Podcasts about vaughan williams

20th-century English composer

  • 185PODCASTS
  • 391EPISODES
  • 45mAVG DURATION
  • 1MONTHLY NEW EPISODE
  • Apr 29, 2025LATEST
vaughan williams

POPULARITY

20172018201920202021202220232024


Best podcasts about vaughan williams

Latest podcast episodes about vaughan williams

The New Criterion
Music for a While #101: A Frenchman's birthday, etc.

The New Criterion

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 29, 2025 47:56


This year marks the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of Maurice Ravel's birth. So we have been hearing a lot of him. Jay plays two pieces by him—two of his best, and most typical. There are also Spanish songs, by Obradors and Rodrigo. Some Schumann, some Vaughan Williams, and so on. Plus several stories—personal ones. An enriching, smile-making program. Obradors, “Del cabello más sutil” Rodrigo, “De ronda” Bernstein, Sonata for Clarinet and Piano Beethoven, “Leonore” Overture No. 3 Vaughan Williams, “Linden Lea” Ravel, “Pavane for a Dead Princess” Schumann, Sonata in D minor for Piano and Violin Handel, “Son nata a lagrimar,” from “Giulio Cesare” Ravel, “The Fairy Garden” from the “Mother Goose” Suite

The Three Ravens Podcast
Forgotten Melodies #3: Fair Songs

The Three Ravens Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 17, 2025 62:54


For this month's Forgotten Melodies bonus episode we're talking all about Fair Songs - in particular, Scarborough Fair, Brigg Fair and Widecombe Fair - and the histories behind these iconic tunes.The episode of course features new takes on all three of these songs, 'Scarborough Fair,' 'Brigg Fair' and 'Widecombe Fair,' and this time it's not just Eleanor and Ben singing, but our friend and collaborator Katie Sommers, too! Boosted along by her fine soprano, we chat through what we know about where each of these songs came from, along with the history behind each fair in turn - from Scarborough, one of the 'Great Fairs' that drew people to Yorkshire from all across Europe, to the gypsy/horse trading origins of Brigg Fair, to the scrappy, upstart, terrier-racing silliness of Somerset's Widecombe Fair, Uncle Tom Cobley and all!With discussions of musical modes, what 20th century British composers like Benjamin Britten and Vaughan Williams did to popularise these songs, and plenty of silliness, too, be sure to bring some money and let's revel in all the fun of the fair!As always, we really hope you enjoy the episode, and if you've seen our grey mare then do let us know it's whereabouts, if you'd be so kind...The Three Ravens is an English Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on one of England's 39 historic counties, exploring the history, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.With a range of exclusive content on Patreon, too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?Learn more at www.threeravenspodcast.com, join our Patreon at www.patreon.com/threeravenspodcast, and find links to our social media channels here: https://linktr.ee/threeravenspodcast Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The New Criterion
Music for a While #100: Old Hundredth

The New Criterion

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 8, 2025 50:08


This is Episode No. 100 of “Music for a While.” To mark the occasion, Jay presents music associated with that number: 100. So, we can consider this a centennial celebration. Bach, “Darum wir billig loben dich,” from the Cantata BVW 130 Dvořák, Scherzo from Sonatina for Violin and Piano, Op. 100 Bach, “Er ist mein Licht, mein Leben,” from the Cantata BVW 100 Haydn, Presto, from Symphony No. 100 in G major, “Military” Beethoven, “Merkenstein” Prokofiev, Allegro marcato, from Symphony No. 5 Mozart, Serenade No. 1 in D Brahms, Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 2 in A major Schumann, “The Bride of Messina,” Overture in C minor Shostakovich, “Little Stars” from “Spanish Songs” arr. Vaughan Williams, “Old Hundredth Psalm”

Dirección Coral Online
Música coral en los primeros 30 años del Siglo XX

Dirección Coral Online

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 16, 2025 10:05


Notas del episodio 167En este episodio exploramos cómo la música coral evolucionó en los primeros 30 años del siglo XX, desde la delicadeza del impresionismo hasta la crudeza rítmica de Stravinsky y la disolución de la tonalidad con Schoenberg. Te invito a descubrir de qué manera compositores como Vaughan Williams revitalizaron el repertorio coral y cómo la tradición y la modernidad se enfrentaron en un período de transformación radical. te dejo una lista de reproducción para que puedas escuchar las obras completas, y más infoEpisodio @167espero tus comentarios en Spotify!

CSO Audio Program Notes
CSO Program Notes: Glover Conducts English Classics

CSO Audio Program Notes

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 17, 2025 18:43


Mixing ceremonial pomp with pastoral splendor, this survey of British classics features Haydn's last and grandest symphonic statement, the London Symphony; exquisite gems by Elgar and Britten, and the soaring beauty of Vaughan Williams' The Lark Ascending with violinist Stella Chen, winner of the prestigious Queen Elisabeth Competition and Gramophone's 2023 Young Artist of the Year. Marking the 150th anniversary of Ravel's birth, the program crosses the English Channel for the composer's beguiling Tzigane. CSO Concertmaster Robert Chen has withdrawn from his planned solo appearances in these performances due to rotator cuff tendinitis symptoms. Learn more: cso.org/performances/24-25/cso-classical/glover-and-english-classics

Le van Beethoven
André Previn, musicien aux dons multiples

Le van Beethoven

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 6, 2025 89:13


durée : 01:29:13 - André Previn, musicien aux dons multiples - par : Aurélie Moreau - Compositeur, pianiste, jazzman et chef d'orchestre, André Previn a interprété avec bonheur tous les répertoires. Le voici notamment en tant que chef dans des œuvres de Mendelssohn, Holst, Tchaïkovski, Walton, Grieg, Vaughan Williams, Offenbach…

Disques de légende
La fantaisie sur un thème de Tallis, de Vaughan-Williams, par John Barbirolli

Disques de légende

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 3, 2025 22:32


durée : 00:22:32 - Disques de légende du vendredi 03 janvier 2025 - Ralph Vaughan-Willliams s'inspire d'un thème de Thomas Tallis dans cette fantaisie, première œuvre qui le fait vraiment connaître, en 1910. Dans cet enregistrement de 1963, c'est un chef proche du compositeur qui assure la direction du Sinfonia of London : Sir John Barbirolli.

Relax !
La fantaisie sur un thème de Tallis, de Vaughan-Williams, par John Barbirolli

Relax !

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 3, 2025 22:32


durée : 00:22:32 - Disques de légende du vendredi 03 janvier 2025 - Ralph Vaughan-Willliams s'inspire d'un thème de Thomas Tallis dans cette fantaisie, première œuvre qui le fait vraiment connaître, en 1910. Dans cet enregistrement de 1963, c'est un chef proche du compositeur qui assure la direction du Sinfonia of London : Sir John Barbirolli.

Perfect Pitch
S2.E63. Some nostalgia with Vaughan Williams and Schubert, book-ended with Haydn Sunrise and a mystery symphonic finale.

Perfect Pitch

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 14, 2024 37:43


We would love to hear from you, wherever you are!https://www.perfectpitchpod.com/contact/@NickHelyHutchThank you for listening - please do get in touch with any comments!

Eerste hulp bij klassiek
41. Ralph Vaughan Williams – The Lark Ascending

Eerste hulp bij klassiek

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 28, 2024 21:57


1914. Bij het uitbreken van WO I begint de Engelse componist Ralph Vaughan Williams aan The Lark Ascending, een vioolwerk over een opstijgende leeuwerik. Tijdens een strandwandeling schrijft Vaughan Williams de eerste noten op, waardoor hij verkeerdelijk gearresteerd wordt op verdenking van oorlogsspionage. Het keert uiteindelijk helemaal voor deze vogelmuziek, want het groeit uit tot het symbool van troost in woelige tijden. Moeilijke woorden: senza misura, pastorale. Uitvoering: Hilary Hahn.

