Composer of the Week

This week, Donald Macleod explores the life and music of Aaron Copland, one of the most distinctive voices in 20th-century American music. From his Brooklyn childhood and formative studies in Paris to his return home with bold new ideas, Copland’s career charts a path through modernism, jazz, and the search for an unmistakably American sound. We hear music that captures the spirit of a nation – from Billy the Kid and Lincoln Portrait to his Fanfare for the Common Man, before he made the move from composer to conductor.

Music featured includes:
4 Dance Episodes from Rodeo: iv. Hoe Down
Two Preludes for violin and piano
Four Early Songs: i. Night; ii. A Summer Vacation; iii. My Heart is in the East; iv. Alone
Four Motets: iii. Have Mercy on Us, O My Lord
Three Moods: i. Embittered; ii. Wistful; iii. Jazzy
Symphony for Organ and Orchestra: ii. Scherzo; iii. Finale: Lento
The Cat and the Mouse
Old Poem; Pastorale
Music for the Theater: i. Prologue; ii. Dance
Piano Concerto
Vitebsk (trio for violin, cello and piano)
Hear Ye! Hear Ye! – ballet in one act: Scene i (Prelude)
Piano Variations
Short Symphony (Symphony No. 2): i. Incisivo; ii. Espressivo; iii. Presto e ritmico
El Salón México
Billy the Kid Suite: i. Introduction: The Open Prairie; ii. Street in a Frontier Town; iii. Mexican Dance and Finale
Letter from Home
Appalachian Spring Suite: v. Solo Dance; vi. Meno mosso; vii. Variation on a Shaker Hymn
Clarinet Concerto
Lincoln Portrait
Fanfare for the Common Man
Two Pieces for String Quartet: No. 2. Allegro Moderato
Piano Quartet: iii. Non troppo lento
Music for a Great City: i. Skyline
Presented by Donald Macleod
Produced by Elizabeth Ajao for BBC Audio Wales & West
For 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 Aaron Copland (1900-1990): https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002p75g
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

Donald Macleod visits the home of Jane Austen with historian Amanda Vickery to discover some of the seasonal customs and Christmas music of late-Georgian Britain.
Music featured:
Thomas Clark: While Shepherds Watched
William Matthews: How beauteous are their feet
Anon: The Holly and the Ivy
Viotti: Violin Concerto No 13 in A Major
Handel: Messiah
Cimarosa: L'Olimpiade: Sinfonia
Thomas Wilson: Wellington's Triumph
Thomas Straight: Trip to Vauxhall, Sailor Laddie
Weber (orch Berlioz): Aufforderung zum Tanz
Trad (arr. Townsend): Arise and Hail the Joyful Day
Trad.: Awake, and join the cheerful choir
Attrib. Wade (arr. Vincent Novello): O come, all ye faithful
Arr. Thomas Butts: Hark! how all the welkin rings
Attwood: O God, Who by the Leading of a Star
Mendelssohn: The Evening Bell
Jarman: There were shepherds abiding
John Wainwright: Christians, awake, salute the happy morn
Pleyel: Symphony No.12 in E flat
Kalmar Wesley: Rondo on God Rest You Merry Gentlemen
Trad: The First Nowell
Anon: Remember The Poor
John Hill: The people that walked in darkness
Richard Charke: Harlequin Restor'd
John Frederick Lampe: The Dragon of Wantley, Overture
Presented by Donald Macleod
Produced by Chris Taylor for BBC Audio Wales & West
For 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 Georgian Christmas: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0026800
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

This week, Kate Molleson explores the life and music of Sergey Prokofiev – a composer whose imagination shaped some of the most vivid music of the 20th century. From childhood stories in rural Ukraine to bold experiments at the St Petersburg Conservatory, from revolutionary Russia to the bright lights of New York, and finally to his dramatic homecoming, Prokofiev’s journey is full of ambition, upheaval and colour. We hear music that tells tales – fairytales, fantasies and fragments of real life – revealing a composer who never stopped dreaming.
Troika (from Lieutenant Kijé Suite, Op. 60)
Cinderella Suite, Op. 87
The Winter Bonfire, Op. 122: IV–VIII
Music for Children, Op. 65: Nos. 1–9
Peter and the Wolf, Op. 67
Four Études, Op. 2
Autumnal Sketch
Piano Concerto No. 1 in D flat major, Op. 10
The Ugly Duckling, Op. 18
Cinderella Suite No. 1, Op. 107: IV. Fairy Godmother and Winter Fairy
Symphony No. 1 in D major, Op. 25 'Classical'
Seven, They Are Seven, Op. 30
Scythian Suite, Op. 20: I–II
Old Grandmother’s Tales, Op. 31: Nos. 1–4
Overture on Hebrew Themes
The Love of Three Oranges: Suite
Five Songs Without Words
Violin Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 63: II. Andante assai
Le Pas d’acier Suite, Op 41a: I, II
The Prodigal Son, Op. 46, Scene 1: IV–VIII
Romeo and Juliet: Dance of the Knights
Presented by Kate Molleson
Produced by Ellie Ajao for BBC Audio Wales & West
For 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 Sergey Prokofiev (1891-1953) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002n9nv
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

