Composer Of The Week

Donald Macleod explores the life and music of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, from his first steps up the musical ladder, to his premature death at the age of 37 and the legacy left behind. At the turn of the 20th century, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor could have been described as the most famous Black person in Britain. His cantata trilogy, the Song of Hiawatha, was an overnight success, and by the age of 25 he had packed out the Royal Albert Hall with a thousand performers, let alone the audience. His fame took him all around Britain and America as choral societies from Worcester to Washington DC all wanted to sing his music, and Coleridge-Taylor became a role-model, especially for African-Americans. But tragically, just over a decade later, he would be dead. He remained a household name into the 1930s, only for his flame to flicker out much sooner than he deserved. All this week, Donald re-visits his fascinating story, with recordings predominantly released in the last 5 years, showing how excited today's performers ar

Donald Macleod delves into the life and works of Robert Schumann during the 1840s. The 1840s was the decade when Robert and Clara Schumann’s married life began, and was the decade in which he established himself as a significant composer. Focusing on both his personal and professional life, Donald explores the ups and downs Schumann faced during these revolutionary ten years. Music Featured:Der Hidalgo (Three Poems, Op 30: No 3) Die alten, bosen Lieder (Dichterliebe, Op 48: No 16) Symphony No 1 in B-flat major, Op 38, "Spring" (1st mvt) Overture, Scherzo and Finale, Op 52 Piano Quintet in E-flat major, Op 44 (2nd and 3rd mvt) Das Paradies und die Peri, Op 50 (excerpt) String Quartet No 2 in F major, Op 41, No 2 (1st mvt) Symphony No 2 in C major, Op 61 (1st mvt) Piano Trio No 1 in D minor, Op 63 (1st mvt) Piano Concerto in A minor, Op 54 (1st mvt) Fruhlingsgesang (Album for the Youth, Op 68: No 15) Piano Trio No 2 in F major, Op 80 (3rd and 4th mvt) Genoveva, Op 81 (Act 4: Steil und steiler) Nachtlied Op 10

Donald Macleod journeys into the varied musical landscape of Adolphus Hailstork, in conversation with the composer himself.American composer Adolphus Hailstork has written in many genres ranging from orchestral and chamber, to choral, song cycles and operatic scenes. Of African-American heritage and now in his eighties, Hailstork’s works have been performed by major orchestras in Chicago, New York and Philadelphia, and leading conductors have championed his music including Kurt Masur, Daniel Barenboim and Lorin Maazel. Born in 1941, his early instrumental studies included the organ, piano, violin and the voice, but it was his experience both in the Anglican Cathedral tradition, and hearing and singing spirituals, that have had a significant impact upon the development of his own musical language. For many years he’s been a Professor of Music at the Old Dominion University in Norfolk, and he resides in the state of Virginia, USA. His own list of teachers is impressive, not least of all Nadia Boulanger at the A

Donald Macleod explores Carl Maria von Weber’s city lives and those dramas and scandals survived throughout. Weber’s relationship with European cities mirrored his life and work, from the restless wandering of his earlier years, to the way his life changed after the success of his opera Der Freischütz. And in his final months he travelled to London to compose and produce another major opera, Oberon, but would die after giving its first performances.The young Weber had an unerring ability to cause offence. He got involved in multiple love affairs that caused him problems. He was also very good at racking up debts. These traits unfold as we follow Weber’s picaresque journeys around Europe, flitting from city to city: sometimes chasing opportunities, sometimes in disgrace, at other times escorted away under armed guard.Music Featured: Grande polonaise in E-Flat major, Op 21, J. 59 Der Beherrscher der Geister (Ruler of Spirits), J. 122 Clarinet Quintet in B-Flat major, Op 34, J. 182 (1st mvt) Symphony No. 1 in C

This week Donald Macleod lifts the lid on the life and music of Anton Bruckner, focusing upon different themes to better understand both the man and the music.Anton Bruckner was one of the great symphonists, and yet recognition for his talents as a composer came late in life. He was an Austrian by birth, and was noted for his improvisatory skills at the organ. In fact, he received invitations to travel abroad to France and England, where he demonstrated his skills at the organ console. Yet, although as a composer he would become recognised as one of the most innovatory figures of the second half of the 19th century, during his lifetime he was not only plagued by doubt especially made manifest through the harsh reactions of the Viennese music critics, but was also often dubbed a buffoon because of his dress, dialect and mannerisms. Music Featured:Symphony No 3 in D minor, WAB 103 (3rd mvt) - arr. Mahler Ave Maria, WAB 6 Fantasie in G major, WAB 118 Requiem, WAB 39 (Dies Irae) Symphony No 00 in F minor, WAB 99