Lines and Dots
Lines and Dots - Episode 17 (Poles Apart)

Lines and Dots

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 25, 2024 58:21


Despite continental separation and the trials of fickle technology, Chris and Maurice bring you this episode to celebrate the wonders of extreme contrast. From Top Gear's capricious visit to Magnetic North and the sumptuous glory of Vaughan Williams' Symphony Antarctica through to the contrasts between Athens and Sparta and a piece of music that doesn't seem to please anyone, the discussion takes us on one of our most epic voyages yet.   Oh yes, and the sport is Beach Volleyball - of course.

Choir Fam Podcast
Ep. 103 - Developing Choral Tone Through Community Building - Joel Tranquilla

Choir Fam Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 18, 2024 54:46


“I don't have a sound that I'm trying to make the choir fit into. I'm trying to understand and uncover the palette of sounds that are in front of me and then expand our sense of what we can sound like. This happens through the community building process, because the more we honor each individual and allow them to bring themselves into that rehearsal space, then the fuller and richer we are.”Dr. Joel Tranquilla (he/him/his) is a conductor and music educator noted for his versatile musicianship and creative programming. Originally from Fredericton, Joel is thrilled to have returned home to assume the position of Artistic Director of the Halifax Camerata Singers and Chorus Master of Symphony Nova Scotia. Formative choral experiences include touring with the American Boychoir as a boy soprano and singing as a member of the Nova Scotia and National Youth Choirs. He holds degrees from Mount Allison University, the University of Michigan, and Michigan State University where his doctoral research was in the area of Canadian choral-orchestral works.Joel relocated to Nova Scotia in 2023 after spending nine years as the Director of Choral Activities at Trinity Western University in Langley, BC, where he oversaw a program of six choirs and taught various courses within the School of the Arts, Media and Culture. Joel led the TWU Chamber Choir on tours to Ottawa, New York City, China, Hong Kong, Japan, and Taiwan. In addition to his work at TWU, Joel served as the Artistic Director of the Valley Festival Singers in Abbotsford and was the conductor of the award-winning Coastal Sound Youth Choir in Coquitlam. A singing member of the Canadian Chamber Choir since 2007, he was named the ensemble's Associate Conductor in 2013. As such, he contributes to the programming and long-term artistic visioning of that organization. Prior to his time on the West Coast, Joel lived and worked in Windsor, Ontario, serving as the conductor of several local ensembles including the Windsor Symphony Orchestra Chorus. In high demand as an adjudicator and clinician across the country, Joel is a past Guest Conductor of the New Brunswick Youth Choir and the Manitoba Provincial Honour Choir, and was the Assistant Conductor of the 2012 National Youth Choir.Major works conducted include Poulenc's Gloria, Vaughan Williams' Hodie, Ramirez's Navidad nuestra, Mendelssohn's St. Paul, Handel's Alexander's Feast, Requiems by Fauré and Duruflé, Bach's St. John Passion, and Allan Bevan's oratorio Nou Goth Sonne Under Wode. In spring 2023, Joel conducted the premiere of a new oratorio by David Squires and made his Carnegie Hall debut in a program featuring Vaughan Williams' Five Mystical Songs. Joel believes in the power of choral music to build and strengthen community. His wife, Meghan is an audiologist, and they have three precocious children: Everett, Penelope, and Felix.To get in touch with Joel, you can visit the Halifax Camerata Singers website at halifaxcamerata.org or find them on Facebook (@HalifaxCamerataSingers) or Instagram (@halifaxcameratasingers). You can also find the Canadian Chamber Choir at their website canadianchamberchoir.ca, on Facebook (@CanadianChamberChoir) or Instagram (@canadianchamberchoir).Email choirfampodcast@gmail.com to contact our hosts.Podcast music from Podcast.coPhoto in episode artwork by Trace Hudson

Music From 100 Years Ago
How Suite It Is

Music From 100 Years Ago

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 11, 2024 51:02


Music from suites, including Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker, Vaughan Williams' English Folk Song Suite, Grieg's Peer Gynt, Respighi's Ancient Airs and Dances and Prokofiev's Love For Three Oranges. 

Vrije geluiden op 4
Vrije Geluiden - Vrije Geluiden

Vrije geluiden op 4

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 2, 2024 60:00


Live uitzending uit Splendor in Amsterdam, met onder meer optredens van bariton Mattijs van de Woerd (liederen van Vaughan Williams en Schubert), pianist Gerard Bouwhuis (miniaturen van Louis Andriessen), PEAX! (het duo van saxofonist Ties Mellema en slagwerker Barry Jurjus).

The Throstle Club
The Throstle Club programme 20

The Throstle Club

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 1, 2024 60:08


Our studio guest is long serving Albion fan Vaughan Williams who watched his first Albion game in 1956. Norman Bartlam and Bob Downing look back on events and happenings from West Bromwich Albion's history from the month of October. This programme was first broadcast on Black Country Radio Xtra in October 2024.

The Classical Circuit
22. Kellen Gray: how folk music shaped him, why diverse programming is more than ticking boxes, and how beekeeping restored him after burnout

The Classical Circuit

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 24, 2024 51:27


American conductor Kellen Gray currently holds the position of Associate Artist with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the first of its kind, but leads a vibrant professional life on both sides of the Atlantic. Recent engagements include the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the Minnesota Orchestra, the English National Opera and the Philharmonia, and the Lafayette Symphony Orchestra in Indiana where he is Conductor and Artistic Director.One of the foremost experts and interpreters of the music of African-diasporic composers, Kellen is Assistant Editor and Conductor Liaison for the African Diasporic Music Project. He is also known for being an incredibly versatile artist, crediting the wealth of folk-music styles of the south-eastern United States as some of his earliest influences, which have led to a deep understanding and mastery of not just music that incorporates American folk idioms, but also other composers for whom folk music was important, such as Bartok, de Falla and Vaughan Williams.In this episode, Kellen takes us on his journey from violinist to beekeeper(!) to conductor, including the role that burnout played along the way. He also talks about the importance of diverse programming that is art-led; how despite having many supportive people around him there were times that, as a black conductor, he wasn't taken seriously; and how much the process of recording his two African American Voices albums with the RSNO meant to him.-------------------Kellen's links:WebsiteFacebookInstagram-------------------Follow The Classical Circuit on InstagramDid you enjoy this episode? If so, ratings and follows help a lot with visibility, if you have a spare moment... *bats eyelashes*No offence taken if not.--------------------Music: François Couperin - Le Tic-Toc-Choc ou Les MaillotinsPerformed by Daniel Lebhardt--------------------This podcast is also available to listen to via The Violin Channel--------------------The Classical Circuit is made by Ella Lee (producer by trade, pianist at heart). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Invisible Folk Club Podcasts
Sabine Baring-Gould @ the Invisible Folk Club

Invisible Folk Club Podcasts

Play Episode Listen Later May 13, 2024 57:28


Singer/Songwriters Jim Causley and Miranda Sykes joined narrator John Palmer (director of the critically-acclaimed Vaughan Williams anniversary 'From Pub to Pulpit' Cathedral tour) to talk us through a new show entitled 'Ghosts, werewolves and countryfolk - the songs and stories of Sabine Baring-Gould'  Polymath and Victorian superstar Sabine Baring-Gould (1834-1924) was, amongst many other things, a best-selling novelist most notably for stories of ghosts, werewolves and Norse myths. Despite wide ranging interests he felt the most important part of his life was collecting songs from Devon and Cornwall, amassing more than 2000 songs. In the show Miranda, Jim and John interweave some of those songs with anecdotes from Baring-Gould's astonishing life and stories. Ticket info from https://www.mirandasykes.com/baring-gould-centenary/ Songs (in order of appearance): Jim Causley & Miranda Sykes - My Lady's Coach Jim Causley & Miranda Sykes - Cottage Well Thatched Jim Causley & Miranda Sykes - Last of the Singers All songs Trad/Arr Causley & Sykes Links to artist websites: https://www.mirandasykes.com/ https://www.jimcausley.co.uk/

Record Review Podcast
Vaughan Williams's Symphony no.1 'A Sea Symphony'.