This week, Donald Macleod visits Sir John Rutter at his Cambridgeshire home to celebrate his 80th birthday and explore the twists and turns of his extraordinary career. One of the most influential choral composers of the 20th and 21st centuries – and for many, the sound of Christmas – Rutter is also an international conductor, arranger, editor and producer, describing himself as a musical “magpie.” Across the week, we hear hallmark carols alongside music shaped by his life’s milestones: from childhood in London and formative years in Cambridge, to his long association with America, his response to personal tragedy, and his latest creative ventures.
Music featured:
Nativity Carol
4 Orchestral Miniatures: Dance to Your Daddy
London Town: A Choral Celebration
Shepherd’s Pipe Carol
The Lord Bless You and Keep You
Visions
Cityscapes: Flower of Cities All
Banquet Fugue (from The Reluctant Dragon)
A Clare Benediction
Reflections: Prelude
What Sweeter Music
Wind in the Willows (Extract – Opening)
Somerset Wassail
Candlelight Carol
I’ll Make Me a World
Gloria
Cityscapes: Big Apple
Ev’ry Time I Feel the Spirit
Lord Make me an Instrument (arr. for orchestra)
Requiem: Lux Aeterna
Mass of the Children: Sanctus and Benedictus
The Gift of Life: The Gift of Each Day
There is a flower
When Icicles Hang: Good Ale
Bird Songs: If I were an Owl
Dancing Tree (In My Garden)
Celebration Overture
All the Stars Looked Down
Carol of the Magi
Presented by Donald Macleod.
Produced by Amelia Parker for BBC Audio Wales & West.
For 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 John Rutter (b 1945) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002mk0y.
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.

This week, Kate Molleson explores the life and work of a musical giant – drummer and composer Max Roach – in the company of writer and broadcaster Kevin Le Gendre. Together they trace Roach’s extraordinary journey: from his early days at the heart of bebop alongside Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker, through his pioneering role as a bandleader, his political activism during the civil rights era, and his later innovations in percussion and collaboration. Roach’s story is one of constant reinvention as performer, composer and activist, shaping jazz and beyond for more than half a century.
Music includes:
Dr Free-Zee (from Max Roach +4)
Joy Spring (from Clifford Brown and Max Roach)
Bu Dee Daht (from Coleman Hawkins: Rainbow Mist)
Salt Peanuts (from Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker: Town Hall, New York City, June 22, 1945)
Ko-Ko (from Charlie Parker: The Complete Savoy and Dial Master Takes)
Bird Gets the Worm (from Charlie Parker: The Complete Savoy and Dial Master Takes)
Move (from Miles Davis: The Complete Birth of the Cool)
Cherokee (from Jazz at Massey Hall)
Cou Manchi-Cou (from Max Roach Quartet, featuring Hank Mobley)
Maximum (from In the Beginning)
Daahoud (from Clifford Brown and Max Roach)
Sandu (from Study in Brown)
Take the A Train (from Study in Brown)
Fleurette Africain (from Money Jungle)
Driva’man (from We Insist! Max Roach’s Freedom Now Suite)
Freedom Day (from We Insist! Max Roach’s Freedom Now Suite)
Garvey’s Ghost (from Percussion Bitter Sweet)
Lonesome Lover (from It’s Time: Max Roach, his Chorus and Orchestra)
The Drum Also Waltzes (from Drums Unlimited)
Libra (from Members Don’t Git Weary)
Let Thy People Go (from Lift Every Voice and Sing)
Joshua (from Lift Every Voice and Sing)
A Quiet Place (from Collage)
Double Delight (from Bright Moments)
Spirit Possession (from Birth and Rebirth)
Love is a Many Splendored Thing (from Clifford Brown and Max Roach at Basin Street)

Presented by Kate Molleson.
Produced by Martin Williams for BBC Audio Wales & West.
For 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 Max Roach (1924-2007) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002mb7w.
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.