Donald Macleod explores the work of Franz Schubert, focusing on five distinct phases in the composer’s life. And afterlife.We start in 1815, the year in which Schubert turned 18 and was a reluctant schoolmaster still living under his father’s roof. Although he was in many ways unhappy and constrained by his circumstances, he was still prodigiously prolific. In the years after 1820, we see him spreading his wings as he’d never been able to do before, enjoying a sense of liberation after being shackled to the schoolroom in his father’s house. In 1824 we see a year of ill-health for Schubert, but also a year of fighting back, with attempted cures and triumphant, ambitious music. In Schubert’s final year – inevitably coloured by sadness, but also by great spirit and tenacity - emerged what is for many people Schubert’s crowning achievement: his song-cycle Winterreise. Schubert died at the age of 31, when most people are just getting going in life – in the same decade as Keats and Byron and Shelley – and he's ofte

Donald Macleod explores the life and works of legendary organist and composer Dietrich Buxtehude. Buxtehude was a musical star in his own time, whom Johann Sebastian Bach walked almost 300 miles just to meet and learn from. Yet, the facts of Buxtehude’s own story are far from straight forward. Doubts remain over so many details in the composer’s life. We can’t even be sure when or where he was born, leading to three different countries claiming him as their own, and for a musician who perhaps above all was famed for his organ music, it is remarkable that not one single organ piece by him was published in his lifetime. In this Composer of the Week series, Donald Macleod pieces together what we do know about Buxtehude, the pre-eminant European composer before Bach, and finds a multifaceted personality and ground-breaking musician who worked his way across Europe via three different churches dedicated to St Mary, and who – once he settled in Lubeck - acted as a kind of centre of gravity for other musicians of hi

Donald explores composer Claudio Monteverdi, one of the most important figures in the development of Western music. As a composer of both secular and sacred music, over the course of his career he worked for court, church and was one of the key figures in the development of opera. Across this week of programmes, Donald Macleod tracks Monteverdi’s career across three cities, from promising child prodigy, through poverty and plague, to his final years in the priesthood, with huge artistic successes along the way. Music Featured: Toccata (Orfeo) Surge propera amica mea (Sacrae cantiunculae) O bone Iesu, illumine oculos meus (Sacrae cantiunculae) Surgens Iesu (Sacrae cantiunculae) Iusti tulerunt spolia impioru (Sacrae cantiunculae) Non si levav’ancor l’alba novella (2nd book of Madrigals) E dicea l'una sospirand'all'hora (2nd book of Madrigals) O come e gran martire (3rd book of Madrigals) O primavera (3rd book of Madrigals) Occhi, un tempo (3rd book of Madrigals) Rimanti in pace (3rd book of Madrigals) Questi v

Donald Macleod explores Beethoven’s life as a set of themes and variations, beginning with his very first musical excursions in the form in the early 1790s.Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) composed piano music in the form of themes and variations across his entire career - from his earliest published work to his late, titanic “Diabelli Variations”, lasting nearly an hour. And Beethoven’s life can itself be seen as a set of variations on a theme: recurring episodes of unrequited love, artistic anguish, angry fallings-out and constant striving for the highest pinnacle of musical achievement. Yet Beethoven’s piano variations often lie in the shadow of his 32 great sonatas for the instrument. This week, Donald Macleod puts that right - shining a light on this remarkable corpus of work, as well another often-overlooked genre: his piano bagatelles.Diabelli Variations (Theme and 1st variation) Variations in C Minor on a theme of Ernst Christoph Dressler, WoO 63 Variations in G on “Quant’e piu bello”, WoO 69 Piano Tr

Donald Macleod explores Ravel’s meteoric rise to fame and early chamber music - including a long-lost violin sonata, and a unique arrangement for four ondes martenots.The music of Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) is much loved for its remarkable orchestral colours and brilliant virtuosity, heard vividly in works like Bolero, Daphnis and Chloe and Gaspard de la Nuit. But his chamber music, intimate, crystalline, and beautiful, is often overlooked. This week Donald Macleod puts that right, as he introduces every one of Ravel’s works for small instrumental ensemble; an array of work that spans the composer’s colourful life and career.Music Featured: Berceuse sur le nom de Gabriel Fauré Violin Sonata No 1 in A minor Sites Auriculaires (No 2, 'Entre Cloches') Chanson du Rouet Si morne! Shéhérezade (Overture) String Quartet in F major (1st mvt) Noël Des Jouets Deux Epigrammes de Clement Marot String Quartet in F Major (2nd - 4th mvt) Miroirs (No 3, 'Une Barque sur l'Ocean') Introduction and Allegro Deux Melodies Hebraique