Record Review Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 8, 2024 46:14


David Owen Norris chooses his favourite version of Vaughan Williams's Sea Symphony.

Músicas posibles
Músicas posibles - Poliedrias - 24/02/24

Músicas posibles

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 24, 2024 53:09


De Mathias Duplessy a Tchaikovsky o Scarlatti a Gianluigi Trovesi con Stefano Montanari. Vaughan Williams, Elizabeth Maconchy, Arnold Bax o Fernando Buide del Real interpretados por Iria Folgado en Ecos de Breogán. Liszt homenajeando a Chopin en los dedos de Boris Bloch y la canción popular gallega en los de Alberto Vilas. Ballaké Sissoko y Vincent Ségal y el  Adagio assai del Concierto para piano en sol mayor de Ravel, con Anne Queffélec al piano y Alain Lombard al frente de la Filarmónica de Estrasburgo. Nada que añadir.  Sonate pour guitare et violoncelle en quatre rêves: III. Rêve mélancolique Jérémy Jouve           Jérémy Jouve & Friends (Play Mathias Duplessy Chamber Music)Valse sentimentale, Op. 51, No. 6     Heinrich Schiff, Samuel Sanders       Academia: Classical Works - Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff etc.Keyboard Sonata in E Minor, K.394/L.275/P.349      Boris Bloch     Piano Works, Vol. 6 - ScarlattiSonata No. 10 Cavaletto zoppo        Gianluigi Trovesi y Stefano Montanari Stravaganze consonantiSix Studies in English Folksong: I. Adagio 'Lovely on the Water'Six Studies in English Folksong: V. Andante 'The Lady and the Dragoon' de Ralph Vaughan WilliamsAdagio para corno inglés de Fernando Buide del RealQuintet for Oboe and Strings: III. Allegro non troppo de Elizabeth MaconchyQuintet for Oboe and Strings: III. Allegro giocoso de Arnold BaxIria Folgado    Ecos de Breogán 6 Polish Songs, S. 480: No. 2, Frühling Boris Bloch   Liszt: Piano Works (Live)Prélude Ballaké Sissoko, Vincent Ségal        Musique de NuitPiano Concerto in G Major, M. 83: II. Adagio assai  Anne Queffélec, Alain Lombard, Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg Ravel : Piano Concertos & Debussy : FantaisieEscuchar audio

BBC Music Magazine
Why do we love The Lark Ascending?

BBC Music Magazine

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 22, 2024 41:47


Vaughan Williams's The Lark Ascending consistently tops polls as Britain's favourite classical work, but what is the source of its enduring popularity? Steve Wright interviews writer and broadcaster Andrew Green about his Lark Ascending/Skylark recordings project for the Ralph Vaughan Williams Society, in collaboration with the Wildlife Sound Recording Society and British Library's Wildlife and Environmental Sounds Collection.   This episode is sponsored by Bang & Olufsen.   Musical Excerpt: Vaughan Williams The Lark Ascending Tamsin Waley-Cohen (violin); Orchestra of the Swan/David Curtis Signum Classics SIGCD399 (2014) https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vaughan-Williams-Ascending-Concerto-Serenade-Introduction/dp/B00N7CM1U0 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Composer of the Week
A Vaughan Williams Christmas

Composer of the Week

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 22, 2023 78:13


“I've always loved carols,” Vaughan Williams wrote to Cecil Sharp in 1911. Despite being called a “most determined atheist” by Bertrand Russell at University, and in later life “a cheerful agnostic”, the composer never lost his love for Christmas. It dated back to childhood memories of singing carols from Stainer and Bramley's Christmas Carols New and Old at his home at Leith Hill Place, Surrey. As an adult, his lifelong passion for the Christmas period was demonstrated in his music - the Fantasia on Christmas Carols, On Christmas Night based on Dickens's A Christmas Carol, the cantata Hodie and the nativity play The First Nowell. His passion for collecting folk tunes in various counties of England – armed with a trusty pencil and paper, or at times a phonograph - also led to a plethora of carol settings using these folk tunes, as Vaughan Williams himself said “Every day some old village singer dies, and with him there probably die half-a-dozen beautiful melodies, which are lost to the world for ever: if we would preserve what still remains we must set about it at once.” This week. Kate Molleson explores Vaughan Williams's experiences of Christmas across his life alongside some of his best loved pieces, and the music he wrote to celebrate the festive period.Music Featured:Dives and Lazarus The First Nowell (extract) Trad. The Murder of Maria Marten Five Variants of ‘Dives and Lazarus' Suite for Viola and Small Orchestra – Group 1 The Wasps Overture I Saw Three Ships Come In Willow Wood Folk Songs of the Four Seasons: Orchestral Suite Trad. The High-low well The Holy Well (version 1) Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis As Joseph was Walking A London Symphony (III. Scherzo) Fantasia on Christmas Carols Symphony 3 (II. Lento) Trad. On Christmas Night Sussex Carol The Lark Ascending Hodie (This Day): The Oxen On Christmas Night (extract) Dona Nobis Pacem (III. Reconcilliation) Trad. Ploughboy's Dream O Little Town of Bethlehem Prelude: 49th parallel Symphony No 5 in D Major (III. Romanza) God rest you merry, gentlemen The First Nowell: IX: In Bethlehem City On Wenlock Edge (V. Bredon Hill) Epithalamion (the bridal day) – Procession of the bride Hodie (extract) Symphony No 7 (V. Epilogue) Trad. Seven Virgins (Leaves of Life) The Seven Virgins The First Nowell: XX. The First NowellPresented by Kate Molleson Produced by Sam Phillips 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 A Vaughan Williams Christmas https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001t9wp 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

Private Passions
Dame Ottoline Leyser

Private Passions

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 10, 2023 36:11


Professor Dame Ottoline Leyser first realised plants are extraordinary and astonishing at school, when introduced to the round and wrinkled peas of Gregor Mendel. She is fascinated by plant genetics and as Regius Professor of Botany at the University of Cambridge her particular focus has been on a hormone called auxin which controls the growth of plants. In 2020, she was appointed the chief executive of UK Research and Innovation whose mission is to work in partnership with research organisations, universities, businesses, charities and government to “push the frontiers of human knowledge and understanding" and deliver economic, social and cultural impact, with a budget of more than £8 billion each year. Dame Ottoline is a fellow of the Royal Society and in 2017 she was appointed DBE for services to plant science, science in society and equality and diversity in science.Her music choices include Mozart, Vaughan Williams and Debussy.

Perfect Pitch
S2.E23. A Polish minuet by Paderewski, virtuosity with Saint Saens 2nd Piano Concerto, Englishnes with Vaughan Williams English Folksong Suite, and joyous Bach in 5th Brandeburg.

Perfect Pitch

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 18, 2023 32:42


Sticky Notes: The Classical Music Podcast
Lutoslawski Concerto for Orchestra

Sticky Notes: The Classical Music Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 9, 2023 62:21


Throughout the history of Western Classical Music, folk music has imprinted itself as an invaluable resource for composers from all over the world. In fact, it's easier to make a list of composers who never used folk music in their compositions than it is to make a list of the composers who did! This tradition began long before the 20th century, but the work of composers like Bartok and a resurgence in the influence of nationalist music sparked a massive increase in composers using folk music throughout the 20th century and into the 21st. Bartok is thought of as the king of using folk music, as he was essentially the worlds first ethnomusicologist. But Stravinsky, who used dozens of uncredited folk tunes in his Rite of Spring, as well as Bernstein, Copland, Gershwin, Grainger, Vaughan Williams, Szymanowski, Dvorak, and so many others embraced folk music as an integral source for their music. This was in stark contrast to the second Viennese school composers like Schoenberg, Berg and Webern, and post World War II composers like Stockhausen, Boulez, and others who deliberately turned their backs on folk music. One composer who straddled both worlds during their lifetime was the Polish composer Witold Lutoslawski, a brilliant composer whose career started out in the folk music realm, though not entirely by choice, and ended up in music of aleatory, a kind of controlled chaos! One of his first major works, the Concerto for Orchestra is the topic for today's show, and it is heavily influenced by folk music from start to finish. It is a piece also inspired and might even be a bit of an homage to the great Bela Bartok and his own Concerto for Orchestra, which was written just ten years earlier. Lutoslawski, if you're not familiar with him, is one of those composers that once you learn about him, you can't get enough of him. I'll take you through this brilliant and utterly unique piece today from start to finish. Join us!

