Another great, short piece, here’s the first of Joan Tower’s Fanfares celebrating risk-taking and adventurous women. This is both celebratory and substantial, plus a workout for brass and percussion. Listening time 8 mins (podcast 5.5′, music 2.5′)… Listen
Often on the edge, in life and music, Beethoven goes to extremes on the piano to show us the extreme depth of his feelings. His Appassionata Sonata is every bit as intense as its name suggests! Listening time 33 mins (podcast 10′, music 23′)… Listen
Lost for 150 years and then, because it was so good, presumed to have been written by her brother, Fanny Mendelssohn’s Easter Sonata for piano is passionate, intense, lyrical and dramatic… and the story of its rediscovery is no less compelling. Listening time c36 mins… Listen
English folk music is often typically nostalgic and melancholy. Cacophony goes in search of happiness with Malcolm Arnold’s English Dances – pretty, witty and bright! (24mins)… Listen
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 beautiful!
Total listening time 18 mins (podcast 7′, music 11′)… Listen
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 23 year old receiving acclaim in Paris and London. Music full of life and good tunes! Listening time 21mins… Listen
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 packed with memorable tunes and a joyous spirit. Irresistible!
Listening time c14 minutes … Listen
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 listen. In La Mer, he brings The Sea to us wherever we are, in all its beauty and wonder.
Total listening time 36 mins (podcast 11′, music 25′)… Listen
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 still popular pilgrimage trail the Camino de Santiago (Way of St James).
Simon Clark, scientist, author and singer joins me to share his passion for the piece and guide us on a journey of musical and maybe spiritual fulfilment! Listening time: podcast 24 mins, music 62’… Listen