principes Verbum patris umanatur O O Edi beo thu hevene-queene Angelus ad virginem Ecce quod natura Ther is no rose of swych vertu Verbum Patris humanatur Verbum Patris (intrumental) Thys endere nyght Ave Maris Stella Nowell, owt of youre sleep aryse Adam lay ibowndyn (arr. William Lyons) Ye have so longe kepe schepe (instrumental) Nowell, nowell, nowell Hayl Mary ful of grace Coventry Carol Halle: Dieus soit en cheste maison Sequentia Dufay: Bonjour, bon mois Lantins, A: Ce jour de l?an, belle je vous supply Dufay: Ce jour de l'an Gresley Dances (arr. William Lyons)

Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Chris Taylor for BBC Audio Wales and West

For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for A Mediaeval Christmas https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001svqt

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we?ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

2023-12-08
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Ned Rorem (1923-2022)

Ned Rorem was an American composer and writer, and was hailed by some as the greatest art-song composer of his time. Writing over 500 songs, his music has been described as Neoromantic, leaning at times towards a more lyrical nature. Early musical influences upon Rorem were Margaret Bonds, Virgil Thomson, Aaron Copland and also Arthur Honegger. After a period of living in Paris where he associated with members of Les Six, as well as frequent trips to Morocco, Rorem eventually settled back in the USA for the rest of his life. He went on to win a Pulitzer Prize in 1976 for his orchestral work, Air Music.

Rorem also wrote seventeen books, six of which were intimate diaries. These earned him a certain reputation from the 1960s onwards, particularly for his openness about his regular sexual encounters with men. During this period, Rorem also had issues with alcohol and drugs, but his life steadily settled when he entered into a long-term relationship with the composer and choral director James Holmes. They purchased a house together in Nantucket, and Rorem often relied upon Holmes for feedback concerning his own music. This week, Donald Macleod reflects on Ned Rorem?s life and music, remembering his own encounter with the composer when he interviewed Rorem for this series in 2003.

Music Featured:

Early in the morning The Lordly Hudson Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening Dance Suite (excerpt) Piano Concerto No 2 (excerpt) Piano Sonata No 3 (excerpt) Sing My Soul Symphony No 2 (excerpt) For Poulenc Two Psalms and A Proverb (excerpt) Lions Love Divine, All Loves Excelling I will always love you Book of Hours Sky Music (Brisk and Smooth) Santa Fe Songs (excerpt) Praise the Lord, O My Soul Violin Concerto (excerpt) While all things were in quiet silence (Seven Motets for the Church Year) Breath on Me, Breath of God String Symphony (excerpt) Spring Music (Bagatelle) String Quartet No 4 (Still Life) More than a Day (excerpt) Evidence of things not seen (excerpt) Piano Album 1 (excerpts) Double Concerto for Violin and Cello (excerpt) United States: Seven Viewpoints for String Quartet (excerpt) Concerto for English Horn and Orchestra (Recurring Dream) Our Town (excerpt) For Six Friends Four Prayers From An Unknown Past

Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Luke Whitlock for BBC Audio Wales and West

For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Ned Rorem (1923-2022) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001slxs

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we?ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

2023-12-01
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John and Alice Coltrane

Kate Molleson and Kevin Le Gendre dive into the lives and music of John & Alice Coltrane

Coltrane is a name you?re likely to have heard, even if you know little to nothing about jazz. More than half a century after his death, saxophonist and composer John Coltrane is hailed as a giant of American cultural history, and one of 20th-century music?s greatest visionaries. But he?s not the only Coltrane. His wife, Alice, was an accomplished keyboardist and harpist who made revolutionary music in her own right, and whose contribution to John?s late output has not always been fully recognised. As soulmates and fellow seekers in sound, John and Alice both transcended cultural and genre boundaries, helping to pioneer avant-garde and spiritual jazz. But following John?s premature death in 1967, Alice began her solo career and would take forward their journey of creative and religious expansion. This week, Kate Molleson is joined by journalist and broadcaster Kevin Le Gendre to dive into the lives and music of these monumental figures, and explore their contributions to the jazz world and beyond.

Music featured:

Straight Street (from Coltrane) Blue Train (from Blue Train) Miles Davis/John Coltrane: So What (from Kind of Blue) Giant Steps (from Giant Steps) Syeeda?s Song Flute (from Giant Steps) Naima (from Giant Steps) Rodgers/Hart: It?s Easy to Remember (from Ballads) Up ?Gainst the Wall (from Impressions) Rodgers/Hammerstein: My Favorite Things (from My Favorite Things) Blues Minor (from Africa/Brass) India (from Impressions) Alabama (from Live at Birdland 1963) Bessie?s Blues (from Crescent) Terry Gibbs: Sherry Bossa Nova (from Plays Terry Gibbs feat. Alice McLeod) Ogunde (from Expression) A Love Supreme, Pts 1 and 2 (from A Love Supreme) Expression (from Expression) Dear Lord (from Transition) Stopover Bombay (from Journey in Satchidananda) The Sun (from Cosmic Music) Lovely Sky Boat (from A Monastic Trio) Ohnedaruth (from A Monastic Trio) Blue Nile (from Ptah the el Daoud) A Love Supreme (from World Galaxy) Journey in Satchidananda (from Journey in Satchidananda) Spiritual Eternal (from Eternity) Sivaya (from Transcendence) Going Home (from Lord of Lords) Krishna Krishna (from Turiya Sings) Translinear Light (from Translinear Light) Rama rama (from The Ecstatic Music of Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda) Govinda Jai Jai (from Radha-Krsna Nama Sankirtana)

Presented by Kate Molleson Produced by Amelia Parker & Martin Williams for BBC Audio Wales

For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for John and Alice Coltrane https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001s5st

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we?ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

2023-11-17
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Berlioz and Shakespeare

Donald Macleod surveys the spell Shakespeare cast on Berlioz's life and music

Berlioz burst onto the musical stage of 19th century Paris determined to break the mould of France?s elegant and refined classical style. He wanted to create music that could be bombastic, barbaric and grotesque, as well as sentimental, scintillating and sorrowful. In this, he was inspired by writers as much as fellow musicians. He was captivated by stories and crowded his imagination with the tales of Virgil, Scott, Goethe and, most of all, William Shakespeare. This week, Donald Macleod traces the tangled literary connections in Berlioz?s life and music, including the profound spell cast by Shakespeare over the composer?s art and personality.

Music featured:

Symphonie fantastique: IV. Marche au supplice Harold en Italie: III. Sérénade Les Nuits d'été: IV. Absence, VI. L'île inconnue Waverley, Grande Ouverture Roméo et Juliette: Part 1 (extracts) Roméo et Juliette, Op 17: Part 2 (extract) La Damnation de Faust: Scène 15. Symphonie fantastique: II. Un bal (Valse) Lélio, ou Le Retour a la vie: VI. Fantaisie sur ?La tempête? de Shakespeare Symphonie fantastique: V. Songe d'une nuit du Sabbat Lélio, ou Le Retour a la vie: II. Choeur d'Ombres La Mort d?Ophélie Roméo et Juliette: Part 2, II. Scene d'amour Tristia: III. Marche funèbre pour la dernière scène d'Hamlet Le Roi Lear Marche hongroise La Damnation de Faust: Part 2 (excerpts) L'Enfance du Christ: Part 2, ?La fuite en Egypte? (excerpts) Les Troyens, Act 4: ?Nuit d'ivresse et d'extase infinie !? Roméo et Juliette, Parts 4 & 5 Béatrice et Bénédict: (excerpts) Roméo et Juliette: Part 6 & 7 (excerpts)

Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Chris Taylor for BBC Audio Wales and West

For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Berlioz and Shakespeare https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001ryz1

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we?ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

2023-11-10
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Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

Donald Macleod explores Beethoven?s life through his most iconic works

Beethoven remains one of the most lauded composers in history, famed for both his music, and for his personal triumph as a musician over the adversity of his catastrophic hearing loss. Donald Macleod takes five of Beethoven?s most iconic works, spread out through the composer?s life, and tracks the journey of each of them. Through these stories, Donald discovers both the pieces? direct importance to the composer, and also finds wider issues which each of them point to in the general life of a complex, and troubled man. From his carefully stage-managed debut on the Viennese scene as a young man, and his steadily increasing anguish at the loss of his hearing, and the betrayal by Napoleon of his political ideals, to the close relationship between Beethoven and his most loyal patron, and the composer?s late credo of joy through suffering which allowed him to continue to flourish artistically despite all of his personal demons.

Music Featured:

Symphony No 7 (IV. Finale) Piano Quartet No 1 in E-flat major, WoO 36 (II. Allegro con spirito) Cantata on death of Emperor Joseph II (I. Todt! Todt!; III. Da kam Joseph) Piano Sonata in C major, Op 2`3 (IV. Allegro Assai) Piano Concerto No 1 in C major, Op 15 (1st movement) The Creatures of Prometheus, Op 43 (Overture) Piano Sonata No 12 in A-flat, Op 26 (III. Funeral march on the death of a hero) Christus am Olberge, Op 85 (III. ?Meine seele ist erschuttert?) An die hoffnung, Op 32 Symphony No 3 in E-flat major, Op 55 ?Eroica? (I. Allegro con brio) Leonore, Op 72a (original version, 1805), Act I Nr. 12. Finale ?O, welche Lust, in freier Luft" Ich bin der Herr von zu, Du bist der Herr von von, WoO 199 Piano Concerto No 4 in G major, Op 58 (III. Rondo) Symphony No 5 in C minor, Op 67 (IV. Allegro) Piano Sonata No 26 in E flat major, Op 81a ?Les Adieux? (I. Das lebewohl) Piano Trio in B flat major, Op 97 ?Archduke? (I. Allegro Molto) Missa Solemnis in D major, Op 123 (Gloria; Quoniam) Piano Sonata No 29 in Bb major, Op 106 ?Hammerklavier? (II. Scherzo) Adelaide, Op 46 Sonata for Cello and Piano in D major, Op 102 An die ferne geliebte, Op 98 Symphony No 8 in F major (IV. Allegro Vivace) Piano Sonata No 29 in Bb major, Op 106 ?Hammerklavier? (IV. Largo ? Allegro risoluto) Symphony No 9 in D minor, Op 125 ?Choral? (Finale (excerpt)) Piano Sonata No 32 in C minor, Op 111 (I. Maestoso) Missa Solemnis in D major, Op 123 (Credo: Et Incarnatus Est) Diabelli variations in C major, Op 120 (excerpt) Grosse Fuge in B flat major, Op 133

Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Sam Phillips for BBC Audio Wales and West

For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001rr0t

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we?ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

2023-11-03
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Edouard Lalo (1823-1892)

Donald Macleod surveys the life and music of the elusive French composer, Edouard Lalo

Even if you know the name, it's possible you might not be able to place the French composer Edouard Lalo date-wise. He was born in Lille in 1823. Berlioz was his senior in age by some twenty years, Saint-Saëns twelve years his junior. Lalo has a direct contemporary in the shape of César Franck, another composer who preferred to stay out of the limelight. As a musician, Lalo cut an independent path, preferring to complete his music studies privately rather than following the accepted route of attending the Paris Conservatoire.

