Kate Molleson sheds light on the forgotten composer, Silvestre RevueltasSilvestre Revueltas was a blazingly energetic and politically charged musician, a whirlwind of a composer who lived through a time of great political and creative upheaval in Mexico. The French writer André Breton was stunned when he visited the country and found not one unified identity, but many strikingly different cultures existing side by side with all of their clashing values, creeds, and customs. This kaleidoscopic and sometimes jarring world is the musical universe of Revueltas, one of a generation of artists who, along with Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, tried to encompass a true sense of Mexican identity in their works after the country’s revolution. In his personal life Revueltas also lived a life of fiery extremes, before succumbing to an early death exasperated by alcoholism. This week, Kate Molleson tries to shed some light on this forgotten composer, guiding us through the rhythms of Silvestre Revueltas’s colourful life with the help of Professor Alejandro Madrid of Harvard University. They track Revueltas’s moves from revolutionary Mexico, to prohibition-era America, to the trenches of the Spanish Civil War, and back to his homeland. Although most of Revueltas’s works date from the final decade of his short life, it is music which bursts with energy, colour, and humour. It is music which speaks with irony and passion about politics and people, about both the joys and hardships of life. It is music that speaks of Mexico.Music Featured:Toccata (sin fuga)
Esquinas (1931 version)
Tierra p’a las macetas
Pieza para doce instrumentos
La Noche de los Mayas – Suite (1st & 2nd mvts)
Colorines
Batik
Cuauhnahuac
String Quartet No 4 “Musica der Feria”
Planos
Redes (exerpts)
Ventanas
Janitzio
Musica para Charlar I.
Canto a muchacha negra
El Renacuajo Paseador
Second Little Serious piece
Homenaje a Federico García Lorca
Caminos
Itinerarios
Cinco canciones de ninos
Este era un rey
Ocho x radio
3 Sonetos
La Noche de los Mayas – Suite (3rd & 4th mvts)
La Coronela (excerpt)
SensemayaPresented by Kate Molleson
Produced by Sam Phillips for BBC Audio Wales & West 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 Silvestre Revueltas (1899-1940) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00213lnAnd 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
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BBC Radio 3's Composer Of The Week is a guide to composers and their music. The podcast is compiled from the week's programmes and published on Friday, it is only available in the UK.
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Folge vom 26.07.2024Silvestre Revueltas (1899-1940)
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Folge vom 12.07.2024Thomas Linley Jnr (1756-1778)Donald Macleod shines a light on charming and often enigmatic composer, Thomas Linley JnrEnglish composer, Thomas Linley the Younger was destined to become one of the brightest musical stars of eighteenth century. No less a person than Mozart, who was also a personal friend, hailed him as a ‘true genius’. Even so, Linley’s life was troubled. He and his siblings were ruthlessly driven by their ambitious father. He saw his beloved sister become fodder for the celebrity-hungry gossip mongers of the British press and must have wondered if he might be next. He was forced to navigate a dangerous atmosphere of prurience and moral suspicion about the private lives of ‘theatre people’ like himself. A cloud of mystery hovers over Tom’s shocking and early death at the age of just 22. Donald Macleod is joined by Linley’s biographer, Tony Scotland, to shine a light on this charming and often enigmatic composer, alongside music by Tom and his circle.Music Featured: Linley the Younger: Music for The Tempest (No 1, Arise! ye spirits of the storm) Geminiani: Violin Sonata in D Major, Op 5, No 4 (1st & 2nd mvts) Linley the Younger: The Song of Moses (extracts) Boyce: Symphony No 7 in B flat major Nardini: Sonata No 1 for 2 Violins in G Major Linley the Younger: To heal the wound a bee had made Linley the Younger: Sonata in A major Linley the Younger: A Lyric Ode on the Fairies, Aerial Beings and Witches of Shakespeare (excerpt) Linley the Elder(arr. Borutzki): The Lark Sings High in the Cornfield Linley the Younger: Ye nymphs of Albion's beauty-blooming isle (extracts) Linley the Younger: In yonder grove Linley the Younger: Violin Concerto in F major Linley the Younger: Overture to The Duenna Linley the Younger: A Lyric Ode on the Fairies, Aerial Beings and Witches of Shakespeare (extracts from parts 1 & 2) Linley the Younger: Let God arise Linley the Elder: Think not my love, when secret grief Linley the Younger: A Lyric Ode on the Fairies, Aerial Beings and Witches of Shakespeare (Overture) Linley the Younger: Daughter of Heav'n, fair art thou! 'Darthula' William Linley: Down in the gleamy vale Linley the Younger, Music for The Tempest (excerpt)Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Chris Taylor for BBC Audio Wales & WestFor 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 Thomas Linley Jnr (1756-1778) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0020pnjAnd 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