Great Sacred Music
Thursday 10th August: Vaughan Williams

Great Sacred Music

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 19, 2023 32:06


Exploring the motets and part-songs of Ralph Vaughan Williams, including O taste and see and The cloud capp'd towers. Led by Thomas Perkins Directed and accompanied by Polina Sosnina Performed by St Martin's Voices With thanks to the donors of the Spirit of St Martin's Campaign for supporting this season of Great Sacred Music.

The Good Practice Podcast
365 — L&D lessons from customer education

The Good Practice Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 10, 2023 41:57


The Mind Tools L&D Podcast usually focuses on how L&D can help colleagues develop in their careers – but we're not the only industry with an interest in education. Some of the world's most exciting tech companies, including Google, Meta and Amazon, use education as a tool to help their customers develop new skills and encourage longer term adoption. In this week's show, Ross G and Nahdia speak to Intellum's Lizzi Shaw and Gusto's Jaclyn Anku to discover:   why marketing teams invest in customer education how they define the business outcomes they want to achieve   how they measure the impact of their programs. In ‘What I Learned This Week', Nahdia discussed the ‘Systemic Design Framework' from the Design Council. Jaclyn discussed the career of Simone Biles. And Ross discussed an episode of The Listening Service, which covered ‘Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis by Vaughan Williams'. To find out more about the Intellum LMS, see intellum.com. To find out more about Gusto's approach to customer education, read or watch the case study. Gusto are at gusto.com, For more from Mind Tools, including access to our back catalogue of podcasts, visit mindtoolsbusiness.com. There, you'll also find details of our award-winning performance support toolkit, our off-the-shelf e-learning, and our custom work.  You can find Will at: worklearning.com If you listened to this episode at all (we had doubts), please do drop a quick note to Ross, just to let him know: rgarner@mindtools.com. Connect with our speakers  If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with our speakers: Ross Garner Nahdia Khan Lizzi Shaw Jaclyn Anku

Composers Datebook
A Vaughan Williams premiere in Liverpool

Composers Datebook

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 30, 2023 2:00


SynopsisEven during the bombing of London by the German Air Force, the London Blitz of World War Two, the BBC Proms Concerts continued.True, in 1941 a German incendiary bomb did destroy the long-time home of the Proms, Queen's Hall on Langham Place, but, not to be deterred, the Proms simply moved to the Royal Albert Hall in South Kensington.Wartime Proms programs included this printed notice: “In the event of an Air Raid Warning the audience will be informed immediately, so that those who wish to take shelter either in the building or in public shelters outside, may do so, The concert will then continue.”Talk about pluck!In 1944, the British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams completed a new oboe concerto to be premiered at a Proms concert, but a German V-1 rocket that landed dangerously near the Albert Hall led to an early end to that Proms season, since the V-1 rockets, unlike the German bombers, didn't allow enough warning time to clear the hall.So, on today's date in 1944, the new Vaughan Williams concerto was premiered not in London, but in Liverpool, with soloist Leon Goossens and Malcolm Sargent conducting the Liverpool Philharmonic.Music Played in Today's ProgramRalph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) Oboe Concerto in A minor David Theodore, oboe; London Symphony; Bryden Thomson, cond. Chandos 8594

Composers Datebook
Vaughan Williams at Westminster

Composers Datebook

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 19, 2023 2:00


SynopsisOn today's date in 1958, just nine days after his death, a funeral service was held for the British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams at Westminster Abbey, where his ashes were laid to rest. Now, many famous people are buried at Westminster Abbey, but an actual funeral service there, especially for someone not of the royal family, is pretty rare. In fact, Vaughan Williams was the first commoner to be buried there for almost 300 years.The previous such event had been for the 17th English composer and sometime organist of the Abbey, Henry Purcell–whose grave, like Vaughan Williams, is in the Abbey's north choir aisle, should you wish to pay your respects.Vaughan Williams had left instructions for which music was to be played: his anthem O taste and see and also his setting of the hymn, All people that on earth do dwell, written for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, which had taken place at Westminster Abbey just five years earlier, in 1953.The service was broadcast live by the BBC, and the announcer noted that if all the submitted requests to attend had have been honored, the Abbey would have been filled twice over.Music Played in Today's ProgramRalph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958) "O Taste and See" and "All People that on Earth do Dwell" (arr. of "Old 100th") The Cambridge Singers; John Rutter, cond. Collegium 107Ralph Vaughan Williams (arr.) All People That on Earth Do Dwell" (Old 100th) Christ Church Cathedral Choir; English Orch; Stephen Darlington, cond. Nimbus 5166

Private Passions
Jeremy Deller

Private Passions

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 10, 2023 38:48


Jeremy Deller is a difficult artist to pin down. He's won the Turner Prize and represented Britain at the Venice Biennale, but you're just as likely to find his work on our streets as in a gallery. In 2016, marking the centenary of the Battle of the Somme, thousands of young men in World War One uniforms appeared unannounced in stations, shopping centres and towns across the UK. Each participant represented a soldier who died on 1 July 1916. Jeremy called this work We're Here Because We're Here. 15 years earlier, he recreated the clash between striking miners and police officers in the Battle of Orgreave. He's toured a rusting car from a street bombing in Iraq around the USA, and in 2012 he created a life-sized inflatable version of Stonehenge which you could bounce on. His musical choices are suitably wide-ranging and sometimes unexpected: taking us on a journey with sounds from across the world, but including Beethoven, Monteverdi and Vaughan Williams.

Private Passions
Raynor Winn

Private Passions

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 1, 2023 37:25


Raynor Winn is a writer whose first book, The Salt Path, followed the remarkable 630-mile journey she and her husband Moth made around the South West Coastal Path. It was a story of endurance as they had lost their home, had little money and Moth had been diagnosed with a terminal illness. But they found solace in nature and kept putting one foot in front of the other, living for the now: a message that obviously chimed with readers, as the book became a bestseller and is currently being made into a film. Raynor has since written a sequel called The Wild Silence, about readjusting to four walls and normal life after that seminal walk, and Landlines where she and Moth again embark on a thousand-mile journey from Scotland back to the familiar shores of the South West Coast Path. Raynor's musical choices include works by Britten, Schubert and Vaughan Williams.

The Listening Service
Musical Time Travel: Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis by Vaughan Williams

The Listening Service

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 26, 2023 29:15


Tom Service experiences musical time travel as he listens to "Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis" by Ralph Vaughan Williams, with its magical interplay of ancient and modern. And film music expert Neil Brand examines how this and other classical adagios have been used to great effect in Hollywood blockbusters.

