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Donald Macleod speaks to composer Dobrinka Tabakova, who was born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, and moved to the UK at the age of 11.

Continuing 91Èȱ¬ Radio 3's celebration of female composers for International Women's Day, Donald Macleod speaks to five members of a new generation of British composers about their work? As they discuss the issue of women in music from a contemporary perspective. Featuring music by Cheryl Frances-Hoad, Dobrinka Tabakova, Hannah Kendall, Anna Clyne and Charlotte Bray. Join the conversation online by tweeting @bbcradio3 with the hashtag #womensday.

In today's episode, Donald interviews the British-Bulgarian composer Dobrinka Tabakova (1980-), whose music shimmers with "glowing tonal harmonies and grand sweeping gestures", according to the leading magazine The Strad. Born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, before the fall of the Iron Curtain, Dobrinka Tabakova moved to the UK at the age of 11. Her lushly tonal, often highly Romantic music has been praised by figures as eclectic as John Adams, Iannis Xenakis and Alexander Goehr - and questions what it really means to be 'radical' in 2015.

1 hour

Music Played

  • Dobrinka Tabakova

    Concerto For Cello And Strings

    Performer: Kristina Blaumane. Performer: Maxim Rysanov. Orchestra: Lietuvos kamerinis orkestras.
    • ECM: 2239.
    • ECM.
    • 3.
  • Dobrinka Tabakova

    Suite In The Old Style - Riddle of the barrel organ player

    Performer: Maxim Rysanov. Orchestra: Lietuvos kamerinis orkestras.
    • ECM 4764826.
    • ECM.
    • 6.
  • Dobrinka Tabakova

    Alma Redemptoris Mater For Chorus

    Performer: Benjamin Nicholas. Choir: Merton College Oxford Choir.
    • DELPHIAN: DCD34144.
    • DELPHIAN.
    • 9.
  • Dobrinka Tabakova

    Pulse - Film Score For Piano, Percussion And Gamelan

    Performer: Robert Campion. Performer: Richard Benjafield. Performer: Isabelle Carré. Performer: Richard Uttley. Performer: George Banton. Performer: Rolf Hind.
    • NMC: DL201415.
    • NMC.
    • 1.
  • Dobrinka Tabakova

    Such Different Paths For String Septet

    Performer: Amihai Grosz. Performer: Janine Jansen. Performer: Boris Andrianov. Performer: Torleif Thedéen. Performer: Stacy Watton. Performer: Maxim Rysanov. Performer: Julia-Maria Kretz.
    • ECM: 2239.
    • ECM.
    • 9.

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  • Tue 10 Mar 2015 12:00
  • Tue 10 Mar 2015 18:30

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