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Folge vom 05.07.2024Richard Strauss (1864-1949)Donald Macleod explores key figures in Richard Strauss’s lifeThis week, Donald Macleod explores key figures in the life of Richard Strauss, including his librettist, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, his “domineering and difficult, yet devoted” wife, the soprano Pauline de Ahna, his “frenemy” Gustav Mahler as well as Strauss’s uncomfortably close relationship with the High Command of the Third Reich. Donald also examines the larger-than-life characters that populated the world of the composer’s imagination. Music Featured: Der Rosenkavalier, Op 59 (Act 1, Introduction) Le bourgeois gentilhomme, suite for orchestra, Op 60 (1. Overture) Elektra, Op 58 (Scene 6, ‘Was willst du, fremder Mensch?’) Arabella, Op 79 (Act 2, love duet “Sie sehn nicht aus wie jemand, den das alles da interessiert.”) Der Rosenkavalier, Op 59 (Act 3, Finale) Guntram, Op 25 (Act 2, Overture) Morgen (Tomorrow), Op 27 No 4 Ein Heldenleben, Op 40 (No 3, Das Helden Gefährtin) Intermezzo, Op 72 (Act I, Sc 1 “Anna, Anna! Wo bleibt denn nur die dumme Gans?”) Symphonia Domestica, Op 53 (2b, Wiegenlied; 3, Adagio) Four Last Songs, Op posth (No 4, Im Abendrot) Salome, Op 54 (“Wie schön ist die Prinzessin Salome heute nacht!”) Symphony No 2 in F minor, Op 12 (2nd mvt, Scherzo) Also sprach Zarathustra, Op 30 (8, The Dance Song; 9. Song of the Night Wanderer) An Alpine Symphony, Op 64 (13, On the Summit; 14, Vision; 15, Mists Rise) Salome, Op 54 (Sc 4, “Ah! Du wolltest mich deinen Mund nicht küssen lassen, Jochanaan!”) Das Bächlein (The Little Brook), Op 88 No 1 Die schweigsame Frau (The Silent Woman), Op 80 (Act 1, “Ha!” “Was ist?” “Mir fällt etwas ein!”) Friedenstag (Peace Day), Op 81 (extract) Metamorphosen, study for 23 solo strings, TrV 290 Le bourgeois gentilhomme, Op 60 (3. The Fencing Master) Ariadne auf Naxos, Op 60 – Prologue (conclusion) Don Juan, Op 20 Daphne, Op 82 (Transformation scene, ‘Ich komme, ich komme’) Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche, Op 28Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Chris Barstow for BBC Audio Wales and WestFor 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 Richard Strauss (1864-1949) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0020hsy 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
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Folge vom 28.06.2024Lou Harrison (1917-2003)Donald Macleod explores the life and music of American composer, Lou Harrison Lou Silver Harrison was an American, multi-faceted composer who died in 2003. In his music he explored a synthesis of Asian and Western influences, just intonation, and writing for percussion ensemble. He also involved himself in the arts as a performer, dancer, instrument maker, critic, puppeteer, poet, painter and much more. Harrison’s interest in Asian cultures began when he was very young, and remained a significant influence on his work for the rest of his life He enjoyed working with Gamelan percussion and instruments from Korea or China. With his partner William Colvig, Harrison also made his own instruments including an American Gamelan, for which he composed multiple works. Harrison took lessons with Henry Cowell and Arnold Schoenberg, and also collaborated with John Cage in exploring the possibilities of percussion ensembles. His career as a composer developed in the world of dance and theatre, supplementing his income as a critic and, later, as a teacher.Music Featured: The Heart Sutra (Tial, Sariputro, ciuj Darmoj) Waltz in C (New York Waltzes) First Concerto for Flute and Percussion Suite for Symphonic Strings (excerpt) Largo Ostinato Prelude for Grandpiano John Cage & Lou Harrison: Double Music Blaze of Day (Finale: Solstice) Piano Sonata No 3 (excerpt) Symphony No 2 “Elegiac” (excerpt) Hesitation Waltz (New York Waltzes) Waltz in A (New York Waltzes) Suite No 2 The Marriage at the Eiffel Tower (Overture) The Only Jealousy of Emer (excerpt) Suite for Cello and Harp Beverly’s Troubadour Piece, for harp and percussion Suite for Symphonic Strings (Nocturne) Four Strict Songs (Here is Holiness) Concerto in slendro Pacifika Rondo (excerpt) Easter Cantata A Waltz for Evelyn Hinrichsen Music for Bill and Me Young Caesar (excerpts) Suite for violin and American Gamelan (excerpt) Double Concerto for Javanese gamelan, violin and cello (excerpt) Third Symphony (Largo ostinato) Piano Concerto with selected orchestra (excerpt) O you whom I often and silently come where you are Grand Duo (Polka) Fourth Symphony ‘Last Symphony’ (Largo) Vestiunt Silve Pipa Concerto Mass to St Anthony (Gloria)Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Luke Whitlock for BBC Audio Wales and WestFor 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 Lou Harrison (1917-2003) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00209q6 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