Donald Macleod begins the second leg of his “Tour de France” in three weeks focused on French composers across the centuries. This week, Donald introduces us to the remarkable life story and unsung musical innovations of Hélène de Montgeroult.There aren’t many composers who can claim that music saved their life – at least, in the literal sense. But for Hélène de Montgeroult, it was her astounding powers of improvisation that got her out of the stickiest situation imaginable, hauled in front of the guillotine during the French Revolution. This week, we’ll follow her rollercoaster tale and hear how she had her own revolutionary impact on the piano literature. Described as a precursor of Romanticism, anticipating the language of Schubert and Mendelssohn, audiences said her playing “made the keys speak”. She broke ground as the first female professor at the Paris Conservatoire and left behind 600 pages of music, including a complete course for piano which elevated the technical study into a miniature lyrical artf

Donald Macleod begins three weeks focused on French composers, in honour of this month’s ‘Tour de France’ cycle race. "I have followed the theatre since the age of twelve", so said Rameau to a young composer who wrote to him for advice. It's an intriguing insight into a man who didn't produce his first opera until the age of fifty. Quite why it took him that long isn't clear. Up to that point he had been a church musician, following in his father's footsteps, holding a succession of posts mainly in the South of France. He also taught and established himself as a theoretician of some note. A brief, early sojourn in Paris, a mecca for any theatrical hopeful, ended abruptly when he was still in his twenties. It wasn't until he returned to Paris in 1723 that Rameau was able to start writing music for theatrical entertainments, at first for the popular Fairs, and then finally in 1733 for the Paris Opera. In the midst of constant cultural rows over the merits of French and Italian operatic style, Rameau flourished

Donald Macleod surveys one of the most famed Spanish composers of the Renaissance, Tomás Luis de Victoria.Tomás Luis de Victoria has become the most famed Spanish composer of the Renaissance and ranks alongside Palestrina and Lassus as one of the greatest composers of the 16th century. He was a singer, organist, scholar, teacher, and a priest but it was in composition that he made his most significant impact. His motets, Offices for the Dead and music for Holy Week are admired for their great beauty and intensity and his musical talent thrust him into the orbit of Spain’s royal family and the most senior clerics in Rome. His devotion to God sat at the heart of his creative life; and he wrote, “there is not a single thing as useful as music, which, reaching our hearts soft but deeply, provides a clear benefit not only for our soul but also for our body.”Music Featured: O magnum mysterium Ave Maria Missa pro defunctis (Taedet animan meam) Missa pro defunctis (excerpt) Missa pro defunctis (excerpt) Magnificat oc

Donald Macleod explores Dvořák’s American years and uncovers what he achieved during his time there.Antonín Dvořák became the first Czech composer to achieve global fame. His gift for transforming the folk styles of his native Bohemia into richly Romantic classical music won him admirers far beyond his homeland. Consequently, Dvořák was approached to leave Europe and serve as director of the newly established National Conservatory of Music in America. His sponsors hoped he would help foster a new and distinctive American musical style, less reliant upon Germanic traditions. During his time in America, from 1892 – 1895, Dvořák composed many of his most celebrated works, including his 9th symphony and his cello concerto. Before leaving, he’d started work on his Cello Concerto, inspired by his yearning for the Bohemian countryside. Back at home, Dvořák also completed his String Quartet No 13 which some have seen to be his final work to have musical associations with America.Dvořák’s had set out to encourage Amer

Donald Macleod explores Handel’s crucial relationship with the British monarchy, and how he and the Georgian Kings helped forge a new sense of British culture and identity.What could be more quintessentially British than a rousing chorus of Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus? Or his anthem Zadok the Priest, which has been performed at every British coronation since 1727? Yet, though the composer became was a naturalised British subject, he was born in Germany and kept his German accent all of his life. The same was true of the two Kings Handel served, George I and George II. This week, as we head towards a royal jubilee weekend, Donald Macleod explores Handel’s crucial relationship with the British monarchy, and how he and the Georgian Kings helped forge a new sense of British culture and identity.Music Featured: Messiah: Hallelujah Chorus Agrippina, Act 2: "Pensieri, voi mi tormentate" Handel: Concerto Grosso in B flat, Op 3 No 1 Rinaldo, Act 1: “Cara Sposa” ‘Utrecht’ Jubilate Te Deum in D, ‘Queen Caroline’ (Mvts 1

