William Walton (1902-1983)

Donald Macleod surveys the life and music of Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-KorsakovThis week, Donald Macleod traverses the dramatic and vivid musical landscapes of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov: a vital, ...

24 Maj 202448min

Kate Molleson sets out so show us why Elizabeth Maconchy deserves much more of our attention Elizabeth Maconchy is surely the greatest composer of string quartets ever to emerge in the British Isles; ...

17 Maj 20241h 15min

In 1773, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach sat down to record his life story. He’d been asked to write it down for a new book on German music and it made him one of the first composers to produce an autobiogr...

10 Maj 20241h 3min

Donald Macleod tracks the scandalous life of Achille-Claude DebussyIn the music of Claude Debussy there have been said to run dangerous and destructive currents. His radical works did forge a path whi...

3 Maj 20241h 22min

Donald Macleod explores the key influences and music of Edvard Greig.Donald Macleod looks at the people and places that had a significant impact on Edvard Grieg’s life and work, meeting Norwegian fidd...

19 Apr 20241h 6min

Johannes Brahms, the bearded and magisterial Romantic composer, could certainly do grandeur when required. But really, he was more interested in what music meant in ordinary life - how it can whisper,...

12 Apr 20241h 9min

Donald Macleod follows Mozart and his family on an ambitious European adventure.When Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was just seven years old, he and his family set out on an epic journey. Their goal: to trav...

5 Apr 20241h 5min

Donald Macleod explores the life and music of Charles Villiers Stanford. With Jeremy DibbleMarking the centenary of his death, Composer of the Week explores the remarkable life and music of Sir Charle...

29 Mars 20241h 25min