Composer of the Week Podcast Folgen

Donald Macleod explores Chopin’s time in BritainChopin made just two trips to Britain, both in later life. These visits are often portrayed as a disaster - a calamitous mistake of no worth to Chopin which hastened the composer’s death. This week, Donald Macleod explores these two trips in depth, during which the virtuoso pianist gave six of the thirty public concerts he gave during the whole of his life, and also made many private appearances meeting the great and the good of British society.Music Featured:Mazurka No 47 in A minor, Op 68 No 2 Etude in C sharp minor, Op 10, No.4 “Torrent” Etudes, Op 25 (Nos 3, 10 & 12) Variations on “La Ci Darem la mano”, Op 2 (version for piano and orchestra) Impromptu No 1 in A flat, Op 29 Scherzo No 2 in B-flat minor, Op 31 Mazurka in F minor, Op posth. 68, No 4 (Andantino) Barcarolle, Op 60 Andante Spianato & Grande Polonaise Mazurka No 16 in A flat major, Op 24, No 3 Mazurka No 18 in C minor, Op 30, No 1 Mazurka No 19 in B minor, Op 30, No 2 Mazurka No 31 in A flat major, Op 50, No 2 3 Waltzes, Op 64 Prelude in C sharp minor, Op 45 Fantasy on Polish Airs, Op 13 Ballade No 2 in F, Op 38 Piano Concerto No 1 (I. Allegro Maestoso) Two Nocturnes, Op 55 Mazurka No 44, Op 67, No 1 Wiosna, Op 74, No 2 Krakowiak, Op 14 Nocturne Op 37, No 2 Sonata in G minor for Cello and Piano (II. Scherzo) Berceuse in D flat major, Op 59 Piano Concerto No 2 in F minor, Op 21 (III. Allegro Vivace) Ballade No 4 in F minor, Op 52 Sonata No 2 in B flat minor, Op 35 Etudes, op.25 No 1 & No 2 17 Polish Songs, Op 74, No 13 “Nie ma czego trzeba” (I Want What I Have Not)Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Sam PhillipsFor 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 Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000v86mAnd 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

Donald Macleod surveys the string quartets of Joseph Haydn.From his opus 0 and opus 1 of the 1750s to his unfinished opus 103 of 1803, Haydn’s 68 string quartets span the major part of his compositional life. While he wasn’t the inventor of the form, he’s fully deserving of the epithet, the “father of the string quartet” as he elevated the form to new heights. It’s his ideas that take the quartet from its 18th century antecedents to the conventions that are rather more familiar to us today. The conversational textures he created redefined the relationship between the four instruments. Always aware of his surroundings, and other musical influences, he used ideas and rhythms from folk music, dance, opera, the instrumental concerto and other genres for larger forces. He established a sequence of movements, and within them, adapted sonata form, as well as making use of the minuet-trio, the variation, the rondo and fugue forms. Original, serious, yet with his trademark, irresistible humour never too far away, Haydn’s quartets make up a unique body of work that justly receive both admiration and appreciation. Across the week Donald Macleod enjoys a masterclass in string quartet writing from one of the great masters of the form. His survey of Haydn includes complete performances of opus 50 no 4 - a quartet written for a King in the grandest of styles, the brilliant and theatrically inspired op 64, no 2, and the spritely and playful Lark Quartet. The versatile composer produced opus 71 no 2 with the largest of concert spaces in mind, and the series concludes with the second of Haydn’s opus 76 quartets, the last complete set he wrote, and widely regarded as being among the supreme accomplishments of his career.Music featured: String Quartet in E flat, op 33 no 2 ("The Joke") The Seven Last Words of Christ Hob XX.2 arr. for string quartet String Quartet, op 54 no 1 in G Symphony no 98 Symphony no 94 in G major (Surprise) String Quartet, op 50 no 4 in F sharp minor Symphony in G, Hob 1 no 8 (Le soir) Piano Trio no 40 in F sharp minor, Hob.XV:26 Symphony no 92 (Oxford) String Quartet, op 64 no 6 in E flat major l’anima del filosofo String Quartet no 56 in E flat major op 71 no 3 Hob III: 71:1 String Quartet op 54 no 3 Symphony no 92 in G major, Hoboken I/92, (Oxford symphony) Quartet op 64 no 5 in D major (The Lark) Miseri noi! Misera patria! (Cantata), Hob.XXIVa:7 String Quartet no 50 in B flat major, Opus 64 no 3 3 German dances IX:12 - version for 3 part string orchestra (excerpt) Quartet in C, no 72, opus 74 no 1 Symphony no 99 String Quartet, Op. 71 No. 2 in D major Piano Sonata in E flat major, Hob XVI:49 (written 1789, pub 1790) String Quartet no 59 in D major op 74 no 3 (Rider) String Quartet in G major, Op 76 No 1 Recollection Hob. XXVIa:26 Symphony No. 101 in D major 'The Clock' Berenice che fai? String Quartet, Op. 76 No. 2 in D minor 'Fifths'Presented by Donald Macleod Produced in Cardiff by Johannah Smith 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 Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000v1srAnd 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

Maurice Ravel is one of France’s most enigmatic, original and beloved composers. While less prolific than some of his contemporaries, Ravel was a master of detail - his works are elegant and exquisitely crafted, and precision was a guiding force in both his creativity and personality. He is often linked with impressionism for his painterly approach to orchestration and vivid soundworlds of his piano writing, but his distinctive voice bears influences from the baroque, to the exotic, to jazz. Over the course of this week, Donald Macleod drops five pins on the map of Ravel’s life story, discovering the places that were important to him and what they reveal about his character.Music featured:Habanera Pavane pour une infante defunte Alborada del Gracioso (Miroirs) Piano Trio Don Quichotte a Dulcinée D’Anne jouant de l’espinette Jeux d’eau String Quartet (1st and 2nd movements) Miroirs (III. Une barque sur l‘océan; V. Vallée des cloches) Introduction and Allegro for harp, flute, clarinet and string quartet Valses nobles et sentimentales, or Adélaïde (I. Modéré – tres franc) Trois beaux oiseaux Deux mélodies hébraïques (I. Kaddisch) Le Tombeau de Couperin La Valse Daphnis et Chloé: Part III (Lever du jour) Sonatine (II. Mouvement de minuet) Violin Sonata in G major Piano Concerto in G major Berceuse sur le nom de Gabriel Fauré Ma Mere L’Oye Suite Tzigane L'enfant et les sortilèges: Duo miaulé (Cat Duet) BoleroPresented by Donald Macleod Produced in Cardiff by Amelia ParkerFor 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/m000tdt2And 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