Benjamin Britten… An Introduction to a 20th Century Great.
Benjamin Britten is today perhaps best known for his operas which included ‘Peter Grimes’, ‘The Turn of The Screw’, ‘Billy Budd’ and ‘Death In Venice’. But I am actually going to feature more of his orchestral work in this episode. There’ll be a bit of singing today but I’m going to save up his operas for another time. You’ll hear some of his Violin Concerto, Simple Symphony, Ceremony of Carols, Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings, War Requiem, Young Persons Guide To The Orchestra... and the incredible Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes.
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1:00:43
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1:00:43
Sunday Night Special 3… John Luther Adams’ ‘Become Ocean’
The name comes from the night of the week when for some of us, the demon of insomnia hits the hardest… and because my preferred antidote is getting lost in some music. Of course this series is for everyone… but it is perhaps intended a little more for those of you whose sleep has been troubled. The idea of the special is to play just one piece, uninterrupted and in its entirety… with a few minutes of background explained at the end of the episode. This week… John Luther Adams’ ‘Become Ocean’. Performed by the Seattle Symphony Orchestra conducted by Ludovic Morlot.
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47:52
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47:52
Highlights and Favourites.. Music That Stayed With Me
Wondering if I could produce an episode without my AI pal Claude and I going down too many rabbit holes… I thought I’d see what I could come up with if I revisited past episodes and cherry-picked some favourite pieces. To be honest I was not that optimistic but I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. I hope you will be too. It has ended up being quite an eccentric and eclectic collection. But it’s all very good. In the next hour you will hear music from Aram Khachaturian, Osvaldo Golijov, Ludwig van Beethoven, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Josef Haydn, Edward Elgar, Gillian Whitehead, Philip Glass and Benjamin Britten. And I’ll let you know which episodes I have taken the music from in case you want to go back and explore them.
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1:22:31
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1:22:31
Glenn Gould - Part 2 – The 1981 ‘Goldberg Variations’ Recording
Johann Sebastian Bach’s‘ The Goldberg Variations’ was the only work that Glenn Gould recorded twice. Now, he died only about a year after this recording so it’s not possible to say that he would not have re-recorded other works… but there is something a little haunting that the work that took him from quirky prodigy to global star in 1955 was the one he returned to in the final year of his life. If you are after some background to Gould and the music he made, then please listen to the previous episode. If you are happy to launch into 52 minutes of piano magic… then ‘just hit play’.
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59:22
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59:22
Glenn Gould - Part 1 – An introduction and an overview.
This is the first episode of ‘Classical For Everyone’ devoted to just one musician so I better have some good reasons… apart from just a personal affection for his recordings. In the English speaking world, the Canadian Glenn Gould was amongst the most recognised and popular pianists in the second half of the 20th Century. In fact, even today, over forty years after his death at the age of 50 in 1982 there are not many pianists of similar stature. Ok, so he has enduring popularity. But why is that? At the heart of it is sheer technical skill. Which of course many pianists had and have… but Gould had a quite specific dexterity… a way of playing that articulated each note with a very precise individuality that could be applied at the same time, when required, at extraordinary speed. And in particular he applied this to the, then relatively unknown, keyboard works of Johann Sebastian Bach… a number of which will be featured in the episode along with music from Beethoven, Byrd, Brahms and Scarlatti.
Five hundred years of incredible music. No expertise is necessary. All you need are ears. If you’ve ever been even slightly curious about classical music then this is the podcast for you.
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