Composers Datebook
Vaughan Williams's Fifth

Composers Datebook

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 24, 2023 2:00


Synopsis In wartime London, on today's date in 1943, a Promenade Concert featured the first performance of the Fifth Symphony of Ralph Vaughan Williams. The composer himself conducted the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Queen's Hall, the traditional home of the annual summertime Proms concerts, had been destroyed by German bombers two years earlier. The Proms concerts had moved into a new and larger venue, the Royal Albert Hall, where the series continues to this day. For the 1943 season, Proms programs started earlier than usual, so that concert goers could get home before the nightly air raids on the city. To London audiences troubled by war fears and many sleepless nights of German bombing, the serene musical world of the Vaughan Williams Fifth must have seemed a real blessing. It's not a "wartime" symphony in the conventional sense, full of defiance and bluster, but rather an evocation and affirmation of England's musical past, blending hints of 16th century hymn tunes and modal folk melodies into symphonic form. For some time, Vaughan Williams had been at work on an opera based on The Pilgrim's Progress, a 17th century allegorical tale by the Puritan writer John Bunyan. Some of the tunes and motives from his projected opera ended up in the symphony, along with a sense of faith and optimism in the face of adversity that must have deeply affected the first audience to hear the work. Music Played in Today's Program Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958) Symphony No. 5 London Philharmonic; Bernard Haitink, conductor. EMI 55487

Desert Island Discs
Professor Sharon Peacock, scientist

Desert Island Discs

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 18, 2023 37:34


Professor Sharon Peacock is professor of public health and microbiology at Cambridge University. In March 2020 she set up the COVID-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK) Consortium to map the genetic sequence of the virus as it spread and mutated. Within a year COG-UK was leading the world in identifying mutant COVID strains, and this data was instrumental in helping the development of vaccines and treatments. Sharon was born in Margate and left school at 16 to work in her local corner shop. She moved on to become a dental nurse the following year and after that she trained to be a nurse at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton. After studying for A levels at evening classes, in 1983 she won a place to study medicine as a mature student at the University of Southampton. After further training and several years researching bacterial diseases in Thailand, she returned to the UK where she led the development of the Cambridge Infectious Diseases Initiative. In 2021 Sharon was awarded the MRC Millennium Medal, the Medical Research Council's most prestigious prize. DISC ONE: Fast Car - Tracy Chapman DISC TWO: A Boy and a Girl - Voces8 DISC THREE: Time Has Told Me - Nick Drake DISC FOUR: Title: Driving Home for Christmas - Chris Rea DISC FIVE: Take a Bow - Muse DISC SIX: Cantique de Jean Racine, Op. 11 (from Fauré's Requiem) Composed by Gabriel Fauré and performed by Choir of St. John's College, conducted by Andrew Nethsingha DISC SEVEN: Symphonie Fantastique by Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, composed by Hector Berlioz, performed by Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique and conducted by John Eliot Gardiner DISC EIGHT: The Lark Ascending, composed by Vaughan Williams and performed by Tasmin Little (violin) BBC Symphony Orchestra and conducted by Sir Andrew Davis BOOK CHOICE: Oxford Textbook of Medicine LUXURY ITEM: A projector and photos CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Time Has Told Me – Nick Drake Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Paula McGinley

Countermelody
Episode 201. Britten – Pears (Pride 2023)

Countermelody

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 16, 2023 108:03


Today's episode explores the lives and loves of two of the most significant figures in twentieth century music: Benjamin Britten, the dean of British composers and the tenor Peter Pears, his partner, lover, inspiration and muse for nearly forty years. When as a lost young gay boy I first encountered their music-making I intuited that these two men were lovers, that they represented a way forward for me out of a lonely and forlorn childhood. Whether in the many songs and cycles that Britten fashioned for him or the operatic roles, beginning with the title role of Peter Grimes, that were tailor-made for him, Pears remains the ideal interpreter of his partner's music, possessed as he was of a distinctive (some would say peculiar) voice, supple, reedy yet surprisingly powerful, along with pinpoint musical precision, plangent expressivity and dramatic aptitude. The episode features excerpts from many of Britten's most explicitly gay compositions, surprising for a man living in Britain while sex between men was still illegal, including the operas Peter Grimes, Curlew River, Billy Budd, and Death in Venice and his settings of poetry by Michelangelo, Shakespeare, Auden, and Francis Quarles. We also hear Pears and Britten in live and recorded performance of songs and arias by other composers, including composers Britten revered (Schumann, Schubert, Tchaikovsky, and Frank Bridge), and those of whose music he was much less fond (including Vaughan Williams and Brahms). The episode contains more biographical information than your typical Countermelody episode, and does not shy away from some of the thorniest questions that one must confront when discussing these two controversial figures. But in the end it is first and foremost a celebration of the music Britten and Pears made together and the love they shared for 40 years. The episode begins with a heartfelt (and heartbroken) tribute to the great Glenda Jackson, who died this week at the age of 87. Countermelody is a podcast devoted to the glory and the power of the human voice raised in song. Singer and vocal aficionado Daniel Gundlach explores great singers of the past and present focusing in particular on those who are less well-remembered today than they should be. Daniel's lifetime in music as a professional countertenor, pianist, vocal coach, voice teacher, and journalist yields an exciting array of anecdotes, impressions, and “inside stories.” At Countermelody's core is the celebration of great singers of all stripes, their instruments, and the connection they make to the words they sing. By clicking on the following link (https://linktr.ee/CountermelodyPodcast) you can find the dedicated Countermelody website which contains additional content including artist photos and episode setlists. The link will also take you to Countermelody's Patreon page, where you can pledge your monthly support at whatever level you can afford. Bonus episodes available exclusively to Patreon supporters are currently available and further bonus content including interviews and livestreams is planned for the upcoming season.

Private Passions
Beccy Speight

Private Passions

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 11, 2023 35:27


Beccy Speight has been the chief executive officer of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds since 2019. It is the UK's largest nature conservation charity with over a million members and manages more than 200 nature reserves providing a home to at least 18,500 species. Beccy began her work in the conservation sector when she joined the National Trust at the turn of the millennium. From 2014, she focused her energies on our trees and woods when she became Chief Executive at the Woodland Trust. She has said she moved on to the RSPB because she wanted to be ‘where the really big fights are in terms of our natural world' – and where she could make a difference to something she cares deeply about. Beccy's musical choices include Elgar, Vaughan Williams and the folk singer Karine Polwart.

Composers Datebook
Britten's "Prodigal Son"

Composers Datebook

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 10, 2023 2:00


Synopsis Back in Bach's day, there were churchmen aghast at the thought that composers were trying to sneak flashy opera music into Sunday services. Church music was meant to be simple, austere, and, well , not “operatic.” So what would they have made of the three “church parables” – mini-operas, really, composed in the 20th century by the great English composer Benjamin Britten? The third of these, The Prodigal Son, debuted on today's date in 1968 at St. Bartholomew's Church in Orford, England. All three impart Christian values and were meant for church performance – scored for a handful of soloists, modest choir, and a small ensemble that would fit in front of and on either side of a church altar where church music was normally performed. But operas they are, and Britten himself let the “o” word slip when he commented in a 1967 interview that he was (quote), “doing another church opera to go with the other two, Curlew River and The Burning Fiery Furnace, to make a kind of trilogy.'” Britten took these mini-operas seriously, and dedicated The Prodigal Son to his new friend, the Soviet composer Dmitri Shostakovich, who in turn would dedicate his 14th Symphony to Britten. Music Played in Today's Program Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976) The Prodigal Son Peter Pears, tenor; John Shirley-Quirk, baritone; Robert Tear, tenor; Bryan Drake, baritone; English Opera Group Orchestra; Benjamin Britten, conductor. Decca 425713 On This Day Births 1904 - German-born American musical composer Frederick Loewe, in Berlin; 1913 - Soviet composer Tikhon Khrennikov, in Elets (Julian date: May 28); 1960 - English composer Mark Anthony Turnage, in Grays, Essex; Deaths 1899 - French composer Ernest Chausson, age 44, after a bicycle accident near Limay; 1918 - Italian opera composer and librettist Arrigo Boito, age 76, in Milan; 1934 - British composer Frederick Delius, age 72, in Grez-sur-Loing, France; 1964 - American composer Louis Gruenberg, age 75, in Los Angeles; Premieres 1732 - Handel: opera "Acis and Galetea" (in an English/Italian version), in London at the King's Theater in the Haymarket, at the request of Princess Anne (Gregorian date: June 21); 1865 - Wagner: opera "Tristan and Isolde," in Munich at the Hoftheater, conducted by Hans von Bülow; 1921 - Stravinsky: "Symphonies of Wind Instruments" (in memory of Claude Debussy), in London at Queen's Hall, with Serge Kousevitzky conducting; Three days earlier, on June 7, 1921, Stravinsky had attended the British premiere of the concert version of his ballet score "The Rite of Spring," also at Queen's Hall, with Eugene Goossens conducting; 1939 - Bliss: Piano Concerto (with Solomon the soloist) and Vaughan Williams: "Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus," at Carnegie Hall by the New York Philharmonic, with Sir Adrian Boult conducting; These works (Along with Bax's Seventh Symphony, which premiered the previous day) were all commissioned by the British Council as part of the British Exhibition at 1939 World's Fair; 1941 - Poulenc: first public performance of Concerto for Organ, Strings and Timpani, in Paris; 1968 - Britten: church opera "The Prodigal Son," in Orford Church, near Aldeburgh. Links and Resources On Britten

