Composer of the Week Podcast Folgen

Donald Macleod talks to Sir Harrison Birtwistle about his life, inspiration and music.This week Donald Macleod meets Sir Harrison Birtwistle, described as “the most forceful and uncompromisingly original composer of his generation.” We hear his major compositions, broadly in chronological order, and reveal the preoccupations and processes behind a singular music imagination. To begin, we’ll hear about, Birtwistle’s daily working life, and about his early years among what became known as the Manchester school of composers. The premiere of his first opera Punch and Judy at Aldeburgh was infamous - much of the audience – including its commissioner Benjamin Britten – walked out at the interval. Next, we’ll hear about Birtwistle’s time in America and his friendship with Morton Feldman. They discuss some of his non-musical inspirations too: the power of mythology, the paintings of Paul Klee and the films of Quentin Tarantino. Birtwistle reveals how time, and the instruments for measuring time, have inspired many of his compositions, and how a lifelong fascination with moths inspired a new work meditating on loss.Music featured: Oockooing Bird Refrains and Choruses Punch and Judy (The Resolve; Passion Aria; Adding Song) Tragoedia Dinah and Nick’s Love Song Trio Chronometer The Triumph of Time Duets for Storab (Urlar; Stark Pastoral; Crunluath) Carmen Arcadiae Mechanicae Perpetuum The Mask of Orpheus (13th, 14th 15th Arch from Act 2, Scene 2) Silbury Air Nine Settings of Lorine Niedecker (There’s A Better Shine; How The White Gulls; My Life; Sleep’s Dream) Earth Dances Harrison’s Clocks (Clock 2; Clock 5) Panic Virelai (Sus une fontayne) The Minotaur (Part Two) The Moth Requiem In Broken Images Duet for Eight Strings Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Iain Chambers for BBC WalesFor full tracklistings, 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 Harrison Birtwistle https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0009r3hAnd 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 delves into the life and work of piano prodigy Muzio Clementi.Muzio Clementi was one of the 18th and 19th century’s most revered musicians – a star performer, a composer admired by Czerny, Beethoven and Chopin and an astute musical businessman. However, he also had his detractors in his own time and history hasn’t been as kind to him as to the greater names of his time – Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. Today his name is unfamiliar to most but it is certainly better known than the music he wrote. He was fortunate to have interactions with perhaps the world's three greatest composers, but this fortune may have also worked against him - putting him in direct competition with them. Across the episode, Donald Macleod explores Clementi’s contact with the greatest composers of his day, reassessing the life and music of the man known as the “father of the piano” in the light of these encounters. We’ll hear the stories of his musical duel with Mozart, stage-sharing with Haydn, brushes with Beethoven and dispute with John Field over a hat.Music featured: Symphony No 3 (Finale) Musical Characteristics, Op 19 Piano Sonata in A flat Major, WoO 13 Sonata for piano, Op 2 No 4 Duetto in C Major, Op 3 No 3 (Presto) Mozart (arr. Clementi): Symphony no. 40 in G minor, K 550 (Finale) Sonata in G minor, Op 7 No 3 Toccata in B flat Major, Op 11 No 2 Sonata in B flat major, Op 24 No 2 Variations on Mozart’s Batti, batti, o bel Masetto from Don Giovanni, WoO 10 Sonata in E flat major, Op. 8 No 2 (II. Larghetto con espressione) Symphony in B flat major, Op 18 No 1 (I. Allegro Assai) Sonata in G minor, Op 9 No 2 Overture in D Major Symphony No 4 Capriccio in F major, Op 34 No 2 Monferinas selection Sonata, Op 34 No 2 Concerto for piano and orchestra (II. Adagio e cantibile) Piano Sonata in F minor, Op 13 No 6 (III. Presto) Adagio sostenuto in F major (Gradus ad Parnassum, Book I, No 14) Sonata in B minor, Op 40 No 2 (II. Largo) Symphony No 2 in D major ( Finale) Symphony No 1 in C major (III. Minuet and Trio) Piano Sonata in G minor, Op 50 No 3 “Didone abbandonata”Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Sam Phillips for BBC WalesFor full tracklistings, 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 Muzio Clementi https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0009bdqAnd 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 the music of Sergei Prokofiev and tells the story of his American dream.After a series of revolutions in his native Russia, the young composer Sergei Prokofiev made the decision to leave his homeland and to head to the United States in search of fame and fortune. His years in the United States would turn into some of the most tumultuous of his life. Across this week, Donald explores how those years in exile and how it would prove to be one of his most challenging periods professionally, financially and personally. His life was set against the turbulent events of the first half of the twentieth century, and forces beyond his control so often intervened to scupper his grand ambitions.Music featured: Violin Concerto No 1 in D, Op 19 (3rd movement) Seven, They Are Seven, Op 30 Sonata for piano No 2, Op 14 (3rd & 4th movements) Visions Fugitives, Op 22 (selection) Symphony No 1 in D major, Op 25 (Classical) Tales of an Old Grandmother, Op 31 Overture on Hebrew Themes, Op 34 Prelude from 10 pieces for piano, Op 12 Concerto No 1 for piano and orchestra in D flat major, Op 10 (excerpts) Scythian Suite, Op 20 The Love for Three Oranges Symphonic Suite, Op 33bis (Marche) Four Pieces, Op 32 (selection) Piano Concerto No 3 in C major, Op 26 Five melodies for violin and piano, Op 35bis (selection) The Fiery Angel, Op 37 (Act IV Scene 1) Sonata No 3 in A minor, Op 28 The Gambler: Four Portraits from the Opera, Op 49 (Portrait No 1; Alexis) Piano Concerto No 2 in G minor, Op 16 Quintet in G minor, Op 39 (Selection) The Prodigal Son, Op 46 (Scene 2, excerpt) Chout Suite, Op 21 (excerpts) American Overture, Op 42 Peter and the Wolf (excerpt) Five Poems, Op 36 (selection) The Love of Three Oranges Symphonic Suite, Op 33bis Romeo and Juliet, Op 64 (excerpts)Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Glyn Tansley for BBC WalesFor full tracklistings, 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 Prokofiev https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00093cnAnd 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