Lalo had a retiring nature, a man who appears to have preferred the quiet life. That doesn't mean he wasn't sociable. He seems to have been generally well liked. He lived in Paris from the age of sixteen and mixed with and knew all the leading musical personalities of the day. Aside from the Symphonie espagnole, he wrote several operas, a ballet, a symphony, a whole number of orchestral and chamber works including three piano trios and a string quartet, and something in the region of 30 songs.

Trying to get a handle on Lalo isn't straightforward. The first letter that?s been preserved dates from 1848, by which time Lalo was in his late twenties. His son Pierre was a primary source of information about his father, but more recent research indicates the picture he drew seems to have been somewhat rose-tinted. The first full length biography in English has yet to be published.

Donald Macleod sets about mapping the life and the music of this elusive, yet significant figure in French musical history in a survey that takes us from Lalo's early experiences in Lille, where he first met Berlioz, to his eventual triumph, age sixty on the opera stage with Le roi d'Ys.

Music Featured:

Guitarre, op 28 arr. Ernest Guiraud Symphonie Espagnole in D minor , Op 21 (I: Allegro non troppo) Le roy d?Ys - Overture Violin sonata in D major, ?Grand duo concertant? Op 12 (2nd movement Variations) Piano Trio No 2 (III: Minuetto: Allegro) Violin Concerto No 1 in F major, Op 20 (I: Andante ? Allegro) Deux impromptus, Op 4 (I : Espérance) Symphonie Espagnole in D minor, Op 21 (II : Scherzando; Allegro molto) Trois mélodies La fenaison Six romance populaires (IV : Si j?étais petit oiseau; I : La pauvre femme) Piano Quintet "Grand Quintette" in Ab major (2nd movement) Cello Concerto in D minor (I. Prélude. Lento - Allegro maestoso) Rapsodie norvégienne Divertissement No 3: Andantino Fiesque, Act 2: Entr?acte: une place de Gênes Fiesque, Act 1: Je ne puis supporter Fiesque Act 2 (except) Piano Trio No 3 in A minor, Op 26 (II: Presto) Sonata for cello and piano (I: Andante non troppo) Concerto russe (II: Chants russe; III. Intermezzo) Namouna, Act 1: Valse de la Cigarette Symphony in G minor (III: Adagio) Namouna Suite No 2 Piano Trio in A Minor, Op 26 (I: Allegro appassionato) Cello Concerto in D minor (II: Intermezzo; III: Introduction: Andante - Allegro vivace) Overture to Le roi d?Ys (excerpt) Le roi d?Ys, Act 3: Vainement, ma bien-aimée String Quartet in E flat (I: Allegro vivo) Piano Concerto in F minor (I: Lento-Allegro) Le roi d?Ys, Act 1 (excerpt) Le roi d?Ys, Act 3 (excerpt) Symphonie Espagnole (V: Rondo)

Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Johannah Smith for BBC Audio Wales and West

For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Edouard Lalo (1823-1892) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001rhyp

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we?ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

2023-10-27
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José Maurício Nunes Garcia (1767-1830)

Kate Molleson explore the life and music of Afro-Brazilian composer José Maurício Nunes Garcia

Composer of the Week shines the spotlight on the Afro-Brazilian composer José Maurício Nunes Garcia. Hailed by some as the Father of Brazilian Classical Music, and compared by others to Mozart and Haydn, this series delves into the life and music of this once hugely prolific and popular composer. Born in Rio de Janeiro, both his parents were children of slaves. Thanks to his exceptional musical talents, Garcia was able to move from his poverty-stricken beginnings to the very top of his society. He became Master of Music at the Cathedral. Later, when the Portuguese Court established themselves in the city, Garcia was appointed Master of Music at the Chapel Royal and Court Composer. Kate Molleson is joined by Professor Marcelo Hazan from the University of South Carolina and Professor Kirsten Schultz from Seton Hall University who help her explore Garcia?s incredible life story and music.

A hugely influential teacher of music from early on, Garcia established his own free music school and was invited into the homes of the elite to teach their daughters. His trajectory wasn?t always plain sailing however and he frequently encountered racism. When it came to Garcia entering the Priesthood in the early 1790s, he had to undergo a number of tests to prove his worth, including providing impeccable references to offset the official concerns about his family background. Garcia was ordained, and with his musical skills finally recognised by the Church and Portuguese Court, he became the go-to composer for Saints Days, Royal occasions, and other commissions. However, many European musicians who came to Rio de Janeiro were not keen to be conducted by someone of his race. Eventually, Brazil gained independence from the Portuguese Empire and Garcia?s Royal employers were returned to Portugal, leaving Garcia struggling during turbulent times.

Music Featured:

Missa pastoril para a noite de natal (Kyrie eleison) Tenuisti manum dexteram meam Missa pastoril para a noite de natal (excerpt) Fantasy No 1 Fantasy No 2 Lição No 7 da Segunda Parte Tota Pulchra es Maria Zemira, Overture Immutemur Habitu Sinfonia fúnebre Tenuisti Manum Crux Fidelis Popule Meus Francisco Manuel da Silva: Brazilian National Anthem Fantasy No 6 Requiem Mass (excerpt) Dies Sanctificatus Justus cum ceciderit Judas Mercator pessimus Missa pastoril para a noite de natal (excerpt) Overture in D major Marcos António Portugal: Cuidados, tristes cuidados Beijo a mão que me condena Laudate pueri In Monte Oliveti Josef Haydn: Piano Sonata No. 62 in E flat, Hob. WVI: 52 (Finale) Lição No 8 da Primeira Parte Lição No 4 da Segunda Parte Lição No 8 da Segunda Parte Laudate dominum Requiem Mass (excerpt) Creed No 9 in B flat (excerpt) Fantasy No 4 Missa de Nossa Senhora da Concição (excerpt) Lição No 3 da Segunda Parte Lição No 6 da Segunda Parte Requiem Mass (excerpt) Domine Tu Mihi Lavas Pedes Inter Vestibulum

Presented by Kate Molleson Produced by Luke Whitlock for BBC Audio Wales and West

For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for José Maurício Nunes Garcia (1767-1830) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001qvv7

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we?ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

2023-10-06
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Anniversary Special: A Welsh Quintet

Donald Macleod marks Composer of the Week's 80th anniversary

Composer of the Week has been produced in Cardiff since 1999 so it's fitting that Donald is celebrating Welsh composers in this anniversary series. Following on from a live concert given in the BBC's Hoddinott Hall in Cardiff Bay, with the BBC Singers, Donald continues the story of Welsh music with programmes featuring music by Grace Williams, Hilary Tann, Morfydd Owen, Dilys Elwyn-Edwards and Rhian Samuel. This quintet of composers were all born in Wales, and much of their music finds inspiration in their Welsh roots. Collectively their stories will take us from the 1890s to the present day.

Music Featured:

Morfydd Owen: Beti Bwt (Welsh Impressions) Dilys Elwyn-Edwards: The Cloths of Heaven Morfydd Owen: My luv's like a red, red rose Morfydd Owen: Nocturne for orchestra in D flat major Dilys Elwyn-Edwards: Lullaby for piano Dilys Elwyn-Edwards: Laudate Dominum Dilys Elwyn-Edwards: All that's past Dilys Elwyn-Edwards: Caneuon y Tri Aderyn Grace Williams: Symphony no. 2 (excerpt) Grace Williams: Ballads, IV: Allegro furioso Grace Williams: Fantasia on Welsh Nursery Tunes Grace Williams: Sea Sketches (excerpt) Grace Williams: Elegy Rhian Samuel: Four-and-a half Dancing Men (A Garland for Anne) Rhian Samuel: Little Duos for oboe and cor anglaise (Little Whispers) Rhian Samuel: A Perfect View Rhian Samuel: Gaslight Square II for piano duo Rhian Samuel: Love Bade me welcome Rhian Samuel: Salve nos Rhian Samuel: Time out of Time (excerpt) Rhian Samuel: Clytemnestra for female voice and orchestra (excerpt) Hilary Tann: From the Song of Amergin (excerpt) Hilary Tann: Nothing Forgotten (I: Andante maestoso) Hilary Tann: Llef for flute and cello (excerpt) Hilary Tann: Shakkei (II: Leggiero) Hilary Tann: Water's Edge (II: From the Riverbed) Hilary Tann: Seven peoms of stillness (I: The air a staircase for silence (Kneeling)) Hilary Tann: In the First, Spinning Place

Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Johannah Smith for BBC Audio Wales and West

For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Anniversary Special: A Welsh Quintet https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001qfrt

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we?ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

2023-09-29
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Anniversary Special: A Welsh Quintet live from Cardiff

Donald Macleod celebrates 80 years of "Composer of the Week" with a concert of music by Grace Williams and Hilary Tann, curated by Welsh music historian Rhian Davies, and performed by the BBC Singers in Hoddinott Hall in Cardiff Bay. Donald, together with Welsh music specialist Geraint Lewis and conductor and broadcaster Gwawr Owen, considers the part these two composers play in the history of Wales' vibrant choral tradition.

Composer of the Week has been produced in Cardiff since 1999 so it's fitting that Donald is celebrating Welsh composers in this anniversary series. Across the week, he follows the stories of Grace Williams, Hilary Tann, Morfydd Owen, Dilys Elwyn-Edwards and Rhian Samuel. This quintet of composers were all born in Wales, and much of their music finds inspiration in their Welsh roots. Collectively their stories will take us from the 1890s to the present day.