This month, Donald Macleod takes a new look at one of Britain’s best loved composers, Ralph Vaughan Williams, as part of Radio 3's 'Vaughan Williams Today' season - marking the 150th anniversary of the composer’s birth. Over the course of four weeks and twenty programmes, Donald will be delving into Vaughan Williams' life story and work in intriguing detail, and he’ll also be talking to some of the leading authorities on Vaughan Williams to share and explore fresh perspectives on a variety of overlooked and less well known aspects of his life and work, forming a comprehensive and absorbing portrait of a composer whose body of work has had such an enduring impact on British cultural life.In this, the final week of Composer of the Week’s landmark series, Donald will focus primarily on the years 1948-1958, the final decade of Vaughan Williams’ life. The composer was, by this point recognised as the Grand Old Man of English music, and for a younger generation of British composers had begun to represent the establ

This month, Donald Macleod takes a fresh look at one of Britain’s most popular composers, Ralph Vaughan Williams, as part of Radio 3's 'Vaughan Williams Today' season - marking the 150th anniversary of the composer’s birth. Alongside programmes which delve into Vaughan Williams' life story and music in fascinating depth, over the course of four weeks and twenty programmes, Donald will also be talking to some of the leading authorities on Vaughan Williams to share and explore share new perspectives on a variety of overlooked and less well known aspects his life and work, forming a comprehensive and absorbing portrait of a composer whose body of work has had such an enduring imprint on British cultural life.In the third week of this landmark series, Donald focuses on the years 1931-1947, a dramatic period in not just Vaughan Williams’ life, but in the wider world too, encompassing the second World War. Vaughan Williams was 67 when Britain and France declared war on the Reich, so too old for active service, but

All this month, Donald Macleod takes a fresh look at this much loved composer as part of Radio 3's 'Vaughan Williams Today' season, celebrating the 150th anniversary of his birth. He’ll unpack Vaughan Williams' life story in fascinating detail over the course of four weeks and leading authorities on the composer will join him to share their new perspectives. They'll be exploring some of the overlooked aspects of his life and music, as well as the qualities that have left such an enduring imprint on British cultural life. This week Donald chronicles Vaughan Williams’ life through the years 1914 to 1930.When War was declared, although he was 42 Vaughan Williams immediately joined up. He was accepted as an ambulance orderly with the rank of private. Throughout the War, wherever he was posted throughout Europe, he made music with anyone and everyone. He spent much of his spare time starting up a singing class, training a choir, getting together whoever was available, whenever they had a break in their duties. Eve

This month, Donald Macleod takes a fresh look at Ralph Vaughan Williams, one of the UK’s most significant music figures, as part of Radio 3's 'Vaughan Williams Today' season, marking the 150th anniversary of his birth.Ralph Vaughan Williams is one of the UK's most significant musical figures. This month, Donald Macleod takes a fresh look at this much loved composer as part of Radio 3's 'Vaughan Williams Today' season, marking the 150th anniversary of his birth Donald will be telling Vaughan Williams' life story and exploring his music in fascinating detail over the course of four weeks and twenty programmes. Interleaved with Donald's in-depth narrative accounts, some of our leading authorities on Vaughan Williams will be joining him to share new perspectives. They'll be unpacking the overlooked and less well known aspects of a composer whose body of work and diverse interests have made such an enduring imprint on British cultural life.The first week of this landmark series will focus on Vaughan Williams' form

Donald Macleod and guest Sarah Willis explore some of the greatest “one-hit wonders” in classical music - Johann Pachelbel, Engelbert Humperdinck, Paul Dukas, Gregorio Allegri, Henryk Górecki, Tomaso Albinoni, Giovanni Pergolesi, Pietro Mascagni, Carl Orff and Julius Fučík.Classical music is littered with composers who are famous for just a single piece of music. In a special week of Composer of the Week programmes, Donald Macleod is joined by Berlin Philharmonic horn player Sarah Willis to explore ten of these composers and examine episodes from their lives, alongside their compositions – both their popular hits and some of their less familiar music. They also try to isolate why certain works have captured the popular imagination of audiences around the world.Music Featured: Pachelbel: Canon & Gigue for 3 violins and continuo in D major Pachelbel: Christ lag in Todesbanden Humperdinck: Erinnerung Humperdinck: Hansel and Gretel (excerpts) Humperdinck: Königskinder, "Verdorben! Gestorben!..Ihr Kindlein, si