En pistes ! L'actualité du disque classique
L'oeuvre qui a changé la vie de Jordi Savall

En pistes ! L'actualité du disque classique

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 6, 2023 89:56


durée : 01:29:56 - En pistes ! du mardi 06 juin 2023 - par : Emilie Munera, Rodolphe Bruneau Boulmier - Ce mardi, Emilie et Rodolphe ont choisi pour vous : le Requiem de Mozart par Jordi Savall et Le Concert des Nations mais aussi quelques plages du coffret Allegri String Quartet paru chez Decca ou encore Vaughan Williams par l'Orchestre symphonique de la BBC. En pistes !

Improv Exchange Podcast
Episode #111: Branford Marsalis

Improv Exchange Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 10, 2023 64:55


After four decades in the international spotlight, the achievements of saxophonist Branford Marsalis continue to grow. From his initial recognition as a young jazz lion, he has expanded his vision as an instrumentalist, composer, bandleader, and educator, crossing stylistic boundaries while maintaining unwavering creative integrity. In the process, he has become a multi-award-winning artist with three Grammys, a citation by the National Endowment for the Arts as a Jazz Master, and an avatar of contemporary artistic excellence. Growing up in the rich environment of New Orleans as the oldest son of pianist and educator, the late Ellis Marsalis, Branford was drawn to music along with siblings Wynton, Delfeayo, and Jason. The Branford Marsalis Quartet, formed in 1986, remains his primary means of expression. In its virtually uninterrupted three-plus decades of existence, the Quartet has established a rare breadth of stylistic range as demonstrated on the band's latest release: The Secret Between the Shadow and the Soul.  Branford has not confined his music to the jazz quartet context. A frequent soloist with classical ensembles, Branford has become increasingly sought after as a featured soloist with acclaimed orchestras worldwide, performing works by composers such as Copeland, Debussy, Glazunov, Ibert, Mahler, Milhaud, Rorem, Vaughan Williams and Villa-Lobos. And his legendary guest performances with the Grateful Dead and collaborations with Sting have made him a fan favorite in the pop arena. His work on Broadway has garnered a Drama Desk Award and Tony nominations for the acclaimed revivals of Children of a Lesser God, Fences, and A Raisin in the Sun. His screen credits include original music composed for: Spike Lee's Mo' Better Blues, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks starring Oprah Winfrey and Ma Rainey's Black Bottom starring Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman. Ma Rainey is the Netflix film adaptation of two-time Pulitzer Prize winner August Wilson's play, produced by Denzel Washington and released in December 2020. Branford has also shared his knowledge as an educator, forming extended teaching relationships at Michigan State, San Francisco State, and North Carolina Central Universities and conducting workshops at sites throughout the United States and the world. After the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina, Branford and friend Harry Connick, Jr. conceived of “Musicians' Village,” a residential community in the Upper Ninth Ward of New Orleans. The centerpiece of the Village is the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music, honoring Branford's father. The Center uses music as the focal point of a holistic strategy to build a healthy community and to deliver a broad range of services to underserved children, youth, and musicians from neighborhoods battling poverty and social injustice. In this episode, Branford shares his background, education, and musical journey. If you enjoyed this episode please make sure to subscribe, follow, rate, and/or review this podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, ect. Connect with us on all social media platforms and at www.improvexchange.com

Joanna Lumley & The Maestro
The British Greats (Part 1)

Joanna Lumley & The Maestro

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 21, 2023 31:44


The 18th century saw Great Britain referred to as “Das Land ohne Musik” - the land without music by continental Europeans. Quite the damning reviews. But why? And more importantly, is it true? Joanna and Stephen launch into the archives of great British composers like Tallis, Elgar, Byrd, Gibbons and Vaughan Williams in search of our national melodies and some home grown ‘kultur'.

Hark! The stories behind our favorite Christmas carols

“In the Bleak Midwinter” is the greatest carol of all time! Or, that's what choir directors and choral experts across the U.S. and the U.K. told BBC Magazine in the 2008 poll that earned it this fame.  This haunting carol is born out of a poem written by an English poet in 1872 for a U.S. literary journal, Scribner's Monthly, unimaginatively titled: “A Christmas carol.” But, it would take more than three decades for this mystery poet's words to find a tune. So, intriguing is the pre-Raphaelite figure who penned these words, that you will need to listen to the episode if you want to find out the identity of our mystery poet.  But it was Gustav Holst, the world-renowned composer of the orchestral suite “The Planets”, who first set the text to music. His best-friend, Vaughan Williams, another renowned composer had asked him to write a Christmas carol for a new English hymnal that he had been asked to compile. It is out of this that the carol most people sing today comes to be. But it is not Holst's tune that was voted the most-beloved carol of choristers. That singular honor belongs to Harold Darke, who in 1909 set the words to his own tune. And, indeed, when you hear Darke's magical composition, weaving vocal parts in and out seamlessly and creating a Christmasssy soundscape that will bring your jaw from the pew to the cathedral floor, you'll understand why it has mesmerized music experts and enthusiasts alike. And on this episode, two British experts pull apart the music and verse with Ricardo da Silva, S.J, our guest host and series producer along with Maggi Van Dorn. First, we invite back Christopher Walker, a church composer known for his “Celtic Alleluia,” to tackle the tune. Then, the Rev. Rachel Mann, an Anglican priest, poet, writer and one-time music journalist with expert knowledge of our mystery poet, guides us, verse by verse, through this nostalgia-inducing carol, and reveals the identity of its author.  Special thanks to the Choir of King's College, Cambridge, Christopher Walker and Greg Shockmann, Garreth Brooke, Sharlene Wallace and Greg Koller, The Ignatian Schola, Debra Buesking, Wayne Bennett and Gate City Brass, Cynthia Boener and Salt of the Sound, for providing much of the music on this episode. Our featured version of “In the Bleak Midwinter” at the end of this episode is performed by the Choir of King's College, Cambridge under the direction of Daniel Hyde. This recording is available on their latest album, “In the Bleak Midwinter: Christmas Carols from Kings”.  You can preorder a high definition recording of this year's Carols by Candlelight celebration which was pre-recorded at King's College Chapel in Cambridge and will be broadcast on the BBC this Christmas Eve. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Classics For Kids
Ralph Vaughan Williams 3: Turn of the 20th Century English Composers

Classics For Kids

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 17, 2022 6:00


Ralph Vaughan Williams arrived on the scene just as a definite English classical music sound was being established. His three main teachers at the Royal Academy of Music were Arthur Sullivan, Hubert Parry, and Charles Stanford. Edward Elgar and Gustav Holst also had an influence on Vaughan Williams.

Great Sacred Music
Thursday 13th October: RVW 150

Great Sacred Music

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 17, 2022 36:42


Led by Revd Dr Sam Wells with music from St Martin's Voices directed by Andrew Earis and accompanied by Polina Sosnina. O taste and see – Vaughan Williams The call – Vaughan Williams, arr. Earis Valiant for Truth – Vaughan Williams Come away, death – Vaughan Williams Just as the tide was flowing – Vaughan Williams O clap your hands – Vaughan Williams This season of Great Sacred Music has been supported by the Foundation of St Martin-in-the-Fields, London.