For the first time in "Composer of the Week's" long history, it was recorded live and in front of an audience. During the programme the BBC Singers showcase music by two composers Grace Williams and Hilary Tann, through their choral music. Music includes Williams' arrangements of Welsh folk-songs, and her masterly setting of Ave Maris Stella and we also hear Hilary Tann's settings of Welsh poets RS Thomas and Menna Elfyn.

Trad. arr. Grace Williams: Jim Cro Trad. arr. Grace Williams: O rare Turpin Trad. arr. Grace Williams: Mari lwyd Hilary Tann: The Moor Grace Williams: Ave maris stella Hilary Tann: Wellspring Grace Williams: When the green woods laugh Hilary Tann: Paradise

Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Johannah Smith for BBC Audio Wales and West

For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Anniversary Special: A Welsh Quintet https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001qfrt

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we?ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

2023-09-29
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Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1643)

Donald Macleod surveys the life of Girolamo Frescobaldi and the musical spectacle of Rome

Girolamo Frescobaldi established the keyboard style that would dominate Europe in the Baroque era. His life throws a light on the nepotism and patronage at the heart of Italy in the 17th century, and how it created extraordinary music and spectacle.... breaking the bank in the process. Donald Macleod and his guest Robert Quinney, Director of the Choir of New College, Oxford, explore Frescobaldi's story alongside some of the other great musicians of his time, who fell into his orbit.

Music Featured:

Partite Sopra Ciaccona Canzona Terza a 2 Fantasia prima, sopra un soggietto Fantasia undecima, sopra quattro soggietti Luzzaschi: Aura soave Luzzaschi: Sacrarum Cantionum, Book 1: Deus tu scis insipientiam meam Toccate e partite d'intavolatura di cimbalo et organo, Book 1: Toccata nona (arr. for double harp) Il secondo libro di toccate canzone, versi d'hinni, Magnificat, gagliarde, correnti: Toccata prima Canzon terza Partite sopra L'Aria della Romanesca Peter Philips: Salve Regina William Byrd: Pavan and Galliard (from The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book, Nos. 174-5) Giunt?e pur lidia il mio S?io miro in te, m?uccidi Toccate e partite d'intavolatura di cimbalo et organo, libro primo: Toccata ottava Arie musicali per cantarsi, Book 2: Vanne, o carta amorosa Partite Sopra Ciaccona - Corrente Fantasia prima, sopra un soggietto Fantasia seconda, sopra un soggietto solo Francesco Soriano: Missa Nos autem gloriari oportet: Gloria Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina: Tu es Petrus a 6 Messa della Domenica: Canzon post il Comune;Bergamasca Toccate e partite d'intavolatura di cimbalo et organo, libro primo: Toccata quarta; Balletto prima Toccata no. 10 in D Minor Stefano Landi: La morte d'Orfeo, Op 2 (excerpt) Arie musicali, Book 2: No 19, Vanne, o carta amorosa Arie musicali, Book 2: No 18, Ti lascio, anima mia Jacques Arcadelt: Madrigali, Book 1: Ahime, dov'è'l bel viso: Madrigali, Book 1: Ancidetemi pur, grievi martiri Ancidetemi pur d'Archadelt passeggiato Johann Hieronymous Kapsberger: I pastori di Bettelemme (excerpt): Arie musicali per cantarsi, Book 1: Così mi disprezzate (Aria di passacaglia) Canzona duodecima detta la Todeschina Stefano Landi: Il sant'alessio (excerpt) Johann Jakob Froberger: Suite (Partita) No. 30 in A Minor, FbWV 630 Marco Marazzoli: Dialogo fra Rosinda ed Olindo Missa sopra l'aria della monica: Credo Cento Partite Sopra Passacagli

Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Iain Chambers for BBC Audio Wales and West

For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1643) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001qfrt

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we?ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

2023-09-22
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Carlos Chávez (1899-1978)

Donald Macleod is joined by Odaline de la Martinez to explore the life and music of Carlos Chavez

Carlos Chávez was both a rebel and an educator. Born in a Mexico on the brink of revolution, he would go on to single-handedly revolutionise Mexican music and culture, filling his compositions with indigenous Aztec stories and sounds. Many cite Aaron Copland as an influence on Chávez, but the truth may have been the reverse. While Copland was championing American music in the States, Chávez was fighting for it in Mexico, educating the next generation of Mexican composers. He may have shaped American music more than any other - yet his legacy is little known. Odaline de la Martinez joins Donald Macleod to explore his life and work.

Music Featured:

Three Pieces for Guitar Sexteto para Arcos y Piano: III. Andante & IV. Finale Los Cuatro Soles Chapultepec "Republican Overture" Poligonos Tres Exagonos Otros Tres Exagonos Energia Suite de Caballos de Vapor: I. Danza del hombre, II. El barco, III. El tropico Soli I Soli II Sinfonia India Xochipilli Toccata for Percussion Instruments Concerto for Violin and Orchestra Sinfonia Romantica: III. Finale Symphony No 5: I. Allegro molto moderato, molto lento Tambuco for Percussion Symphony No 6: III. Passacaglia con anima String Quartet No 2 Huapango Soli IV

Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Alice McKee for BBC Audio Wales and West

For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Carlos Chávez (1899-1978) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001q746

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we?ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

2023-09-15
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George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)

Kate Molleson shares stories of Handel?s music at summer soirees across the British Isles

When he arrived in London in 1712, German-born George Frideric Handel was already one of Europe?s most exciting musical minds. Over the next decades he would not only carve a living for himself, but transform British musical life, from the opera stage to the choir stalls, and hardwire his legacy into our culture. This week, Kate Molleson tells the stories of five summer soirees from across his life in the British Isles ? golden evenings of 18th-century music making, and some of his most eventful performances.

Music Featured:

Water Music (Suite 2: i. Allegro) Water Music (Suite 2: ii. Hornpipe) Water Music (Suite 1: excerpt) Water Music (Suite 3) Qual nave smarrita (from Radamisto) Water Music (Suite 1: excerpt) Acis and Galatea (Overture) Chandos Te Deum (excerpt) Chandos Anthem No 4 ?O sing unto the Lord a new song? Acis and Galatea, Act II: Nos 25-29 Keyboard Suite in E major ?The Harmonious Blacksmith?, HWV430 (Air & Variations) Esther, Act I, Scene 4: Tune your harps to cheerful strains; Praise the Lord Organ Concerto in B-flat major, Op 4 No 2 Jubilate Deo in D major ?Utrecht?, HWV279 Athalia, Act II Scene 2: My vengeance awakes me L?Allegro, il penseroso ed il moderato: As steals the morn Alexander?s Feast, Part I (excerpt) Messiah, Part 2 (excerpt) Messiah, Part 3: Amen Hornpipe compos?d for Vauxhall Acis and Galatea: Hush ye pretty warbling quire Semele: Where?er you walk Concerto Grosso in F major, Op 3 No 4b Zadok the Priest Music for the Royal Fireworks (excerpt)

Presented by Kate Molleson Produced by Amelia Parker for BBC Audio Wales and West

For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001q14p

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we?ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

2023-09-08
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Icons of British Light Music

Donald Macleod explores how the rise and fall of Light Music in Britain

The names of the composers of British Light Music - Coates, Ketèlby, Farnon, Dring or Tomlinson - might not be as well known as those of Mozart, Beethoven or Bach, but some of their music will be just as familiar to most listeners, and it still provides the soundtrack to many people?s everyday lives through, among other things, the theme music to their favourite TV and radio programmes. Over the course of this week, Donald Macleod tracks the rise and fall of Light Music in Britain over roughly 100 years, from the mid 19th century to the mid 20th. He?ll be exploring the social history which led to this genre flourishing, from the late-Victorian theatre crowds in want of more popular fare after the successes of Gilbert and Sullivan?s operettas, to the orchestras which sprang up to entertain the burgeoning UK seaside resorts. Along the way, Donald will examine the explosion of music in people?s homes, as at first pianos and other instruments, and then radio and television sets, became affordable to households across the country, and the transition from silent movies to the talkies. Donald will also explore the challenges which the genre faced as audiences moved towards new ways of listening in the 20th century and the pioneers who have sought to keep this music alive.

Music Featured:

Ronald Binge: Elizabethan Serenade Edward German: ?If You Wish to Appear As An Irish Type? from Emerald Isle Edward German: Nell Gwyn Suite: Overture Edward German: Welsh Rhapsody Haydn Wood: Roses of Picardy Haydn Wood: Mannin Veen John H. Glover-Kind: I do like to be beside the seaside Albert Ketèlbey: In Holiday Mood Eric Coates: The Merrymakers, a Miniature Overture Eric Coates: Lazy night Eric Coates: Summer days Suite Reginald King: Song of Paradise Albert Ketèlbey: In a Monastery garden Eric Coates: The Dam Busters March Frederick Curzon: Robin Hood ? March of the Bowmen Richard Addinsell: Love on the Dole (excerpts) Frederic Curzon: The Dread Tribunal Frederic Curzon: Bravada: Paso Doble Richard Addinsell: Warsaw Concerto Ronald Binge: Sailing by Ronald Binge: Alto Saxophone Concerto Robert Farnon: Little Miss Molly Eric Coates: Calling All Workers Eric Coates: London Suite III. Knightsbridge Robert Farnon: Portrait of a Flirt Robert Farnon: A La Claire Fontaine Robert Farnon: Westminster Waltz Ronald Binge: The Water Mill Madeleine Dring: Festival Scherzo for piano and strings Ernest Tomlinson:Little Serenade Ernest Tomlinson (under alias of Alan Perry): Eccentric March Ernest Tomlinson: Capability Brown (test card music) Ernest Tomlinson: Second Suite of English Folk Dances Madeleine Dring (orchestrated by Roderick Williams): Take, O Take Those Lips Away Madeleine Dring: Folk Song; Films from Cheapside at Cheapside (From 'Airs on a Shoestring!') Madeleine Dring: Song of a Nightclub Proprietress Eric Coates: Last Love

Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Sam Phillips for BBC Audio Wales and West

For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Icons of British Light Music https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001ptxr

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we?ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

2023-09-01
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Anniversary Special: Composers in Conversation - Part 2

Donald Macleod celebrates the programme?s 80th anniversary with highlights from 10 memorable interviews

Composer of the Week is one of the longest-running strands on the BBC, first heard on the airwaves during the Second World War on the 2nd of August 1943. The first to be featured was Mozart ? and today, the programme tells the stories of well-known and rediscovered composers across classical music, jazz, contemporary and beyond. Donald Macleod celebrates its 80th anniversary with highlights and behind-the-scenes stories from his encounters with some of our greatest living composers. Across the week, he looks back on 10 memorable interviews from his nearly 25 years in the presenter?s chair, showcasing the range of musical styles and personalities he?s encountered.

