Composer of the Week

• Robert Schumann (1810-1856)

  Donald Macleod explores Robert Schumann’s years in Dusseldorf – the city where he would spend the final years of his life. Despite often being portrayed as a creative disaster, during this period, Schumann was greatly inspired by the city and by the countryside which surrounded it, and would write some of his greatest music.Music featured: Marchenbilder, Op 113 (1st mvt, Nicht schnell) Symphony No 3 in E-flat major ‘Rhenish’ Op 97 5 Lieder, Op 40 (No 4, Der Spielmann) Geistervariationen in E-flat major for piano, WoO 24 Violin Concerto in D minor, WoO 23 (2nd & 3rd mvts) Konzertstück for 4 Horns and Orchestra, Op 86 (1st mvt) Lieder und Gesange aus Wilhelm Meister, Op 98a Scenes from Goethe’s Faust, Part 3 (excerpt) The Bride of Messina Overture Kinderszenen, Op 15 (No 7 Träumerei) Genovera Overture Op 81 Sechs Gesange, Op 107 (No 6 Abendlied) Adventlied (excerpt) Mass in C minor, Op 147 (Gloria) Symphony No 4 in D minor, Op 120 (1st mvt) Manfred Overture, Op 115 Cello Concerto in A minor, Op 129 Violin Sonata No 1 in A minor, Op 105 (2nd mvt) Der Rose Pilgerfahrt, Op 112 Marchenerzahlungen, Op132 (No 3) Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra in C major, Op 131 Introduction and Concert Allegro, Op 134 Blumenstuck in D-flat Major, Op 19 Wenn mein Stundlein vorhanden istPresented by Donald Macleod Produced by Sam Phillips for BBC Audio Wales & WestFor 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 Robert Schumann (1810-1856) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002hwtc 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

  --------  

  1:05:54

  --------

  1:05:54
• Frederick Delius (1862-1934)

  Donald explores the life of Delius through five of his relationshipsDonald Macleod meets the people who found themselves bewitched by Frederick Delius - both the man and his music.Music Featured:The Walk to the Paradise Garden Irmelin Requiem Brigg Fair Songs of Farewell On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring North Country Sketches Florida Suite Violin Sonata No 3 Violin Sonata No 1 Paa Vidderne (On the Mountains) Koanga (excerpts) Sleigh Ride (Winter Night) Paris, Song of a Great City Piano Concerto in C minor Appalachia (Variations on an old slave song A Village Romeo and Juliet (The Walk to the Paradise Garden) On Craig Dhu (An impression of nature) Double Concerto String Quartet Cello Sonata Hassan (excerpt) A Late Lark Dance Rhapsody No 1Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Chris Taylor & Alice McKee for BBC Audio Wales & WestFor 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 Frederick Delius (1862-1934) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01gcnkv 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

  --------  

  1:09:45

  --------

  1:09:45
• Dmitry Shostakovich (1906-1975)

  Donald Macleod explores Dmitri Shostakovich’s life during the years of World War II, a period indelibly linked to his most famous work – the ‘Leningrad’ symphony - which became an international symbol of resistance against the Nazis when it was performed by an orchestra suffering from the effects of starvation during the siege of the city.Music Featured:Funeral march in Memory of Victims of the Revolution Piano Concerto No 2 in F Major, Op 102 (2nd mvt, Andante) Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk District (Act IV, Vstaváy! Po mestám! Zívo!) Symphony No 5 in D minor, Op 47 (4th mvt, Allegro non troppo) Piano Quintet in G minor, Op 57 (1st mvt, Prelude – Lento) Symphony no 7, Op.60 “Leningrad” (2nd mvt, Moderato) King Lear (excerpt) The tale of the priest and his servant Balda, Op 36 (Finale) Symphony No 1 in F minor, Op 10 (2nd mvt, Allegro) Rothschild’s violin (excerpt) Piano Sonata No 1, Op 12 Symphony No 7 in C Major, Op 60 “Leningrad” (1st mvt, Allegretto) Counterplan, Op 33 (Song of the Counterplan) The Golden Age Suite, Op 22a (2nd mvt, Adagio) Preludes, Op 34 (Nos 9-13) Romances on English poets, Op 62 Sonata No 2 in D minor, Op 61 (3rd mvt, Moderato) Moscow-Chryomushki, Op 105 (1st mvt, A Spin through Moscow) Zoya Suite, Op 64a (1st mvt, Song about Zoya) Cello Concerto No 1 in E flat major, Op 107 (2nd mvt, Moderato) Symphony No 8, Op 65 (4th mvt, Largo) Piano Trio No 2 in E minor, Op 67 (4th mvt, Allegretto) Four Pushkin Romances (No 1, Rebirth) String Quartet No 2 in A major, Op 68 (3rd mvt, Valse Allegro) Symphony No 9 in E-flat major, Op 70 (5th mvt, Allegretto) Violin Concerto No 1 in A minor, Op 99 (1st mvt, Nocturne) From Jewish Poetry (No 8, Winter) Symphony No 13 (1st mvt, Babi Yar. Adagio)Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Sam Phillips for BBC Audio Wales & WestFor 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 Dmitry Shostakovich (1906-1975) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002gdl6And 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