The Essay
Vaughan Williams - Amanda Dalton

The Essay

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 14, 2022 13:45


Five writers and artists not normally associated with classical music, discuss a specific example of Vaughan Williams's work to which they have a personal connection, and why it speaks to them. Following on from the successful Five Kinds of Beethoven Radio 3 essay series in 2020, where a wide range of Beethoven fans shared their personal relationship to the composer and his work, this new series gives similar treatment to Vaughan Williams. Our essayists share their unexpected perspective on Vaughan Williams's work, taking it outside the standard ‘English pastoral' box, in a series of accessible essays, part of the Vaughan Williams season on Radio 3. Essay 5: Amanda Dalton – poet/dramatist As a teenager in a 1970s working-class Coventry family, Amanda Dalton had a flamboyant favourite Uncle Gordon. He introduced Amanda to Vaughan Williams through embarrassing trips to the record shop after school. Amanda remembers the utter mortification of walking through Coventry city centre in her school uniform, Uncle Gordon sweeping along in a dramatically, her schoolmates giggling behind them. Once at the shop, Uncle Gordon waxed lyrical about his favourite composers. He bought Amanda a record of the Sea Symphony. She took it home, played it and was transported. It has remained significant to her ever since, summoning up her childhood, culture and class and what it is to be an outsider. Amanda Dalton is a poet and playwright, tutor, theatre artist and consultant. She is currently a Fellow of the Royal Literary Fund, Associate Artist at Manchester's Royal Exchange Theatre and a Visiting Teaching Fellow (Script and Poetry) at MMU's Writing School. Amanda has two poetry collections with Bloodaxe, How To Disappear and Stray, and Notes on Water came out in 2022. Her poetry has won awards and prizes in major competitions including the National Poetry Competition and she has been selected as one of the UK's top 20 “Next Generation Poets”. Amanda writes regularly for BBC Radio 3 and 4 – original writing includes a number of original dramas and adaptations. For most of her career, she also worked in the worlds of Education and Creative Engagement. After 13 years as an English and Drama teacher and Deputy Head in comprehensive schools in Leicestershire, she left the formal education sector to be a Centre Director for the Arvon Foundation before becoming a senior leader at Manchester's Royal Exchange Theatre, working for 18 years in the field of creative learning. Writer and reader Amanda Dalton Sound designer Paul Cargill Producers Polly Thomas and Yusra Warsama Exec producer Eloise Whitmore A Naked Production for BBC Radio 3

The Essay
Vaughan Willliams - Luke Turner

The Essay

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 13, 2022 13:25


Five writers and artists not normally associated with classical music, discuss a specific example of Vaughan Williams' work to which they have a personal connection, and why it speaks to them. Following on from the successful Five Kinds of Beethoven Radio 3 essay series in 2020, where a wide range of Beethoven fans shared their personal relationship to the composer and his work, this new series gives similar treatment to Vaughan Williams. Our essayists share their unexpected perspective on Vaughan Williams' work, taking it outside the standard ‘English pastoral' box, in a series of accessible essays, part of the Vaughan Williams season on Radio 3. Luke Turner – nature writer and music journalist The Wasps – Aristophanic Suite was an EMI and John Player Special cassette tape that Luke's family listened to on long car journeys in the 1980s. Obviously the cassette opens with The Lark Ascending, but like a pop smash hit drawing your attention to an album, that piece was merely the introduction to The Wasps - Aristophanic Suite on the second side, played by the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Vernon Handley. It became the soundtrack to Luke's growing awareness of the English landscape as it passed by the windows, not in a simple, bucolic way, but the complexities of the place, the baked bean orange of traffic lights on the M62 over the Yorkshire Moors, the strange Cold War military installations that seemed to be everywhere, motorway reservations and the endless traffic jams around the Kings Lynn Roundabout. The piece also captures for Luke an awareness of how music works, how it combines with emotion and experience to become integral to memory, how something called The Wasps could have next to nothing to do with the insects, how his young mind could place onto this music whatever his imagination brought forward. It feels like many of his generation and certainly in his profession as a music journalist see Vaughan Williams as quite an establishment figure or quite conservative, but The Wasps was psychedelic music that made inroads into Luke's imagination, and unleashed the possibilities of sound connecting to place. Luke Turner is a writer and editor. He co-founded the influential music website The Quietus where he runs a regular podcast and radio show. He has contributed to the Guardian, Dazed & Confused, Vice, NME, Q, Mojo, Monocle, Nowness and Somesuch Stories, among other publications. His first book, Out of the Woods, was shortlisted for the Wainwright Prize. Born in Bradford, he lives in London. Writer and reader Luke Turner Sound designer Paul Cargill Producers Polly Thomas and Yusra Warsama Exec producer Eloise Whitmore A Naked Production for BBC Radio 3

The Essay
Vaughan Williams - Adrian McNally

The Essay

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 12, 2022 13:44


Five writers and artists not normally associated with classical music, discuss a specific example of Vaughan Williams's work to which they have a personal connection, and why it speaks to them. Following on from the successful Five Kinds of Beethoven Radio 3 essay series in 2020, where a wide range of Beethoven fans shared their personal relationship to the composer and his work, this new series gives similar treatment to Vaughan Williams. Our essayists share their unexpected perspective on Vaughan Williams's work, taking it outside the standard ‘English pastoral' box, in a series of accessible essays, part of the Vaughan Williams season on Radio 3. Essay 3: Adrian McNally - producer/arranger/pianist for The Unthanks Self-taught and raised in a South Yorkshire pit village, Adrian McNally is pianist, composer and band leader for The Unthanks. From humble beginnings to scoring for his band to perform with Charles Hazelwood's Army of Generals, Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band and the BBC Concert Orchestra for The Proms, McNally has sought confidence and inspiration along the way from Ralph Vaughan Williams. He finds kinship in a quest to prove that the people's music is anything but common, to draw out and elevate the beauty and truth present in those folk songs fondly but unfairly known as low culture. In his essay, McNally looks at VW's thoughts on National Music and the inescapable relationship between place, community and creativity. At the centre of his essay will be Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis. It was born out of a tune Vaughan Williams was preoccupied with - a love letter to something that already existed, that inspired him to make something more. Self-taught and raised in a South Yorkshire pit village, Adrian McNally is pianist, composer, record producer and band leader for The Unthanks. From humble beginnings to scoring for performances with Charles Hazelwood's Army Of Generals, the Royal Liverpool Phil, Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band and the BBC Concert Orchestra for The Proms. Writer and reader Adrian McNally Sound designer Paul Cargill Producers Polly Thomas and Yusra Warsama Exec producer Eloise Whitmore Photographic Image by Sarah Mason A Naked Production for BBC Radio 3