Part 1 includes interviews with Stephen Sondheim, Judith Weir, Meredith Monk, Steve Reich & Harrison Birtwistle.

Part 2 includes interviews with Hans Werner Henze, Adolphus Hailstork, Thea Musgrave, Anoushka Shankar & Oliver Knussen.

Music Featured:

Stephen Sondheim: Pretty Little Picture (from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum) Jule Styne/Stephen Sondheim: Everything?s Coming Up Roses (from Gypsy) Stephen Sondheim: Free (from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum) Stephen Sondheim: There?s Always a Woman (from Anyone Can Whistle) Judith Weir: Variations For Judith, No 5 Judith Weir: Vertue for chorus Judith Weir: Piano Quartet (1st movement) Judith Weir: Airs from Another Planet for wind quintet and piano (excerpt) Meredith Monk: Gothum Lullaby Meredith Monk: Quarry (Quarry Weave 2) Meredith Monk: Dolmen Music (excerpt) Steve Reich: The Cave (excerpts from Act III) Steve Reich: Different Trains (iii. Europe, After the War) Steve Reich: Piano Phase (remixed by D*Note) Harrison Birtwistle: Virelai (sous une fontayne) Harrison Birtwistle: The Minotaur (Part Two ? excerpt) Harrison Birtwistle: The Moth Requiem Hans Werner Henze: Chamber Concerto, Op 1 (final movement) Hans Werner Henze: Serenade for piano trio (Adagio, Adagio) Hans Werner Henze: Scorribanda sinfónica Hans Werner Henze: Requiem (excerpt) Adolphus Hailstork: Fanfare on Amazing Grace Adolphus Hailstork: Three Spirituals for Orchestra Adolphus Hailstork: Symphony No 2 (excerpts) Thea Musgrave: On the Underground, Set 1: Sometimes Thea Musgrave: Two?s Company Anoushka Shankar: Traces of you Anoushka Shankar: Voice of the Moon Anoushka Shankar: Red Sun Oliver Knussen: Flourish with Fireworks, Op 22 Oliver Knussen: Music for a Puppet Court, Op 11 Oliver Knussen: ?Upon One Note

Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Amelia Parker for BBC Audio Wales and West

For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Anniversary Special: Composers in Conversation https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001p28b

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we?ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

2023-08-04
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Anniversary Special: Composers in Conversation - Part 1

Donald Macleod celebrates the programme?s 80th anniversary with highlights from 10 memorable interviews

Composer of the Week is one of the longest-running strands on the BBC, first heard on the airwaves during the Second World War on the 2nd of August 1943. The first to be featured was Mozart ? and today, the programme tells the stories of well-known and rediscovered composers across classical music, jazz, contemporary and beyond. Donald Macleod celebrates its 80th anniversary with highlights and behind-the-scenes stories from his encounters with some of our greatest living composers. Across the week, he looks back on 10 memorable interviews from his nearly 25 years in the presenter?s chair, showcasing the range of musical styles and personalities he?s encountered.

Part 1 includes interviews with Stephen Sondheim, Judith Weir, Meredith Monk, Steve Reich & Harrison Birtwistle.

Part 2 includes interviews with Hans Werner Henze, Adolphus Hailstork, Thea Musgrave, Anoushka Shankar & Oliver Knussen.

Music Featured:

Stephen Sondheim: Pretty Little Picture (from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum) Jule Styne/Stephen Sondheim: Everything?s Coming Up Roses (from Gypsy) Stephen Sondheim: Free (from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum) Stephen Sondheim: There?s Always a Woman (from Anyone Can Whistle) Judith Weir: Variations For Judith, No 5 Judith Weir: Vertue for chorus Judith Weir: Piano Quartet (1st movement) Judith Weir: Airs from Another Planet for wind quintet and piano (excerpt) Meredith Monk: Gothum Lullaby Meredith Monk: Quarry (Quarry Weave 2) Meredith Monk: Dolmen Music (excerpt) Steve Reich: The Cave (excerpts from Act III) Steve Reich: Different Trains (iii. Europe, After the War) Steve Reich: Piano Phase (remixed by D*Note) Harrison Birtwistle: Virelai (sous une fontayne) Harrison Birtwistle: The Minotaur (Part Two ? excerpt) Harrison Birtwistle: The Moth Requiem Hans Werner Henze: Chamber Concerto, Op 1 (final movement) Hans Werner Henze: Serenade for piano trio (Adagio, Adagio) Hans Werner Henze: Scorribanda sinfónica Hans Werner Henze: Requiem (excerpt) Adolphus Hailstork: Fanfare on Amazing Grace Adolphus Hailstork: Three Spirituals for Orchestra Adolphus Hailstork: Symphony No 2 (excerpts) Thea Musgrave: On the Underground, Set 1: Sometimes Thea Musgrave: Two?s Company Anoushka Shankar: Traces of you Anoushka Shankar: Voice of the Moon Anoushka Shankar: Red Sun Oliver Knussen: Flourish with Fireworks, Op 22 Oliver Knussen: Music for a Puppet Court, Op 11 Oliver Knussen: ?Upon One Note

Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Amelia Parker for BBC Audio Wales and West

For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Anniversary Special: Composers in Conversation https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001p28b

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we?ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

2023-08-04
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Germaine Tailleferre (1892-1983)

Kate Molleson explores the spry and subtly surprising music of Germaine Tailleferre

Kate Molleson revels in the spry and subtly surprising music of Germaine Tailleferre, with guests Barbara Kelly and Caroline Potter.

Germaine Tailleferre first made a splash in the heady atmosphere of 1920s Paris. She was part of a lively, bohemian scene in which poetry and exhibitions went hand in hand with performances of new music. Her career was given a bump start by the eccentric older composer, Eric Satie. He was an influential voice in avant-garde circles, and his support opened a door to wider recognition. Tailleferre became part of a like-minded set of young composers, along with Francis Poulenc, Arthur Honegger, Darius Milhaud, Louis Durey and Georges Auric. Their energy and drive created exciting new outlets for performances of their music. It was a journalist, Henri Collet, who coined their eventual collective name "Les Six". While their artistic paths quickly diversified, the group remained friends for the rest of their lives.

Tailleferre was a prolific composer, writing in all the genres from small scale chamber works to large scale works including cantatas, orchestral scores, ballets and operas. After enjoying considerable success, by the 1930s her prominence began to fade. There's some evidence to suggest that her two unhappy marriages, and the deprivations of living in occupied France, followed by a temporary exile in the States during the second world war all had an adverse impact on her career. Despite these setbacks, she continued to compose and would teach music almost to the very end of her life. She died in 1983 at the age of 91.

Held back perhaps by her own retiring personality and historical views of a female composer, Tailleferre's music has been overshadowed by some of the other members of "Les Six". This week Kate Molleson brings Germaine Tailleferre's music firmly in to the limelight. She's joined in studio by two other Tailleferre enthusiasts, Barbara Kelly from the University of Leeds, and Caroline Potter, who's currently writing a book about Tailleferre.

Music Featured:

Deux valses Image for 8 instruments Jeux de plein air Quartet for Strings Romance in A major Le Marchand d?oiseaux Pas trop vite Piano Trio Ballade for piano and orchestra Chansons françaises, No 5 (excerpt) Chansons françaises (Nos 1, 2 & 5) Concerto No 1 for piano and orchestra Violin sonata No 1 (excerpt) Fandango La nouvelle Cythère (excerpts) Harp Concertino Chansons Françaises (Nos 3 & 4) Violin sonata No 1 (1st & 4th mvts) Partita for piano (excerpt) Chansons du folklore Sonata for Harp Concerto two pianos, chorus and orchestra La cantate du narcisse Larghetto Suite burlesque (1, Dolente) Ouverture trans. By John Paynter Il était un Petit Navire (arr for two pianos) Concertino for flute, piano and chamber orchestra (excerpts) Pancarte pour une porte d?entrée (song cycle) Sonate Champêtre for wind and piano Tu mi chamas

Presented by Kate Molleson Produced by Johannah Smith for BBC Audio in Wales

For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Germaine Tailleferre (1892-1983) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001nw40

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we?ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

2023-07-28
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Samuel Barber (1910-1981)

Composer of the Week explores the life and music of Samuel Barber, who is only considered one of the most expressive representatives of the Romantic trend in 20th century classical music, as well as one of the most frequently performed American composers. His most famous score is his early Adagio for Strings; some of his other breakthrough include his Piano Sonata, and the opera Vanessa.

Barber began studying piano from the age of six and started to compose from the age of seven. He went on to take composition lessons with Rosario Scalero at the Curtis Institute of Music and, from this point, he never looked back, quickly becoming one of America?s most famous composers. He wrote in many different genres, including chamber, vocal, orchestral and works for the stage, and often composed in response to significant and highly desirable commissions. He enjoyed close collaboration with the performers he wrote for, shaping his music to their individual styles and capabilities. Only towards the end of his life, when he was struggling with depression, alcoholism and also cancer, did his creative output slow.

