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Wednesday - Rob Cowan with Andrew Motion

With Rob Cowan. Including Essential CD of the Week: Simpson: The Monthes - Sonnerie; Artist of the Week: Malcolm Sargent; Rob's Essential Choice: Brahms: Piano Concerto No 1.

with Rob Cowan and his guest, the poet Andrew Motion.

9am
A selection of music, including the Essential CD of the Week: Simpson: The Monthes - Sonnerie, VIRGIN VERITAS. We also have our daily brainteaser at 9.30.

10am
Artist of the Week: Malcolm Sargent.

10.30am
Rob's guest this week is the former Poet Laureate, Andrew Motion. Upon taking up the post of Poet Laureate in 1999, Andrew said he wanted to write poems related to commissions he received. Subsequently, he wrote about homelessness for the Salvation Army, bullying for ChildLine, and climate change for a song cycle by Peter Maxwell Davies. As laureate, he also founded the Poetry Archive, an online library with recordings of poets reciting their own work. In 2003, Andrew became Professor of Creative Writing at Royal Holloway, University of London, and since 2009 he has been Chairman of the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council. He has been the jury chair for the Man Booker Prize, and has won numerous awards himself, including the Arvon Prize, and the Whitbread Prize for Biography. Andrew was knighted in the 2009 Queen's Birthday Honours list. He is currently President of the Campaign to Protect Rural England.

11am
Rob's Essential Choice
Brahms
Piano Concerto No 1 in D minor, Op 15
Leon Fleisher (piano)
Cleveland Orchestra
George Szell (conductor).

3 hours

Music Played

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Sinfonia 6, BWV 792

    Performer: David Russell.
    • Telarc.
  • Engelbert Humperdinck

    Königskinder - Concert Overture

    Orchestra: Bamberg Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Karl Anton Rickenbacher.
    • Virgin.
  • Christopher Simpson

    October, November, December (from 'The Monthes')

    Ensemble: Sonnerie.
    • Virgin Veritas.
  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Rondino in E flat major, WoO 25

    Ensemble: Consortium Classicum.
    • CPO.
  • anon

    Puzzle

  • Frédéric Chopin

    3 Mazurkas Op.59 (no.2 in A flat major)

    Performer: Maria João Pires.
    • DG.
  • anon

    Puzzle

  • Bedrich Smetana

    From Bohemia's woods and fields (Ma vlast)

    Orchestra: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Malcolm Sargent.
    • Warner.
  • Ralph Vaughan Williams

    Norfolk Rhapsody No.1

    Orchestra: City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Norman Del Mar.
    • EMI.
  • Edward Elgar

    Serenade for strings

    Orchestra: Philharmonia Orchestra. Conductor: Malcolm Sargent.
    • Warner.
  • Antonio Vivaldi

    Concerto in G minor, Op 8 No 2 (Summer)

    Performer: Monica Huggett (violin). Performer: Raglan Baroque Players. Performer: Nicholas Kraemer (director).
    • VIRGIN CLASSICS.
  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Goldberg Variations (Aria and Variation 25)

    Performer: Glenn Gould.
    • Sony.
  • Richard Wagner

    'Allmachtiger Vater' (Rienzi Act V)

    Singer: Jonas Kaufmann. Orchestra: Orchestra of the Deutsche Oper, Berlin. Conductor: Donald Runnicles.
    • Decca.
  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Wir danken dir, Herr Jesu Christ, BWV 623 (from the Orgelbuchlein)

    Performer: Simon Preston (organ).
    • DG.
  • Johannes Brahms

    Piano Concerto No 1 in D minor, Op 15

    Performer: Leon Fleisher. Orchestra: The Cleveland Orchestra. Conductor: George Szell.
    • Sony.
  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Romance in F, Op 50

    Performer: Yehudi Menuhin (violin). Performer: Philharmonia Orchestra. Performer: John Pritchard (conductor).
    • EMI.

Today's Brainteaser Answer - Puzzle

Where exactly am I and what might I be doing? Answer: Bird watching in the Norfolk Fens.

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The music played:

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Vaughan Williams

In the Fen Country (Symphonic Impression)

London Philharmonic Orchestra

Bernard Haitink (conductor)

EMI CDC 556 762 2ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý

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Vaughan Williams

The Lark Ascending

Academy of St Martin in the Fields

Neville Marriner (conductor)

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Vaughan Williams

Norfolk Rhapsody

Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra

Norman del Mar (conductor)

EMI CDM 565131 2ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý

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