Composer of the Week Podcast Folgen

Donald Macleod explores Sergei Rachmaninov’s years in America.Reluctant even to visit at first, and once there always more than a little homesick, this proudly Russian composer in fact lived in the United States of America for 25 years, from the end of the First World War until his death in 1943. His life there was principally that of a virtuoso performer, not a composer; and Rachmaninov gave recitals for presidents, recorded discs for Thomas Edison, and felt obliged to rattle off his “hated” Prelude in C sharp minor for concert audiences wherever he went. All this week, Donald looks at Rachmaninov’s equivocal relationship with his adopted homeland. Rachmaninov’s first toured the USA in 1909, but it was only when he fled the 1917 revolution that he had to properly adjust to life as a concert pianist there. His intense performing schedule left him exhausted – we hear about the year 1926, which dedicated solely to composition, and how he found productive solace during his in summers in Switzerland. Although Rachmaninov was slow to embrace his adopted country, never really learning proper English and always looking back longingly to mother Russia, he did come to love the United States, and eventually, in the final year of his life, became a citizen. By then he’d become immersed in American cultural life, relishing jazz music and even admiring Mickey Mouse’s take on his ubiquitous Prelude.Music featured: Prelude in C sharp minor Piano concerto in D minor, 1st movement The Isle of the Dead, Op 29 A Dream (6 Songs, Op 38 No 5) The Star-Spangled Banner for piano Piano Concerto No 2 in C minor, 1st movement Polichinelle in F sharp minor, Op 3 No 4 Lento a capriccio (The Bells) Hungarian Rhapsody No 2 in C sharp minor (Liszt, arr. Rachmaninov) Liebeslied (arr. for piano) Etudes Tableaux, Op 33, Nos 2 and 7 3 Russian Songs, Op 41 Marche (Etudes Tableaux, orch. Respighi) Variations on a theme of Corelli, Op 42 Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini, Op 43 Symphony No 3 in A minor, Op 44, second movement Prelude in C sharp minor (arr. Barnet) 3 Symphonic Dances, Op 45 The Muse; What Happiness; Vocalise (14 Songs, Op 34) Lilacs Presenter: Donald Macleod Producer: Dominic Jewel 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 Rachmaninov: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0000hb7 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

Donald Macleod explores the conflicted relationships and mysteries in the life of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.Donald begins this week’s episode by looking at Tchaikovsky’s early years as a civil servant, wrestling with the tension between his desire to compose music and his responsibilities as a bureaucrat in St Petersburg. We hear about some of the composer’s tricky relationships - with the ascendant Nationalist school of Russian composers, and also with money. His need to earn a living and support himself by the music he composed led to an unconventional connection with one wealthy woman in particular. Donald traces Tchaikovsky’s long period of wandering, in which he spent years away from Russia, seemingly compelled by a disordered, un-reconciled personal life. Tchaikovsky was a mystery to the end, and there are many questions surrounding the puzzle of his death, which happened just days after the premiere of his sixth symphony, considered by many to be his finest work.Music featured:Swan Lake (Act 2) Eugene Onegin (Act 3, Scene 1) Song for the Golden Jubilee of the Imperial School of Jurisprudence Piano Concerto No. 1 (1st movement) Romeo and Juliet Chant sans paroles (Souvenir de Hapsal) None but the Lonely Heart String Quartet no.1 The Snow Maiden, First Song of Lel Finale: Moderato assai - allegro vivo – presto (Symphony No. 2) 1812 Overture March: The Song of the Lark (The Seasons) The Tempest Piano Trio, 1st movement Finale (Symphony No 4) Pimpinella (Romances, Op 38, No 6) Valse Sentimentale Violin Concerto Danse des polichinelles et des histrions (Maid of Orleans) Souvenir de Florence (1st and 2nd movements) We Sat Together Act 1, March (The Nutcracker) Piano Concerto No 3 Adagio & Waltz (The Sleeping Beauty - Suite) Symphony No 6Presenter: Donald Macleod Producer: Martin Williams 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 Tchaikovsky: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0000bbvAnd 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 friendships, influences and struggles in the life and work of Ernest Chausson. Amédée-Ernest Chausson grew up in Paris during a period of great political, social and economic upheaval in France, from the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War to the advent of the Third Republic. His family, however, was materially little affected, profiting from their involvement in Napoleon’s remodelling of the medieval city into wide open boulevards. Living a bourgeois lifestyle amongst the salon society of the mid-nineteenth century, they boasted an extensive art collection in their family mansion, where Chausson later remained with his wife and children. Supported by a private income unlike most of his creative peers, he was able to devote himself to composing with no financial pressure. But Chausson’s life wasn’t without a care in the world. Critics saw him as a dilettante, and his relatively small output reflects the agonies of doubt in his mind. He battled to find his own voice at a time when Wagner had cast a long shadow over French music - his only opera took almost ten years to complete. This struggle for artistic recognition was only just turning a corner when he died unexpectedly at the age of 44 in 1899.In this episode, Donald Macleod looks at the cultural advantages of Chausson’s family circle, fostering his passion for art which he indulged at home and on his travels. He uncovers Chausson’s musical friendships with Debussy and Franck, and his struggles to create – the torment of writing a symphony, and how enchanted forests, myths and legends inspired his rare forays into the world of theatre. Music featured: Pièce for cello (or viola) and piano, Op 39 Sérénade italienne; Les papillons; La dernière feuille, (7 Melodies, Op 2) La caravane Serres chaudes, Op 24 Poème for violin and orchestra L’aveu; Apaisement, Op 13 Andante and Allegro Viviane, op 5 Piano Trio in G minor, Op 3 (4th mvt) Symphony in B flat, Op 20 (3rd mvt) Sicilienne, Op 21 4 Mélodies, Op 8 Symphony in B flat, Op 20 (1st mvt) Poème de l’amour et de la mer, Op 19 La Nuit, Op 11 Chanson perpetuelle, Op 37 Soir de Fête, Op 32 Piano Quartet in A major Op 30 (1st mvt) La Légende de Sainte-Cécile, Op 22 (Act 3 Finale) Dans la forêt du charme et de l’enchantement, Op 36 no 2 Excerpts from La Tempête; La Légende de Ste Cécile; Le roi ArthusFor 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 Chausson: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000092k 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