Music Featured:

Overture to The School for Scandal Dover Beach, Op 3 Cello Sonata, Op 6 (Adagio - Presto) Sure on this shining night, Op 13 No 3 Nocturne, Op 13 No 4 Adagio for Strings, Op 11 Violin Concerto, Op 14 (excerpt) Monks and Raisins, Op 18 No 2 Commando March Cello Concerto, Op 22 (Andante sostenuto) Medea Orchestral Suite, Op 23 (excerpt) Knoxville: Summer of 1915, Op 24 Piano Sonata, Op 26 (excerpt) Souvenirs, Op 28 (Galop) At St Patrick?s Purgatory, Op 29 No 1 (Hermit Songs) The Monk and his Cat, Op 29 No 8 (Hermit Songs) Meditation and Dance of Vengeance, Op 23a Summer Music, Op 31 Vanessa, Op 32 (excerpt) Nocturne, Op 33 (Homage to John Field) My Lizard, Op 41 No 2 (Despite and Still) Canzone, Op 38a Piano Concerto, Op 38 (Allegro appassionato) Night Flight, Op 19a Antony and Cleopatra, Op 40 (Give Me Some Music) Agnus Dei, Op 11 In the Wilderness, Op 41 No 3 (Despite and Still) Third Essay, Op 47 A Green Lowland of Pianos, Op 45 No 2 Toccata festiva, Op 36 The Lovers, Op 43 (excerpt)

Ballade, Op 46 Canzonetta, Op 48

Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Luke Whitlock for BBC Audio in Wales

For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Samuel Barber (1910-1981) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001nnr8

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we?ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

2023-07-21
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William Byrd (1543-1623)

This week, Donald Macleod marks the 400th anniversary of the death of William Byrd, the greatest British musician of his age. Donald is joined all week by Byrd expert Kerry McCarthy to explore Byrd?s story and reveal a composer of determined ambition and powerful convictions. Those who encountered him, found Byrd could be a difficult adversary as well as a loyal friend. Donald also visits Essex to discover what remains of Byrd?s legacy in the places where he felt most at home, and to see how the composer navigated a hazardous path between his catholic faith and his duty to the crown at a time of great religious intolerance.

Music Featured:

O Lux Beata Trinitas The Bells Praise the Lord all Ye Gentiles Have Mercy on me O God Fantasia No 2 Laudibus in Sanctis John come kiss me now O You that hear this voice In fields abroad Galliard a6 Fantasia in A minor (extract) O Lord Make thy Servant Elizabeth Magnificat (Short Evening Service) Te Deum (The Great Service) In Nomine a5 (No 2) Fantasia a6 in F In Nomine a5 (No 3) Domine Quis Habitabit Fantasia in A minor Laetentur coeli Clarifica Me, I, II & III Magnificat (The Great Service) Peccantem me quotidie Attollite portas Come to me grief forever All as a sea As I beheld I saw a herdman wild Gaudeamus omnes Mass for 4 voices: Credo Sellinger?s Round Pavan 'Sir William Petre' Ne irascaris Domine Oh God that guides the cheerful sun Haec dies The Battell (extract) Galiardo ?Mrs. Mary Brownlow? Responsum accepit Simeon Nunc dimittis Come Jolly Swains Have Mercy on me, O God Blow up the Trumpet Galiardo ?The Earle of Salisbury? Tristitia et anxietas

Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Chris Taylor

For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for William Byrd (1543-1623) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001n819

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we?ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

2023-07-07
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George Gershwin (1898-1937)

Donald Macleod explores the life and music of George Gershwin

Music Featured:

Rhapsody in Blue Let?s Call the Whole Thing Off Swanee Our Love is Here to Stay Lullaby Somebody Loves Me Suite from Blue Monday (arr. Jeanneau) A Foggy Day Overture from Primrose Fascinating Rhythm Piano Concerto in F Three Preludes (arr Heifetz) S?Wonderful The Man I Love (arr. Percy Grainger) Nice Work If You Can Get It How Long Has This Been Going On American in Paris But Not For Me Blah Blah Blah Embraceable You Second Rhapsody I Got Rhythm They Can?t Take that Away From Me Jasbo Brown Blues Summertime It Aint Necessarily So (arr. Heifetz) Bess, You is my Woman Now Catfish Row Suite Rhapsody in Blue

Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Martin Williams

For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for George Gershwin (1898-1937) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001n27r

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we?ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

2023-06-30
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Johann Christian Bach (1735-1782)

Donald Macleod explores the life and music of the ?English Bach?

Composer of the Week explores the life and music of the ?English Bach?, Johann Christian Bach, whose blending of German technique with Italian lyricism, in his music, made him not only the leading composer in London but a favourite too with the likes of Mozart. He was the youngest son of J.S. Bach, and the first of Bach?s numerous sons to visit Italy where he had lessons with Padre Martini. J.C. Bach spent much time composing sacred music whilst in Italy but he soon got the opera bug and it was a commission for the Haymarket theatre in London which enticed him to travel to England where he remained based for the rest of his life. Bach became a music tutor to members of the Royal family and his operas were soon wowing London audiences. He also set up a famous series of London concerts with another musician, C.F. Abel. Celebrated singers of the age all wanted to perform arias by Bach, and when the Mozart family visited London, Bach became a mentor to the young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. J.C. Bach also produced operas for European stages in Paris and Mannheim, and his works became so popular that many pirated editions appeared in print during his lifetime.

Music Featured:

Symphony in G minor, Op 6 No 6 (excerpt) Magnificat a 4 in C, W E 22 (excerpt) Harpsichord Concerto in F minor, W C73 Laudate pueri, W E 19 (excerpt) Sinfonia in D, Op 3 No 1 Artaserse, T. 217 (Vo solcando un mar crudele) Catone in Utica, W G2 (Overture) Beatus vir, W E 17 (excerpt) Non so d?onde viene (Ezio) Zanaida, W G5 (Overture) Zanaida (Tortorella abbandonata) Keyboard Concerto in D, Op 1 No 6, W C54 Sinfonia in G, Op 3 No 6 Hither turn thy wand?ring eyes Smiling Venus Sextet in C (Allegro) J. C. Bach, arr. W. A. Mozart: Concerto in D Adriano in Siria, T 211 (Cara, la dolce fiamma) Sonata for in G, Op 15 No 5 W A21 Adriano in Siria, T. 211 (Tutti nemici, e rei) Berenice (Confusa, smarrita) Oboe Concerto No 1 in F major, W. C80 (Allegro) Carattaco, T 221 (Fra l?orrore) Endimione, W G 15 (Semplicetto, ancor non sai) Symphony in E flat, Op 9 No 2, W. C19 Temistocle, T 238 (Ch?io parta) Temistocle, T 238 (Overture: Presto) La legge accetto, o Dei, T 234 (Orfeo ed Euridice) Quintet in D, Op 11 No 6 (Allegro) La Clemenza di Scipione, T 229 (Me infelice che intendo) Amadis de Gaule (A qui pourrai-je avoir recours) Missa Da Requiem (excerpt) Keyboard Sonata, Op 17 No 5

Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Luke Whitlock

For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Johann Christian Bach (1735-1782) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001mv5p

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we?ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

2023-06-23
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Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868)

Donald Macleod explores the life and music of Gioachino Rossini

Gioachino Rossini, born in Italy in 1792, began writing music at the age of 12. His first opera was performed when he was eighteen and he wrote 37 more in the span of 20 years. Then, at the peak of his fame, the composer suddenly disappeared from the public eye. What led him to this moment? This week, Donald Macleod traces Rossini's career, from his humble beginnings as the son of a horn player, learning to write music in order to support his family, to travelling the world and rubbing shoulders with royalty. We'll hear the truth behind his mysterious retirement and discover what made him return to composing, at the very end of his life.

Music Featured:

Il barbiere di Siviglia, Act I: Cavatina: Largo al factotum della citta La cambiale di matrimonio (excerpt) Sonata a quattro No 2 in A Major Sinfonia in D - "al Conventello? Il Signor Bruschino (Sinfonia; N.3 Cavatina: "Nel teatro del gran mondo?) Tancredi "Oh patria!... Tu che accendi questo core... Di tanti palpiti? Elisabetta, regina d?Inghilterra (Overture; "Misera! A quale stato?) Il barbiere di Siviglia (Overture; "Una voce poco fa?) Otello Act III (excerpt) Mosè in Egitto (excerpts) Ermione Overture Semiramide (excerpts) Le siège de Corinthe Overture Guillaume Tell Overture Soirées Musicales Stabat Mater (Stabat Mater dolorosa; Amen) Musique anodine Péchés de vieillesse Vol 9 Petite messe solennelle (I. Kyrie; XVIII. Agnus Dei)

Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Alice McKee

For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001md7b

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we?ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

2023-06-09
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Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757)

Kate Molleson explores the life and music of Domenico Scarlatti

Domenico Scarlatti was well placed to build himself a glittering career in the music business. He was prestigiously talented and born into a family with powerful connections in the music business. His home city of Naples was a major centre for the fashionable new art form of opera. But there were challenges, too. Competition was fierce and musicians often found their fates helplessly tied to the fickle fortunes of their aristocratic patrons. On top of all that, Domenico faced another, distinctly personal, test to his career aspirations; he was working in the shadow of a much more celebrated Scarlatti ? his own father! It would take several decades, and more than a few changes of direction, before Domenico finally found his right path, becoming one of the baroque period?s most significant composers. Today, he?s rightly revered for the extraordinary catalogue of over 550 keyboard sonatas he left to posterity. This week, Kate Molleson traces Scarlatti's story and looks at what else there is to discover in his legacy alongside his celebrated keyboard works.

Music Featured:

Sonata in D, K 96 Sonata in Dm, K 9 Sonata in E, K 20 Antra, valles, divo plaudeant Sinfonia in C Sinfonia in G Sonata in Am, K 109 Sonata in A, K 279 Sonata in G, K 425 Amor d'un Ombra e Gelosia d'un'aura (excerpts) O qual meco: Sinfonia & Aria, ?Per che non dirmial meno? Sonata in Dm, K 32 Sonata in C, K 308 Sonata in Gm, K196 Sonata in G, K 284 Messa breve 'La Stella': Kyrie La Dirindina (extract from Scene 1) Sonata in D, K 443 Sonata in F, K 17 Stabat Mater Contesa della stagione: VIII. ?Giorno felice???Sia dolce e caro e grato? Sonata in A, K 39 Sonata in A, K 208 Sonata in Am, K 175 Laetatus sum Sonata in Eb, K 434 Sonata in Eb, K 475 Missa quatuor vocum, Gloria, Sanctus & Benedictus, Agnus Dei Pur nel sonno almen tal?ora: (extracts) Avison: Concerto grosso after Scarlatti, No. 5 in Dm (extracts) Salve Regina in A Sonata in Cm, K11 Sonata in G, K547

Presented by Kate Molleson Produced by Johannah Smith

For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001m56g

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we?ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

2023-06-02
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György Ligeti (1923-2006)

Kate Molleson explores the life of György Ligeti with guest, Danny Driver

Known to millions through the film director Stanley Kubrick's use of his music in 2001: A Space Odyssey, Ligeti's music reflects the seismic events taking place in central Europe in the mid-twentieth century - shifting borders, war, totalitarianism and for many, exile. These harrowing experiences all made a deep imprint on him and his music. He was born in 1923 into a Jewish Hungarian family in an area that had become part of Romanian Transylvania. After years of state repression, in 1956 at the onset of the Hungarian revolution, Ligeti made a dramatic escape on foot to the West. Freed from state intervention, he was to remain artistically and personally independent from any particular orthodoxies for the rest of his life. He died in 2006 at the age of 83.

