150. Nine is the magic number! Farrenc, Nonet
By turns grand and genial with moments of great inventiveness and wit, Louise Farrenc’s Nonet for wind and strings is a bit of magic!
Listening time 37 mins (podcast 7′, music 30′)… Listen
103. Tis the season for watching box sets: Wiseman: Wolf Hall
One of my favourite things on TV in recent years has been Wolf Hall. Debbie Wiseman’s haunting and memorable music brilliantly captures all the tension, mood and atmosphere. [25 mins]… Listen
97. Shake it off and get transcendent! Adams, Shaker Loops
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
33: Summer! All paddling pools and ice-cream?
…Not for Vivaldi. His Summer is all oppressive heat, flies and sudden storms; brilliantly realised in music that’s short, intense and too hot to handle: Music here: (ending at 46’20” – it’s a performance of the complete Four Seasons) or … Listen
Lockdown Music 21: The Original Greatest Showman’s Half-time Show – Handel’s Concerto Grosso No 6
The composer Handel knew what the people wanted – and it was normally more Handel. Here’s a piece written to go in the interval of a Handel show! Emotional, passionate, invigorating. Intro: Music here: And here: Total listen time 20′