The Essay
Vaughan Williams - Dr Rommi Smith

The Essay

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 11, 2022 13:46


Five writers and artists not normally associated with classical music, discuss a specific example of Vaughan Williams's work to which they have a personal connection, and why it speaks to them. Following on from the successful Five Kinds of Beethoven Radio 3 essay series in 2020, where a wide range of Beethoven fans shared their personal relationship to the composer and his work, this new series gives similar treatment to Vaughan Williams. Our essayists share their unexpected perspective on Vaughan Williams's work, taking it outside the standard ‘English pastoral' box, in a series of accessible essays, part of the Vaughan Williams season on Radio 3. The Lark Ascending is Dr Rommi Smith's favourite piece by Vaughan Williams. It has accompanied her all over the world in her travels as a poet and teacher, reminding her of her Englishness and her home, even when as a Black woman, she is often not ‘seen' as being English. The piece is a key part of her English DNA. This was brought home to her vividly when the violinist Tai Murray, a Black American woman, played the piece during the Proms in 2018. There was subsequent racist twitter comment, saying she had only been ‘let in' because she is Black. Dr Rommi Smith considers her own connection to The Lark Ascending and how who performs it is significant. Dr Rommi Smith is an award-winning poet, playwright, theatre-maker, performer and librettist. A three-time BBC Writer-in-residence, she is the inaugural British Parliamentary Writer-in-Residence and inaugural 21st century Poet-in-Residence for Keats' House, Hampstead. A Visiting Scholar at City University New York (CUNY), she has presented her research and writing at institutions including: THE SEGAL THEATRE, THE SCHOMBURG CENTER FOR RESEARCH IN BLACK CULTURE and CITY COLLEGE NEW YORK. Rommi's performance at THE SCHWERNER WRITERS' SERIES in New York was at the invitation of Tyehimba Jess, Pulitzer Prize winner for Poetry. Rommi is a Doctor of Philosophy in English and Theatre. Her academic writing was first published by NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS as part of the groundbreaking book IMAGINING QUEER METHODS (2019). Her poetry is included in publications ranging from OUT OF BOUNDS (Bloodaxe) to MORE FIYA (Canongate). She is recipient of a HEDGEBROOK Fellowship (Cottage: Waterfall, 2014) and is a winner of THE NORTHERN WRITERS' PRIZE for Poetry 2019 (chosen by the poet Don Paterson). She was recently awarded a prestigious CAVE CANEM fellowship in the US. Rommi was selected a SPHINX30 playwright; a prestigious programme of professional mentoring for – and by - contemporary women playwrights, led by legendary company, SPHINX THEATRE. Rommi is a contributor to BBC radio programmes including: FRONT ROW, THE VERB and the radio documentary INVISIBLE MAN: PARABLE FOR OUR TIMES?, marking 70 years since the publication of Ralph Ellison's iconic novel. Rommi is poet-in-residence for the WORDSWORTH TRUST, Grasmere. www.rommi-smith.co.uk Twitter: @rommismith Soundcloud: RommiSmith Instagram: Rommi Smith Writer and reader Rommi Smith Sound designer Paul Cargill Producers Polly Thomas and Yusra Warsama Exec producer Eloise Whitmore Photographic Image by Lizzie Coombes A Naked Production for BBC Radio 3

The Essay
Vaughan Williams - Clare Shaw

The Essay

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 10, 2022 13:44


Five writers and artists not normally associated with classical music, discuss a specific example of Vaughan Williams's work to which they have a personal connection, and why it speaks to them. Following on from the successful Five Kinds of Beethoven Radio 3 essay series in 2020, where a wide range of Beethoven fans shared their personal relationship to the composer and his work, this new series gives similar treatment to Vaughan Williams. Our essayists share their unexpected perspective on Vaughan Williams's work, taking it outside the standard ‘English pastoral' box, in a series of accessible essays, part of the Vaughan Williams season on Radio 3. Essay 1: Clare Shaw – poet/dramatist Clare considers the role that Vaughan Williams' setting to music of the Welsh hymn Rhosymedre has played in their life. They first played it as a teenager on the viola, for the Burnley Youth Orchestra. It symbolised an expression of beauty, love and hope, a sense of voice and connection to place and possibility... It is also that rare moment in music where the viola gets to carry the melody. Then, in Clare's fifties, when their mother (a cellist) died, the piece became a conduit for overwhelming grief, a way of holding the horrific and sublime experience of being present at the moment of death. Clare came home after their mother had died and played Rhosymedre, then wrote this poem about her and the music. Clare Shaw is a poet and performer, tutor and trainer. They have four poetry collections from Bloodaxe: Straight Ahead (2006), Head On (2012), Flood (2018) and Towards a General Theory of Love (2022). Clare is a regular tutor with a range of literary organisations - including the Poetry School, the Wordsworth Trust and the Arvon Foundation - delivering creative writing courses, workshops and mentoring sessions in a variety of different settings, with individuals at all levels of ability, confidence and experience. They work with the Royal Literary Fund and the Writing Project, supporting the development of writing skills in academic settings and workplaces. Clare is the co-director of the Kendal Poetry Festival - and involved in a range of innovative projects with artists and practitioners in other disciplines, including psychology, visual arts and music. Clare is also a mental health educator. All their work is underpinned by a deep faith in language: words have the power to harm and help us, and powerful language can transform us as individuals, communities and societies. Writer and reader Clare Shaw Sound designer Paul Cargill Producers Polly Thomas and Yusra Warsama Exec producer Eloise Whitmore A Naked Production for BBC Radio 3

Classical Breakdown
By Listener Request: 3 deep dives into works by Pachelbel, Liszt, and Vaughan Williams

Classical Breakdown

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 4, 2022 39:45 Transcription Available


Coming to you from our email inbox, here's an episode of music requested by you the listener! These three works are iconic, but leave your preconceived notions at the door and prepare to hear them in a new way. Plus, we also do a little Q&A at the end of the show. Support Classical Breakdown: https://weta.org/donatefmSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Composers Datebook
Hymnus Paradisi by Herbert Howells

Composers Datebook

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 7, 2022 2:00


Synopsis “The Three Choirs Festival” is one of England's oldest musical traditions. Established around 1715, it showcases the cathedral choirs of Gloucester, Worcester, and Herford, and presents both choral and orchestral works by British composers Vaughan Williams' “Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis” was premiered there in 1910, and in the audience was an 18-year-old aspiring composer named Herbert Howells, who later would relate how Vaughan Williams had sat next to him for the remainder of the concert and shared his score of Elgar's “The Dream of Gerontius” with him. Howells studied music at Gloucester Cathedral before heading off to London and the Royal College of Music. He also got married and had two children. In 1935, his 9-year-old son Michael contracted polio and died three days later. The grief-stricken Howells began composing a memorial work as private therapy, choral sketches he considered too painful to complete and too personal to have performed. But in 1950 Howells was asked for a new work to be premiered at Three Choirs Festival, and, at the urging of Vaughan Williams and others who had seen Howell's private sketches, Howells completed a work he titled “Hymnus Paradisi,” and led the premiere himself on September 7, 1950, one day after the 15th anniversary of his son's death. Music Played in Today's Program Herbert Howells (1892-1983) –Hymnus Paradisi (Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra; Vernon Handley, cond.) Hyperion 66448

Arts & Ideas
The Tudor Mind

Arts & Ideas

Play Episode Listen Later May 25, 2022 44:58


Royal Trumpeter John Blanke's image is on show alongside portraits of the Tudor monarchy in an exhibition opening at the Walker Gallery in Liverpool. Blanke is the only black Tudor for whom we have an identifiable picture, painted on horseback in the royal retinue. New Generation Thinker Christina Faraday has been looking at these and other Tudor artworks. She joins Helen Hackett, author of The Elizabethan Mind and music historian Eleanor Chan for a discussion chaired by New Generation Thinker John Gallagher. And what aspects of the Tudor mind do we see at work in the next generation writing of John Donne? Biographer Katherine Rundell has the answers. The Tudors: Passion, Power and Politics runs at Liverpool's Walker Gallery 21 May 2022—29 Aug 2022 John Gallagher is Associate Professor of Early Modern History at the University of Leeds and the author of Learning Languages in Early Modern England Christina Faraday is a Research Fellow at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, where she is working on a project exploring Elizabethan art and music. Professor Helen Hackett teaches at University College London and her book The Elizabethan Mind is out now. Katherine Rundell's biography of John Donne is called Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne Eleanor Chan is a BBC/AHRC New Generation Thinker who studies the links between music and art history. She's based at the University of Manchester. You can find a host of programmes about Vaughan Williams on Radio 3 and BBC Sounds broadcasting this May. His Tudor Portraits are being performed by the Britten Sinfonia and Norwich Philharmonic Chorus at the Norfolk and Norwich Festival on Sunday 29 MAY, 7.30PM at St Andrews and Blackfriars Hall. Producer: Luke Mulhall