Ligeti regarded the whole world as the material for his music. He was fascinated by anything and everything: philosophy, science, the arts, literature - Alice in Wonderland was one of his favourite books. His music can be playful, at times wickedly macabre. He loved patterns, he loved rhythm, he dived into mathematical concepts of immense complexity but was equally curious about history, folklore, the cosmos and the natural world. From the piano, Danny Driver, a huge Ligeti enthusiast, opens up the magical universe Ligeti creates in his piano music, with a special focus on the three sets of piano studies.

Music Featured:

Musica ricercata (IV. Tempo de Valse (poco vivace - à l'orgue de Barbarie) Lux aeterna Three Wedding Dances for two pianos (Hàrom lakodalmi tánc) Romanian Concerto Piano Concerto (1st, 2nd & 3rd mvts) Musica ricercata (excerpt) Cello Sonata (2nd mvt, Capriccio. Presto con slancio) Apparitions (2n, mvt, Agitato) Musica ricercata (excerpt) Lontano Three Pieces for Two Pianos Études, Book 1 Chamber Concerto for 13 instruments Clocks and Clouds Three Fantasies after Friedrich Hölderlin Capriccio 1; Invention Capriccio 2 Études, Book 2 Trio for Violin, Horn and Piano (1st mvt, Andantino con tenerezza) Sonata for solo viola (1st mvt, Hora lung?) Trio for Violin, Horn and Piano (2nd mvt, Vivacissimo molto rítmico) Piano Concerto (4th mvt, Allegro risoluto - molto rítmico) Études Book 3 Melodien

Presented by Kate Molleson Produced by Johannah Smith

For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for György Ligeti (1923-2006) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001lzcn

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we?ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

2023-05-26
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Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)

Donald Macleod explores Tchaikovsky's music with Sir Matthew Bourne and Dame Monica Mason

Tchaikovsky is responsible for some of the world?s best loved and best known ballets. His music for Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker has become so popular and ubiquitous that we?re as likely to hear it in the concert hall, or accompanying a TV ad, as in the theatre. But this week, Donald Macleod is on a mission to take Tchaikovsky back to his dancing roots, in the company of two of British ballet?s brightest stars. Dame Monica Mason joined the Royal Ballet as the age of sixteen, becoming the youngest dancer in the company at that time. She went on to dance many principal roles, eventually becoming Director of the Royal Ballet in 2002, before her retirement in 2012. Sir Matthew Bourne has been hailed as the most popular and successful British choreographer and dancer, with a string of awards for his many productions, not least his ground-breaking production of Tchaikovsky?s Swan Lake. Both guests bring their expertise, sharing with Donald Macleod their views on Tchaikovsky, and their experience of performing and choreographing his works.

Music Featured:

Swan Lake, Op 20 (Act 2 excerpt) The Seasons, Op 37b No 6 (June: Barcarolle) No reply, no word, no greeting, Op 28 No 5 (Six Romances) String Quartet No 3, Op 30 (Allegretto vivo e scherzando) Swan Lake, Op 20 Valse sentimentale in F minor, Op 51 No 6 (excerpt) Eugene Onegin, Op 24 (Act 2: Waltz) Swan Lake, Op 20 (Act 2 excerpt) Serenade in C, Op 48 The Sleeping Beauty, Op 66 (excerpt) The Golden Cloud has Slept The Fancy Slippers (Danse des cosaques) The Enchantress (excerpt) The Sleeping Beauty, Op 66 Impromptu in A flat Serenade, Op 65 No 3 (Six Melodies) The Sleeping Beauty, Op 66 The Queen of Spades, Op 68 (Act 1: Liza?s Aria) Hamlet, Op 67a (Overture) Souvenir de Florence, Op 70 (Adagio cantabile e com moto) The Endellion Quartet The Nutcracker, Op 71 (Overture) Iolanta Op 69 (Act 1 Scene 5: My only beloved Mathilde I claim) Souvenir de Florence, Op 70 (Allegro vivace) The Nutcracker, Op 71

Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Luke Whitlock

For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001lnz3

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we?ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

2023-05-26
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William Walton (1902-1983)

William Walton composed music for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II and King George VI, pieces of pomp and circumstance. But Walton grew up far from Buckingham Palace and the world of the Windsors, in the northern working-class town of Oldham, seemingly destined to work at the cotton mill. Even when he escaped to Oxford and then London, making high-society friends such as the Sitwells, his early music was intense and avant-garde - not at all suitable for a royal affair. So how did Walton become the royal composer of choice? This week, we?ll find out.

Music Featured:

Coronation Te Deum Litany Façade: 2. En famille Portsmouth Point Sinfonia Concertante Façade (extracts) Viola Concerto As You Like It: A Poem for Orchestra after Shakespeare Symphony No 1 Crown Imperial Violin Concerto Henry V Hamlet Troilus and Cressida (excerpts) Orb and Sceptre Cello Concerto

Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Alice McKee

For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for William Walton (1902-1983) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001lbzn

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we?ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

2023-05-05
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Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)

The streets must have seemed like they were paved with gold when Haydn visited London in 1791. He was feted and applauded everywhere he went as one of Europe?s leading composers. He hobnobbed with royalty, the Prince of Wales commissioned a portrait of him from leading society portraitist John Hoppner. It?s still regarded as one of the best images we have today.

Haydn could hardly have imagined all this as a boy. His really is a rags to riches story. Born in 1732 in humble circumstances, Haydn's musical talent won him a position as a choir boy in Vienna's St. Stephen's Cathedral. However, he was forced to leave after his voice broke and, by the age of 17, he was on the streets, with only ?three miserable shirts and a worn-out coat? to his name. Happily his life did then take an upward turn. Haydn was employed by the Esterhàzys, one of the most powerful and influential families in the Hapsburg monarchy for an astonishing 48 years.

But this week, Donald Macleod puts the public face of this celebrated figure to one side. He?s going to be looking at Haydn through a narrower lens, drawing a picture of the composer through the relationships he enjoyed with some of his closest family and friends.

Music Featured:

Piano Trio No 4 in F major, Hob.XV:39 Signor voi sapete, Hob.XXIVb:7 Symphony No 1 in D major, Hob 1/1 (1st mvt) Salve Regina in E major, Hob. XXIIIb:1 (I. Salve Regina) Horn Concerto No 1 in D, Hob.VIId:3 Vada adagio, signorina, Hob.XXIVb:12 L'isola disabilitata, Act 2, sc 12 Sonata No 46 in A flat major Hob XVI/46 II (3rd mvt) L?infedeltà delusa, Act I. Scene 1: Introduction: Bella sera The Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross (Sonata No 2) Armida, Act 1: Parti Rinaldo - Se pietade avete Mass in D minor, H.XXII:11 ?Nelson Mass? (Gloria) Motetto "O ceolitum beati", Hob. XXIIIa:G9 Keyboard Concerto No 2 in D major, Hob.XVIII:2 String Quartet in E flat major, Op 33, No 2 'The Joke' (2nd mvt) Michael Haydn: Requiem in C minor (excerpts) String Quartet in G major, Op 33, No 5 (2nd & 4th mvts) Symphony No 82 in C major, 'The Bear' (1st mvt) Missa Cellensis in honorem Beatissimæ Virginis Mariæ, Hob. XXII:5 (excerpts) String Quartet in D major, Op 64, No 5, 'The Lark' (1st mvt) Piano Trio No 39 in G major, Hob.XV:25 'Gypsy' (3rd mvt) Symphony No 91 in E flat major (2nd mvt) Piano Sonata No 59 in E flat major, HobXVI:49 (1st mvt) Piano Trio No 40 in F sharp minor, Hob: XV:26 (2nd mvt) Die Schöpfung, Part 3, (No 30)

Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Johannah Smith

For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001l4cf

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we?ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

2023-04-28
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Francis Poulenc (1899 ? 1963)

Donal Macleod explores how, from childhood, Poulenc was exposed to two versions of Paris: one that was working class and religious, another that was high society, secular... and avant-garde.

Francis Poulenc was the epitome of Parisian high society: suave, convivial and connected. Or was that how he wanted us to see him? The critic Claude Rostand famously commented that Poulenc was a combination of ?moine et voyou? - monk and rogue. This week, we follow the composer from Paris?s artisanal upper class heartland, to the city?s dark underbelly, discovering the moments when the monk and the rogue met face-to-face.

Music Featured:

Piano Concerto in C-Sharp Minor, FP 146 (1st mvt) Sonata for Piano 4 Hands Gnossiennes Rapsodie Nègre L?Album des Six (5th mvt, ?Valse?) Les Biches Concert Champêtre Les Soirées de Nazelles Les Litanies à la Vierge Noire Bleuet Les Animaux Modèles L?Histoire de Babar Les Mamelles de Tirésias La Fraîcheur et le Feu Les Dialogues des Carmelites La Voix Humaine

Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Alice McKee

For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Francis Poulenc (1899 ? 1963) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001lkym

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we?ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

2023-04-21
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Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900)

Sir Arthur Sullivan became the most renowned composer of the Victorian era, with his fame spreading across Europe and America too. His output spanned many genres including oratorios, a symphony, chamber music, hymns and anthems, but it was for his collaboration with the librettist W. S. Gilbert on operetta?s that he is best remembered today. He was a personal friend to royalty, and he was knighted when he was in his early forties. He also had a liking for playing cards, buying race horses and gambling, frequently loosing the substantial earnings from the stage works he?d composed. Sullivan became a pillar of the British musical establishment, so that when he died, despite wanting to be buried with his family in Brompton Cemetery, he was laid to rest in the crypt of St Paul?s Cathedral, with an additional service at the Chapel Royal in St. James?s Palace.

