Thursday 15 September at 8pm … in The World Of A Symphony, programmer David Brett continues our series celebrating the 150th anniversary of the birth of Vaughan Williams. This week, he focuses on the composer’s Symphony no 3. Its subtitle, Pastoral, is perhaps ironic, since it confronts the horrors of the First World War, in which Vaughan Williams had served as an ambulance orderly. Items by Ravel, Herbert Howells and Cecil Coles also attest to the shadow of war. Click on the banner at top of this page to see the full Anniversary Schedule. You can even Listen On Demand to any program you might have missed!
Friday 16 September at 10pm … in Baroque And Before, programmer Elaine Siversen commemorates the 250th anniversary of the death of Jean-Joseph de Mondonville. He was a violinist, composer and near-contemporary of Rameau who was involved with both the Chapelle royale and the Concert Spirituel.
Wednesday 21 September at 10:30pm … in Music Of The Night, programmer James Nightingale has selected music from the 20th and 21st centuries, ranging from Roussel’s symphonic prelude Résurrection, inspired by Tolstoy’s final novel, to Katy Abbott’s composition for percussion duo and cello, The empty quarter, evocative of the desert regions of the Arabian Peninsula.