Composer of the Week Folgen

Marking the centenary of his death, Donald Macleod explores the life and work of Hubert Parry.Donald begins with the story of Parry's early years, rooted at Highnam Court in Gloucestershire, before looking at the period he was centred around Orme Square in London, the home of his teacher and mentor Edward Dannreuther. We hear about Parry’s connection with the long-running Three Choirs Festival: Parry’s father, Thomas Gambier Parry, was energetic and generous in his efforts to ensure the Festival’s survival, and the Three Choirs was to prove an important platform for his son’s music. Another hugely important institution to Parry was the Royal College of Music - in time, he would become Director of the College and an inspiration to the next generation of composers. We finish with the final years of Parry’s life, during World War One, when Parry's most enduring composition, Jerusalem, was first performed at the Queen’s Hall in London.Music featured:I was Glad Freundschaftslieder Bright Star Fantasie Sonata in B major Choral Prelude for Organ "On SS Wesley's Hampton" Symphony No.1 (2nd movement) Love is a bable Cello Sonata in A Take, O take those lips away Partita in D Minor String Quintet in E-Flat Major Symphony No. 2 in F major (The Cambridge) Long Since In Egypt's Plenteous Land Blest Pair of Sirens The Soul's Ransom Symphony No.3 in C major (The English) Who Can Dwell in Greatness The Birds of Aristophanes Crabbed Age and Youth From Death to Life Symphony No.4 (4th movement) Jerusalem Ode on the Nativity Lord Let Me Know Mine End Symphony No.5 in B minor (ii. Love) Jerusalem Presenter: 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 Hubert Parry: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0000nl6 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 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 joins the Oscar winning film composer Rachel Portman in her studio in London, to chat about her life and music for film and the concert platform.