Music Featured:

HMS Pinafore (Overture) HMS Pinafore (When I was a lad) O Israel Overture ?In Memorium? Will he come? Symphony in E major, ?Irish Symphony? (Andante espressivo) Cox and Box (excerpt) The Merry Wives of Windsor (excerpts) Lead Kindly Light HMS Pinafore (excerpts) Pirates of Penzance (excerpt) Who is like unto thee Mikado (excerpts) The Golden Legend (excerpt) Ruddigore (excerpts) The Yeomen of the Guard (excerpts) Ivanhoe (excerpt) Utopia Limited (Society has quite forsaken) The Long Day Closes

Presented by Donald Macleod

Produced by Luke Whitlock

For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001kpgh

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we?ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

2023-04-14
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Hildegard of Bingen and Isabella Leonarda

As Christians around the world prepare for Easter, Donald Macleod explores the life and music of two nuns who were also composers. Though Hildegard of Bingen and Isabella Leonarda lived five centuries apart, their stories and music are connected by their shared faith and their shared vocations. Both lived cloistered lives, shut away in convents and cut off from the everyday concerns of the societies in which they lived. Yet, they also enjoyed a profoundly rich and human connection with the world and with their God, revealed in the music and poetry they created and sent into the world.

Music Featured:

Hildegard: Spiritus Sanctus Vivificans Leonarda: Sonata, Op 16 No 8 Hildegard: Columba Aspexit Hildegard (ed Wishart): O frondens virga Hildegard: O virga ac diadema Leonarda: Memento rerum Leonarda: Volo Jesum, Op 3 No 4 Leonarda: Sonata, Op 16 No 3 Leonarda: O anima mea Leonarda: Dixit dominus, Op 19 Hildegard: Ordo Virtutum (Prologue and Scene 1) Hildegard: Antiphon, O quam mirabilis est Leonarda: Purpurei Flores, Op 20 Leonarda: Magnificat Op 19 Leonarda: Sonata Op 16, No 12 Leonarda: Ave suavis dilectio, Op 6 No 5 Hildegard: O rubor sanguinis Hildegard: O Ecclesia

Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Chris Taylor For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Hildegard of Bingen and Isabella Leonarda https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001kh9p

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we?ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

2023-04-07
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Sergei Rachmaninov (1873 ? 1943)

150 years ago this week, Sergei Rachmaninov was born: one of the finest pianists of his generation, touring the world in the 1920s and 30s as a musical megastar. Composing had been his real passion since childhood, and towards the end of his time in Russia before the Revolution, it was farming. Though St Petersburg and then Moscow was his base for much of his early life, it was Ivanovka ? a country estate deep in the Russian countryside - that formed him. The house and the land surrounding it were a major source of his creative inspiration until his last visit in 1917. Donald Macleod explores how important Ivanovka was to Rachmaninov, and how he carried the precious memory of it with him when he left it behind for a life of exile.

Music Featured:

Lilacs op 21, No 5, ?Siren? Piano Concerto No. 1 (mvt 1) Dances from Aleko Cello Sonata in G minor (mvt 1) Vesna Symphony No 2 (Mvt 2) Songs Op 34, No 12 Piano Concerto No 3 (Mvt 1) All-Night Vigil (Excerpt) Piano Concerto No 2 (Mvt 1) Etudes-Tableaux Op 39, No 6 The Bells (Mvt 2) Prelude Op 3, No 2 Three Russian Songs Symphony No 3 (Mvt 2) Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini (Excerpt) Isle of the Dead Symphonic Dances (Mvt III) Suite No 2 for Two Pianos (Mvt IV) The Bells op.35 (Mvt IV)

Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Megan Jones

For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Sergei Rachmaninov (1873 ? 1943) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001k8ck

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we?ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

2023-03-31
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Georges Bizet (1838 ? 1875)

Georges Bizet?s story ought to have been a very straightforward one. It was clear to everyone who met him just how brilliantly and excitingly talented he was. He was also fortunate to live and work in Paris, a city laden with musical opportunities in the mid-nineteenth century. Donald Macleod shows how Bizet?s life proved more challenging and event-filled than anyone might have expected ? and that success can never be guaranteed!

Music Featured:

Carmen (extracts) Symphony in C, III. Scherzo Le Docteur Miracle: Overture L'Arlesienne Suite No. 2 (arr. Guirand), IV. Farandole Te Deum Roma, II. Allegro Vivace & III. Andante molto Vasco da Gama: Aria, ?Ouvre ton Coeur? Les Pêcheurs de Perles: Duet,?Au fond du temple saint? La jolie fille de Perth: choeur de la Saint-Valentin (Act 4) Variations chromatiques Jeux d'enfants: No 3 ?La poupée? Djamileh: Overture L'Arlesienne Suite No. 1: I. Prelude & II. Minuetto Patrie Overture

Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Chris Taylor

For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Georges Bizet (1838 ? 1875) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001h57j

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we?ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

2023-03-24
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Johanna Müller-Hermann (1868-1941)

Johanna Müller-Hermann once held a significant place as a composer and teacher in Vienna, yet has been largely forgotten over the decades since her death in 1941. Radio 3 has been working to unearth her music and story through its Forgotten Women Composers project, in collaboration with the Arts and Humanities Research Council and Dr Carola Darwin. This week, Dr Darwin and Professor Robert Evans join Donald Macleod to explore this fascinating composer and her times. Their series includes many specially recorded works by Müller-Hermann that have sat neglected in dusty archives for decades.

Müller-Hermann was greatly celebrated in her own lifetime and moved in eminent musical circles. She studied with Zemlinsky, befriended Alma Mahler, and also corresponded with Arnold Schoenberg. She went on to teach at Austria?s New Vienna Conservatory where students travelled from as far away as America and the UK to study with her. She became a pivotal figure in Vienna?s cultural scene and her music was regularly performed and published during her lifetime. Music Featured: String Quintet in A minor, Op 7 (excerpt) Piano Sonata, Op 8 (Allegro enérgico) Herbst, Op 20 No 3 (Vier Lieder) Wie eine Vollmondnacht, Op 20 No 4 (Vier Lieder) Zwei dreistimmige Frauenchöre, Op 10 Piano Sonata, Opus 8 (excerpt) Cello Sonata, Op 17 (Moderato) String Quartet in E flat, Op 6 (Moderato) Intermezzo in D, Op 3 No 4 (Fünf Klavierstücke) Vier Lieder, Op 2 Violin Sonata in D minor, Op 5 (Moderato serioso) UK Broadcast Premiere String Quartet in E flat, Op 6 (excerpt) Die stille Stadt, Op 4 No 1 Heroic Overture, Op 21 (excerpt) Alle die wachsenden Schatten, Op 9 No 3 (Drei Chöre) Violin Sonata in D minor, Op 5 (excerpt) UK Broadcast Premiere Heroic Overture, Op 21 String Quintet in A minor, Op 7 (Adagio con expressione) Piano Quintet in G minor, Op 31 (excerpt) Zwei Lieder, Op 11 Cello Sonata, Op 17 (excerpt) Epilog zur einer Tragodie ?Brand? ? symphonic fantasy, Op 25 Intermezzo in D minor, Op 3 No 3 (Fünf Klavierstücke) Impromptu in D minor, Op 3 No 5 (Fünf Klavierstücke) In Memoriam, Op 28 No 5 (Herbstlieder) Novelette in A flat, Op 3 No 2 (Fünf Klavierstücke) Violin Sonata in D minor, Op 5 (Allegretto amabile) UK Broadcast Premiere Piano Quintet in G minor, Op 31 (Adagio sostenuto) Drei Gesange, Op 33 String Quartet in E flat, Op 6 (Allegro con spirito) Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Luke Whitlock

For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Johanna Müller-Hermann (1868-1941) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001h57j

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we?ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

2023-03-10
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Barbara Strozzi (1619 ? 1677)

The singer, and composer Barbara Strozzi neither held any position at church or court, nor had a consistant patron, and yet she published eight volumes of her own music, and had more secular music in print than any other composer of the era. Donald Macleod is joined by Professor Laurie Stras to explore the life of this extraordinary musician, and the world of 17th Century Venice in which she lived and worked. This was a world in which, despite the acknowledged successes of female artists in literature and music, being a successful composer seems to have aroused suspicion, and brought accusations of impropriety.

Music Featured:

Mi fa rider la speranze, Op.7?10 Che si puo fare, Op 8?6 Sonetto Proemio dell'Opera, Op 1?1 Godere in gioventù, Op. 1?12 L'Usignuolo, Op.1?5 Il contrasto di cinque sensi, Op. 1?14 Parla alli suoi pensieri, Op.6?5 L?Amante segreto, Op. 2?16 Sospira respira, Op.6?17 Godere e tacere, Op.1?9 Cuore che reprime alla lingua di manifestare il nome della sua cara, Op.3?1 La sol fa, mi, re, do, Op.2?25 Cor donato, cor rubato, Op. 3?10 Sino alla morte, Op.7?1 E pazzo il mio core, Op.8?9 Fin che tù spiri, spera, Op.7?3 Cristiana Presutti, soprano Ensemble Poiesis La riamata da chi amava, Op.2?18 Silentio nocivo, Op. 1?6 Donne Belle, Op.8?12 Se volete così me ne contento, Op. 6?18 Lagrime Mie, Lamento, Op. 7?4 L'Eraclito amoroso, Op. 2?14 Amante loquace, Op. 6?16 Il Lamento - S?ul rodano severo, Op.3?3 Begl?occhi, Op.2?2 Mater Anna, op.5?1 O Maria, Op.5?7 Tradimento, Op.7?9 Sete pur fastidioso, Op. 7?12 Conclusione dell?opera, Op.1?25 Parasti in dulcedine, Op.5?8 L?Astratto, op.8?4 Salve Regina, Op.5 Gite, o giorni dolenti, Op.2?21 L?amante modesto, Op.1?13

Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Sam Phillips

For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Barbara Strozzi (1619 ? 1677) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001h57j

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we?ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

2023-03-10
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Thomas Tallis (1505 ? 1585)

?So great a musician are you.....that if the Fates carried you off.....music would be mute.? So wrote a contemporary of Thomas Tallis, showing us just how highly this composer was regarded in his own time. Over the course of this week, Donald Macleod traces the career of Tallis, unquestionably one of England's greatest ever composers. We follow him from the early faint mentions of the composer in Dover Priory, to his 40-plus years serving four successive monarchs as part of the Chapel Royal, and through the upheaval of one of the most tumultuous periods in all of English history.

