Composer of the Week Podcast Folgen

Donald explores composer Claudio Monteverdi, one of the most important figures in the development of Western music. As a composer of both secular and sacred music, over the course of his career he worked for court, church and was one of the key figures in the development of opera. Across this week of programmes, Donald Macleod tracks Monteverdi’s career across three cities, from promising child prodigy, through poverty and plague, to his final years in the priesthood, with huge artistic successes along the way. Music Featured: Toccata (Orfeo) Surge propera amica mea (Sacrae cantiunculae) O bone Iesu, illumine oculos meus (Sacrae cantiunculae) Surgens Iesu (Sacrae cantiunculae) Iusti tulerunt spolia impioru (Sacrae cantiunculae) Non si levav’ancor l’alba novella (2nd book of Madrigals) E dicea l'una sospirand'all'hora (2nd book of Madrigals) O come e gran martire (3rd book of Madrigals) O primavera (3rd book of Madrigals) Occhi, un tempo (3rd book of Madrigals) Rimanti in pace (3rd book of Madrigals) Questi vaghi concenti Vespro della Beata Vergine (Ave maris stella a 8) Zefiro torna e di soavi accenti Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda De la Bellezza le dovute lodi, SV 245 Anima mia, perdona (4th book of madrigals) Che se tu se il cor mio (4th book of madrigals) Cruda Amarilli (5th book of madrigals) Ah, dolente partita! (4th book of madrigals) Quel augellin che canta (4th book of madrigals) Pur ti miro (L’incoronazione di Poppea, Act 3 Sc 8) Orfeo (Act 5 : Final ritornello and Moresca) Orfeo (Act 3: excerpt) Lamento d’Arianna Missa da capella a sei voci “In illo tempore” (Kyrie and Gloria Il Ballo della Ingrate (Overture) Misero alceo, SV 114 (6th book of Madrigals) Zefiro torna, SV 108 (6th book of Madrigals) Presso un fiume tranquillo, SV 116 (6th book of Madrigals) Dixit Dominus (Vespers, 1610) Tirsi e Clori (7th book of Madrigals) Litanie della Beata Virgine, SV 204 Oblivion soave (L'incoronazione di Poppea, Act 2) Gloria a 7 (Selve morale e spirituale) Ardo avvampo, mi struggo, ardo, accorrete, Madrigali guerrieri, No 7 (8th book of Madrigals) Lamento della ninfa, Madrigali amorosi, No 9 (8th book of Madrigals) Torna, torna, deh torna Ulisse (Il ritorno d’Ulisse, Act 1 Sc 1) Beatus VirPresented 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 Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0019knlAnd 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

Donald Macleod explores Beethoven’s life as a set of themes and variations, beginning with his very first musical excursions in the form in the early 1790s.Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) composed piano music in the form of themes and variations across his entire career - from his earliest published work to his late, titanic “Diabelli Variations”, lasting nearly an hour. And Beethoven’s life can itself be seen as a set of variations on a theme: recurring episodes of unrequited love, artistic anguish, angry fallings-out and constant striving for the highest pinnacle of musical achievement. Yet Beethoven’s piano variations often lie in the shadow of his 32 great sonatas for the instrument. This week, Donald Macleod puts that right - shining a light on this remarkable corpus of work, as well another often-overlooked genre: his piano bagatelles.Diabelli Variations (Theme and 1st variation) Variations in C Minor on a theme of Ernst Christoph Dressler, WoO 63 Variations in G on “Quant’e piu bello”, WoO 69 Piano Trio no 2 in G, Opus 1 No 2 (2nd mvt) Piano Concerto no 2 in B Flat, Op 19 (3rd mvt) Six Bagatelles, Op 126 Variations in D on “Rule Britannia!”, WoO 79 Variations in F, Op 34 Christ On The Mount Of Olives, Op 85 (excerpt) Seven Bagatelles, Op 33 Bagatelle in C Major, Woo 54 “Lustig-Traurig” Clarinet Trio, Op 38 (5th mvt) An die Hoffnung, Op 32 Eroica Variations, Op 35 Triple Concerto in C Major, Op 56 (2nd and 3rd mvts) Tarnopolsky: Echoes Of The Passing Day Bagatelle in A Minor (“Für Elise”), WoO 59 Variations in C Minor, WoO 80 Mass in C Major: Credo Variations on an original theme (March from the “Ruins of Athens”), Op 76 Eleven Bagatelles, Op 119 Diabelli Variations, Op 120: Theme Diabelli Variations, Op 120: Variations 1-10 Diabelli Variations, Op 120: Variations 11-14 Franz Liszt: Variation 24 for Diabelli’s Waltz F.X. Mozart: Variation 28 for Diabelli’s Waltz Schubert: Variation 38 for Diabelli’s Waltz Diabelli Variations, Op 120: Variations 15-18 Diabelli Variations, Op 120: Variations 25-33Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Steven RajamFor 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/m0019c66And 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

Donald Macleod explores Ravel’s meteoric rise to fame and early chamber music - including a long-lost violin sonata, and a unique arrangement for four ondes martenots.The music of Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) is much loved for its remarkable orchestral colours and brilliant virtuosity, heard vividly in works like Bolero, Daphnis and Chloe and Gaspard de la Nuit. But his chamber music, intimate, crystalline, and beautiful, is often overlooked. This week Donald Macleod puts that right, as he introduces every one of Ravel’s works for small instrumental ensemble; an array of work that spans the composer’s colourful life and career.Music Featured: Berceuse sur le nom de Gabriel Fauré Violin Sonata No 1 in A minor Sites Auriculaires (No 2, 'Entre Cloches') Chanson du Rouet Si morne! Shéhérezade (Overture) String Quartet in F major (1st mvt) Noël Des Jouets Deux Epigrammes de Clement Marot String Quartet in F Major (2nd - 4th mvt) Miroirs (No 3, 'Une Barque sur l'Ocean') Introduction and Allegro Deux Melodies Hebraiques (No 1, 'Kaddische') Piano Trio in A Minor (1st mvt) Trois chansons Piano Trio in A Minor (2nd mvt) Le Tombeau de Couperin (Prelude and Rigaudon) Piano Trio in A Minor (3rd and 4th mvts) Deux Melodies Hebraiques (No 2, 'L 'enigme eternelle') Frontispie L’Heure Espagnole (excerpt) La Valse (version for 2 pianos) Sonata for Violin and Cello Sarabande (Pour le Piano) L’Eventail de Jeanne (Fanfare) Tzigane L’Enfant et les Sortilèges (excerpts) Trois Chansons Madécasses Violin Sonata No 2 in G majorPresented by Donald Macleod Produced by Steven RajamFor 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 Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00194q9And 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