A few years back my Mum got me to buy her this for Christmas and I’ve finally got around to ‘discovering’ it for myself. It’s powerful, intense and profound, Schubert’s Fantasy for piano duet. I think you’ll love it. [Listening time 25 mins)… Listen
A bold statement from composer Carl Nielsen, that music IS life, who demonstrates it with a breathtaking symphony of awesome power and overwhelming optimism. The perfect piece for Cacophony’s 100th episode. (50 mins)… Listen
For ep99, I wanted to explore something deeply personal. Mahler’s Symphony No.4 is one of the first pieces I discovered for myself and it moves me like very little else. Sometimes pained, sometimes playful, but most often sublime, the third movement takes you all the way to heaven, just by opening your heart. Listening time 33 mins … Listen
It’s inexplicable to me, but Anton Bruckner’s music has been dividing opinion since he started writing it 140 or so years ago. He goes in search of the meaning of life and comes back with… Marmite! Personally, I love it. There are few better noises than the transcendental climax of a Bruckner symphony. In this episode, it’s the thrilling end of his 3rd. (Listening time 20 mins)… Listen
One of the closest [classical] things to electronic dance music, John Adams’s Shaker Loops is one of my favourite things. Dreamy and reflective music mixed with thrilling dance music that leaves us ecstatic, maybe even transcendent! Listening time 32 mins (Podcast 7, Music 25′)… Listen
Asked to write funeral music for his friend and patron during the middle of a war, with millions dying all around plus a shortage of musicians, Heinrich Schütz finds hope, beauty and joy among the devastation. His Musikalische Exequien (Funeral Music) is a 400-year old masterpiece that still works its magic. 39 mins (Podcast 11′, music 28′)… Listen
This is a new discovery for me – and it’s deeply wonderful: Beethoven’s late string quartet song of thanks. Written as he recovered from severe illness, it’s music that heals and restores our mind and soul. [31 mins]… Listen
When Tristan & Isolde take a magic love potion it’s not exactly happy ever after. Love wins in the end, it’s just they’re both dead. Passionate, overwhelming, transformative music from Richard Wagner sends them on their way and leaves us all in a state of transcendent bliss. Listening time 30 mins… Listen
Punchy, gut-churning and wow-inducing: Miserere by Scottish composer James MacMillan reflects deep religious faith and 1000 years of church music tradition, with music to move all of us, regardless of belief. (Listening time 16 mins)… Listen