141. Songs from a disappearing world: Vaughan Williams, Norfolk Rhapsody
Haunting and melancholy music from my hometown, Vaughan Williams's Norfolk Rhapsody No.1 features the old songs of fisherman and the last days of a way of life. Like the local landscape it's bleak but...
20 Mar 20237min
140. Hidden pigeons & dancing farmers: Kaprálová, Rustic Suite
Packed with memorable Czech songs about pigeons, nightingales, love, life and unploughed fields, Vítěslava Kaprálová's Rustic Suite mixes countryside charm with the confident orchestral swagger of a 2...
10 Mar 20235min
139. Escaping to a happier place: Tailleferre, Little Suite
Small but perfectly formed, Germaine Tailleferre's Little Suite is seven minutes of innocent delight from a composer looking to escape from the trials of a difficult life. It may be short, but it's pa...
2 Mar 20237min
138. Ballet music that packs a punch: Stravinsky, Petrushka
It's a riot of colour at the carnival in Stravinsky's wonderful ballet, Petrushka, with dancing (of course), puppets, romance (kind of), fighting, and a wild bear. It's got everything - even a French ...
20 Feb 202313min
137. I must go down to the sea again: Debussy, La Mer
Who doesn't love gazing at the sea? It's something that brings out the meditative in all of us as we stare at it and think deep thoughts. Claude Debussy didn't want us to think too hard - just to list...
10 Feb 202310min
136. Where the walls of heaven are thin as a curtain: Simon Clark on Talbot, Path of Miracles
An epic and spiritual adventure for choir, Joby Talbot's Path of Miracles captures the hope, the expectation and the moments of overwhelm (both positive and negative) of travellers on the ancient and ...
30 Jan 202324min
135. Uplifting melancholy and passionate languor: Granados, Spanish Dances
Music that seems to conjure all the tastes, smells and senses of Spain - or my expectations of them (as someone who's hardly been there): Spanish dances for piano by Enrique Granados. Perfect music if...
20 Jan 202311min
Not the World Cup of (largely) classical music: revisited! Highlights and talking points
Not the World Cup was a "glorious celebration of classical and world music" that ran alongside a small men's football competition in late 2022. Each team in each game of the football was represented b...
14 Jan 202341min