  --------  

  1:11:45

  --------

  1:11:45
• Arvo Pärt

  Composer of the Week celebrates the 90th birthday of Arvo Pärt, one of the world’s most-performed and recognisable living composers. A composer who had the courage to defy Soviet edicts, to spend years searching for answers, to invent a personal language that pivots on past and present, on sound, silence and clarity. This week, Kate Molleson explores Pärt’s landmark works and extraordinary story in conversation with his son Michael. Music Featured: The Deer’s Cry Songs from Childhood (I Am Already Big) Symphony No 1 (“Polyphonic” Sonatina No 1 Nekrolog Collage über BACH Ukuaru Waltz Festina Lente Credo Quintettino Symphony No 3 When Sarah Was Ninety Years Old (excerpt) Magnificat Arbos Für Alina Summa Fratres Tabula Rasa Missa Syllabica Hymn to a Great City De Profundis Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten Spiegel im Spiegel Passio Berlin Mass Estonian Lullaby Vater Unser Orient and Occident Which Was the Son Of… Littlemore Tractus And I Heard a VoicePresented by Kate Molleson Produced by Amelia Parker for BBC Audio Wales & WestFor 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 Arvo Pärt https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002g1r7And 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

  --------  

  1:19:02

  --------

  1:19:02
• Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)

  Donald Macleod explores Tchaikovsky’s life away from home. He spent significant parts of his peak years travelling or staying with friends, and a remarkable amount of his music was composed whilst staying with friends, on holiday or concert tours, or sometimes as a fugitive on the run. This evolved into a full decade of rootless wandering, which is peculiar given his frequent homesickness for Russia.Music Featured: Overture in C Minor Symphony No 1 in G Minor, Op 13, "Winter Daydreams" Cherevichki, Op 4 Symphony No 2 in C Minor, Op 17, "Little Russian" Piano Concerto No 1 in B-Flat Minor, Op 23 Eugene Onegin, Act III Scene 2, Onegin! Ya togda molozhe Swan Lake, Avt IV (excerpt) Symphony No 4 in F Minor, Op 36 Suite No 1 in D Major, Op 43 6 Romances, Op 38, No 6, Pimpinella (arr. E. Firsova) The Maid of Orleans, Op 4, Act I, Aria: Da, chas nastal - Ja, es ist Zeit … Lebt wohl, ihr Berge Capriccio Italien, Op 45 Mazeppa: Act II, Scene 2, O, Mariya, Mariya! (Mazepa) Vesper Service, Op 52 Les saisons (The Seasons), Op 37a Fantaisie de Concert in G Major, Op 56 Piano Trio in A Minor, Op 50 Suite No 4 in G Major "Mozartiana" Op 61 Manfred Symphony, Op 5 Symphony No 5 in E Minor, Op 64 The Queen of Spades (Pique Dame), Op 68: Act I Scene1 (excerpt) String Sextet in D, Souvenir de Florence, Op 70 The Nutcracker, Op 71: Act II Tableau 3: Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy Symphony No 6 in B Minor, "Pathétique" Op 74Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Iain Chambers for BBC Audio Wales & WestFor 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/m002ftltAnd 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

  --------  

  1:12:29

  --------

  1:12:29

More Music podcasts

Trending Music podcasts

About Composer of the Week

Composer of the Week: Podcasts in Family