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Thursday - Rob Cowan with Nitin Sawhney

With Rob Cowan. Including Five Reasons to Love Bach Organ Works; musical challenge; Artist of the Week: cellist Steven Isserlis, featured in Grieg's Cello Sonata in A minor.

9am
Rob presents '5 reasons to love... Bach organ works'. Throughout the week Rob puts Bach's organ works centre stage, showcasing their complexity, and the virtuosity required to perform them. He highlights their flashes of humour, as well as their gravitas and sheer power, plus the way Bach often reinvented pre-existing works. Rob hand-picks recordings by organists including Helmut Walcha, Simon Preston and Ton Koopman.

9.30am
Take part in our daily musical challenge: can you work out which two composers are associated with a particular piece?

10am
Rob's guest this week is Nitin Sawhney. A composer, producer, songwriter, DJ and multi-instrumentalist, Nitin is one of the 91Èȱ¬'s Ambassadors for the new Ten Pieces project. His musical credentials include collaboration with artists from Sir Paul McCartney to The London Symphony Orchestra. As a child Nitin trained as a classical pianist, moving on to classical and flamenco guitar and learning to play sitar and tabla. He has since toured the world with his band, and recorded nine studio albums, winning accolades for his amalgamation of styles including jazz, flamenco, electronica and classical Indian ragas. He has composed for theatre, film, television and video games with credits including writing the BAFTA-winning soundtrack for The Human Planet, scoring ad campaigns for brands such as Yves Saint Laurent and Nike and writing a new score for Alfred Hitchcock's The Lodger. Nitin will be sharing a selection of his favourite classical music with Rob, every day at 10am.

10.30am Ten Pieces
The 91Èȱ¬ has just launched the new Ten Pieces for secondary schools, opening up the world of classical music to children and inspiring them to respond creatively to what they hear. To celebrate this Rob chooses music that complements this exciting selection of works.

11am
Rob's featured artist is the cellist Steven Isserlis. A musician who wears his considerable virtuosity lightly, Isserlis has received worldwide acclaim for his technique, musicianship and command of the instrument. Throughout the week Rob presents recordings by Isserlis including an elegant interpretation of Haydn's Cello Concerto No.1, a lyrical performance of Grieg's Cello Sonata and a rendition of Prokofiev's Cello Concerto that captures the bittersweet language of the work.

Grieg
Cello Sonata in A minor
Steven Isserlis (cello)
Stephen Hough (piano).

3 hours

Music Played

  • Edvard Grieg

    The Brook, Op 62 No 4 (Lyric Pieces)

    Performer: Leif Ove Andsnes.
    • EMI.
  • 5 Reasons to Love... Bach Organ Works

    • Johann Sebastian Bach

      Prelude and Fugue in D major, BWV 532

      Performer: Simon Preston.
      • DG.
  • Fanny Mendelssohn

    Der Rosenkranz, Op 9 No 3

    Performer: Eugene Asti. Singer: Susan Gritton.
    • HYPERION.
  • Zoltán Kodály

    Dances of Marosszek

    Orchestra: Philharmonia Hungarica. Conductor: Antal Doráti.
    • MERCURY LIVING PRESENCE.
  • Pierre Villette

    Hymne à la Vièrge

    Choir: Westminster Cathedral Choir. Conductor: James O’Donnell.
    • HYPERION.
  • Franz Liszt

    Rhapsodie espagnole

    Performer: Evgeny Kissin.
    • RCA.
  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Ricercar a 6 (A Musical Offering BWV.1079)

    Music Arranger: Anton Webern. Orchestra: Berliner Philharmoniker. Conductor: Pierre Boulez.
    • DG.
  • Nitin Sawhney's Choice No. 1

    • Dmitry Shostakovich

      II. Allegro (Sonata for cello and piano Op.40)

      Performer: Mischa Maisky. Performer: Martha Argerich.
      • WARNER.
  • Nitin Sawhney's Choice No. 2

    • Eric Whitacre

      Sleep My Child

      Performer: Eric Whitacre Singers.
      • DECCA.
  • Nitin Sawhney's Choice No. 3

    • Igor Stravinsky

      The Rite of Spring (Part 2: Sacrifical Dance)

      Conductor: Pierre Boulez. Orchestra: The Cleveland Orchestra.
      • 111 Years of Deutsche Grammophon.
      • Deutsche Grammophon.
      • 16.
  • Julius Fucik

    Der alte Brummbär

    Performer: Alan Pendlebury. Orchestra: Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Libor Pešek.
    • The Moldau: RLPO/Libor Pesek.
    • Virgin Classics.
    • 11.
  • Claude Debussy

    3 Preludes - Book 1 nos 11, 3 and 8 – La danse de Puck; Le vent dans la plaine; La fille aux cheveux de lin

    Orchestrator: Colin Matthews. Orchestra: Halle. Conductor: Sir Mark Elder.
    • HALLE.
  • Edward Elgar

    Cockaigne (In London Town), Op. 40

    Orchestra: Hallé. Conductor: Sir Mark Elder.
    • Halle.
  • Artist of the Week: Steven Isserlis

    • Edvard Grieg

      Cello Sonata in A minor, Op 36

      Performer: Steven Isserlis. Performer: Sir Stephen Hough.
      • HYPERION.
  • Alessandro Scarlatti

    Salve Regina 1

    Singer: Véronique Gens. Singer: Gérard Lesne. Ensemble: Il Seminario Musicale.
    • Ombra Mai Fu: Gerard Lesne.
    • Virgin Classics.
    • 8.
  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    String Quartet in B flat major, Op. 18 No. 6

    Ensemble: Jerusalem Quartet.
    • HARMONIA MUNDI.

By Association

Answer: Bach and Webern

The music played:

Bach orch. Webern
Musical Offering, BWV1079 – Fuga (Ricercata) a 6 voci
Berlin Philharmonic
Pierre Boulez (conductor)
DG

Broadcast

  • Thu 1 Oct 2015 09:00

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