O Sacrum Convivium Lamentations of Jeremiah I & II Euge celi porta Alleluia. Per te Dei genitrix Ave, rosa sine spinis When shall my sorrowful sighing slack Sequence: Celeste Organum - Agnus Dei Magnificat for 4 voices Salve Intemerata Mass for four Voices Magnificat for 5 voices 5 part Litany Sancte Deus Hodie nobis caelorum Videte Miraculum for Vespers on Purification of Virgin Mary Remember not, O Lord God Te Deum for Meanes If Ye Love Me A New Commandment Gaude Gloriosa In nominee II Mass: Puer natus est nobis ? Agnus Dei Archbishop Parker?s Psalter: O Come in One to Praise the Lord; E?en like the Hunted Hind; Expend, O Lord, my Plaint; Why Brag?st in Malice High ; God Grant with Grace Psalm 2, the third of 9 tunes for Archbishop Parker?s psalter ?Why Fum?th In Fight? Suscipe quaeso domine My Soul Cleaveth to the Dust O Nata Lux (arr. Christian Forshaw) Spem in alium Cantiones Sacrae - Salvator Mundi I; Derelinquit impius; Semone blando angelus; In ieiunio Miserere nostri

Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Sam Phillips

For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Thomas Tallis (1505 ? 1585) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001h57j

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we?ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

2023-02-20
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Bed?ich Smetana (1824 ? 1884)

Donald Macleod explores how Smetana created a musical Czech identity The title of Smetana?s most popular work, ?Ma Vlast?, gives us a clue to what drove him through much of his career. It translates as ?My Homeland? and the music is Smetana?s ardent tribute to the Czech sprit of his beloved Bohemia. The composer was deeply involved with his people?s struggle for cultural and political independence from the Hapsburg empire. He pledged his art to those aims and he even took to the streets to fight on the barricades, on one occasion. Smetana?s life was also beset by great misfortunes. When times were hardest, he always turned to music, even after illness made composing an almost impossible exertion. He created some of his most extraordinary works under the most painful circumstances. This week Donald Macleod follows Smetana as he grows from naïve revolutionary into one of the foundational figures in Czech music. Music Featured: The Bartered Bride: Overture Triumphal symphony, II. Largo maestoso Polka: Memory of Plze? Wedding Scenes (orch. F. Hertl) Piano Trio in G minor Vision at the Ball Memories of Bohemia, Op 13 Håkon Jarl Song of the Czechs Overture to Doktor Faust The Brandenburgers in Bohemia The Bartered Bride: Act III finale The Two Widows: Act 2: Scene 3 Má Vlast: 2. Vltava & 4. Z ?eských luh? a háj?. On the Sea Shore Libu?e: Overture String Quartet No.1 in Em ?From My Life? Czech Dances, Book 2: No.7 ?The Lancer? String Quartet No.2 in D

Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Chris Taylor, for BBC Audio Cardiff For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Max Richter (b. 1966) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001ghdw And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we?ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

2023-02-10
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Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)

As performer, composer, impresario, musical director, and teacher, Antonio Vivaldi was a key figure in the musical life of Baroque Italy. Thanks to his set of Concertos ?The Four Seasons?, he remains one of the most famous and best loved composers today. This week, Donald Macleod puts these four celebrated concertos front and centre as he also explores the four seasons of Vivaldi?s own life, lingering a little in his summer. We'll follow him from the start of his musical story, teaching at the Ospedale della Pietà in Venice, through his time as an opera composer, catering to the crowds who swarmed to Venice during carnival season, to his successes away from Venice. Vivaldi had many highs in his career, however he also had some difficult low points, finding himself embroiled in scandal and accused of immoral behaviour, before dying in poverty in a foreign city ? his star having fallen from favour.

Music Featured:

Violin Concerto in E major, Op 8 no. 1 RV 269 ?Spring? Credo, RV 591 L?oracolo in Messenia ? ?S?in campo armato? La costanza trionfante de gl'amori e de gl'odii, RV 706 Ottone in villa, RV 729 ? ?Frema pur, si lagni Roma? Farnace, RV 711 - ?Gelido in Omni? Armida - Act I Scene 13: ?Armata di furore? Concerto for Multiple Instruments, 'per l'orchestra di Dresda' in G minor, RV 576 Magnificat in G minor, RV 610b Violin Concerto in G minor, Op 8 no. 2 RV 315 ?Summer? Violin Concerto in F major, RV 293 Op.8 no 3 ?Autumn? Dorilla in Tempe, RV709 ? Act II, Scene 8: ?Arsa da rai cocenti? Griselda, RV 718 ? ?Ho il cor gia lacero?; ?No, non tanta crudelta?; Terzetto ?Non piu regina?; ?Son infelice tanto? Farnace, RV 711 ? ?Forse, o caro, in questi accenti...? Lauda Jerusalem, RV609 Violin Concerto in F minor, RV 297 Op.8 no. 4 ?Winter?

Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Sam Phillips

For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Mel Bonis (1858 ? 1937) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001h57j

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we?ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

2023-02-03
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Mel Bonis (1858 ? 1937)

Mel Bonis's name may not be a familiar one these days, but she produced somewhere in the region of three hundred compositions. There's no doubt that she was sensitive to gender discrimination. It's why she chose to publish her music under the name of Mel rather than her birth name Mélanie.

She was born in 1858 to parents of modest means. Her father worked for the watch company Breguet, still in business today, and her mother worked in the haberdashery trade. Neither of them held any particular interest in music, so it was down to young Mélanie to teach herself the play the family's piano. Her talent was recognised by a visiting friend who facilitated a meeting with one of the leading lights of the day, César Franck, an esteemed professor of organ at Paris's prestigious Conservatoire. Mélanie enrolled and showed great promise as a student, winning several end of year prizes. Her studies came to an abrupt end when her parents refused to give their consent to her marriage to a fellow student there, a poet, critic and singer, Amédée Hettich. Her life took a sharp turn two years later when, at the instigation of her parents, she married a twice widowed man of comfortable means. Thereafter her life as a composer had to take a back seat to the demands of raising five step-children and three of her own children with her husband, Albert Domange. Even so, she managed to continue to compose, producing music for her own instrument, the piano, and in almost every other genre as well.

Étiolles, Op 2 Ophélie, Op 165 Piano Quartet No 1 in B flat major, Op 69 - II. Intermezzo. Allegretto tranquillo Impromptu pour piano, Op 1 5 pièces pour piano No 1: Gai Printemps, Op 11 No 2: Romance sans paroles, Op 29 No 3: Menuet, Op 14 No 4: Églogue, Op 12 No 5: Papillons, Op 28 Cello sonata in F major, Op 67 ? III. Très lent Fantaisie, Op 72 "Septuor" Près de ruisseau, Op 9 Pensées d?automne, Op 19 Piano Quartet No 1, Op 69 ? I. Moderato and IV. Final. Allegro ma non troppo Villanelle, Op 4 Dès l?aube, Op 18 Marionnettes, Op 42 Sonata for Flute and Piano Suite Orientale, Op 48 No 2 Valses-caprice, Op 87 Elève toi mon âme L?Oiseau Bleu, Op 74 Cello sonata in F major, Op 67 ? I. Moderato quasi andante Suite en forme de valses, Op 35 to 39 La chanson de Rouet, Op 24 Carillon mystique, Op 31 Les Gitanos, Op 15 No 2 Suite en Trio, Op 59 Salomé, Op 100 Mazurka-ballet, Op 181 Trois melodies, Op 91 Soir et Matin, Op 76 Scènes de la Forêt La Cathédrale Blessée, Op 107 Sonate pour violon et piano, Opus 112 ? IV. Finale Finale, Op 187 Miocheries, Op 126, No 13, La toute petite s?endort Regina coeli, Op 45 Piano quartet No 2 in D major, Op 124 Cantique de Jean Racine, Op 144 Le songe de Cléopatre, Op 180

Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Johannah Smith

For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Mel Bonis (1858 ? 1937) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001h57j

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we?ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

2023-01-27
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Dmitry Shostakovich (1906-1975)

Donald Macleod explores the turbulent life of Dmitry Shostakovich, and asks the ultimate question: Who was he? A faithful Soviet lackey? or a secret dissident?

Dmitry Shostakovich, like his home country of Russia, was a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma. From the very beginning of his career, he pushed the boundaries, but under Stalin?s stifling regime, experimental artists were enemies of the state, and Shostakovich was at the top of the wanted list. The composer was forced to censor his work and betray his own morals to survive - or was he?

Some say Shostakovich was Stalin?s faithful lackey; others read dissident messages in his music. This week, Donald Macleod traces five turning points in the composer's career, we start with his First Symphony. Admitted to the Conservatoire while still just a child and battling ill health, his debut made a splash for all the right reasons ? and the wrong ones too. Then we hear about the fateful night that Stalin paid a visit to the opera, and Shostakovich?s career as a composer was changed forever. After denouncing his music, Stalin offered Shostakovich an opportunity to rescue his reputation however, it comes at great personal cost. The death of Stalin should have meant rebirth for Shostakovich, but once again he finds himself backed into a corner, forced to make a decision that shocks and mystifies those closest to him.

Music Featured:

Piano Concerto No. 2 In F Major, Op. 102: II. Andante Symphony No. 1 in F Minor, Op. 10: II. Allegro Symphony No. 1 in F Minor, Op. 10: IV. Allegro molto Symphony No. 2 in B Major, Op. 14 ?To October? The Nose, Op. 15, Act 2: Scene 6 Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk District, Op. 29, Act 2: Scene 5 Symphony No. 4 in C minor, Op. 43: I. Allegretto poco moderato Symphony No. 5 in D Minor, Op 47: IV. Allegro non troppo Violin Concerto No. 1 In A Minor, Op. 99: I. Nocturne. Moderato From Jewish Folk Poetry, Op.79: III. Lullaby Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor, Op. 67: IV. Allegretto Symphony No. 10 in E Minor, Op. 93: IV. Andante ? Allegro The Gadfly Suite, Op. 97a: VII. Introduction String Quartet String Quartet No. 7 In F. Sharp Minor, Op.108: I Allegretto Hamlet Suite, Op. 116a: Ophelia's Insanity String Quartet No. 8 in C Minor, Op. 110: I. Largo Symphony No. 13 in B-Flat Minor, Op. 113 ?Babi Yar?: IV. Fears

Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Alice McKee

For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001fdx8

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we?ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

2023-01-20
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