Main content
Sorry, this episode is not currently available

Wednesday - Sarah Walker with Gyles Brandreth

With Sarah Walker. Including My Favourite Viola Pieces; Max Richter's recomposed version of Vivaldi's Winter; Artist of the Week: Alfred Brendel in Haydn's Piano Sonata in C minor.

9am
My favourite... viola pieces. Viola player Cecil Aronowitz, who co-founded the Melos Ensemble and was a preferred extra with the Amadeus Quartet, was born one hundred years ago this week. To celebrate his anniversary Sarah chooses a selection of her favourite short pieces for Aronowitz's somewhat overlooked, even mocked, instrument, including works by Rebecca Clarke, Debussy, Strauss and Bach.

9.30am
Take part in our daily musical challenge: Two pieces of music are played together. Can you identify them?

10am
Sarah's guest is Gyles Brandreth, the once MP and Government whip whose way with words makes him much in demand on television and radio, with appearances on everything from Countdown to Just a Minute. Gyles reminisces about meeting Yehudi Menuhin, and muses on the secrets of happiness and having fun, while choosing music by Liszt, Verdi, Janacek and Handel, every day at 10am.

10:30
Sarah places Music in Time. Sarah explores Max Richter's modern, recomposed version of Vivaldi's Winter - a collaboration across the centuries.

11am
Sarah's Artist of the Week is the world renowned pianist Alfred Brendel whose performances of Haydn, Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven and Liszt set the benchmark for interpretations of intelligence and authority. Sarah's outings of his top recordings complement Friday's 91热爆 4 documentary Perfect Pianists, a journey through 60 years of 91热爆 archive that showcases some the greatest names in the history of the piano - including Brendel.

Haydn
Piano Sonata in C minor sonata, No.33, Hob XVI:20
Alfred Brendel (piano).

3 hours

Music Played

  • Max Richter

    Autumn 3 (The Four Seasons)

    Composer: Antonio Vivaldi. Performer: Daniel Hope. Performer: Raphael Alpermann. Orchestra: Konzerthaus Kammerorchester Berlin. Conductor: Andr茅 de Ridder.
    • DG.
  • Domenico Scarlatti

    Sonata in G major, K 260

    Performer: Anne Queff茅lec.
    • MIRARE.
  • Giuseppe Verdi

    Prelude to Act III (I lombardi alla prima crociata)

    Performer: Luca Santaniello. Orchestra: Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi. Conductor: Riccardo Chailly.
    • DECCA.
  • My favourite... viola pieces

    • Claude Debussy

      Sonata for flute, viola and harp

      Performer: Aur猫le Nicolet. Performer: Nobuko Imai. Performer: Naoko Yoshino.
      • PHILIPS.
  • Robert White

    Christe qui lux es et dies IV

    Choir: Choir of Jesus College, Cambridge. Director: Mark Williams.
    • SIGNUM.
  • Antonio Rosetti

    Horn Concerto in E major,

    Performer: Sarah Willis. Orchestra: Kurpfalzisches Kammerorchester. Conductor: Johannes Moesus.
    • CPO.
  • Benjamin Britten

    Old Abram Brown (Friday Afternoons)

    Performer: Viola Tunnard. Choir: Choir of Downside School, Purley. Conductor: Benjamin Britten.
    • LONDON.
  • Gyles Brandreth's Choice No.1

    • Franz Liszt

      Transcendental Study in B flat minor, 'Snow Drift'

      Performer: Alice Sara Ott.
      • DG.
  • Gyles Brandreth's Choice No. 2

    • Giuseppe Verdi

      'Ritorna vincitor' (Aida, Act 1 Scene 1)

      Singer: Rita Hunter. Orchestra: Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Dobbs Franks.
      • ABC CLASSICS.
  • Gyles Brandreth's Choice No. 3

    • Richard Strauss

      Am Spieltisch, Op.72 no.3

      Orchestra: Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Franz Welser鈥怣枚st.
      • BR KLASSIK.
  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    11 Bagatelles for piano (Op.119), no.9 in A minor;

    Performer: Alfred Brendel.
    • Beethoven: Alfred Brendel plays, vol.4.
    • Vox Box.
    • 43.
  • Music in Time: Modern

    • Antonio Vivaldi

      Winter 2 (The Four Seasons)

      Composer: Max Richter. Performer: Daniel Hope. Performer: Raphael Alpermann. Orchestra: Konzerthaus Kammerorchester Berlin. Conductor: Andr茅 de Ridder.
      • DG.
  • Georges Ivanovitch Gurdjieff

    Duduki

    Performer: Anja Lechner. Performer: Vassilis Tsabropoulos.
    • ECM.
  • Aram Khachaturian

    Gayaneh (excerpt)

    Orchestra: Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Kirill Karabits.
    • ONYX.
  • Artist of the Week: Alfred Brendel

    • Joseph Haydn

      Piano Sonata in C minor, Hob.XVI:20

  • Heitor Villa鈥怢obos

    5 Preludes (no.1 in E minor)

    Performer: Carlos Bonell.
    • The Private Collection: Carlos Bonell.
    • Upbeat Classics.
  • Richard Strauss

    Four Last Songs

    Singer: Lucia Popp. Conductor: Klaus Tennstedt. Orchestra: London Philharmonic Orchestra.
    • R.Strauss: Vier Letzte Lider, etc.: Popp,Tennstedt.
    • EMI Classics.
    • 1.

Imperfect Harmony

The music played:

Britten
Old Abram Brown (Friday Afternoons)
New London Children鈥檚 Choir
Alexander Wells (piano)
Ronald Corp (conductor)
NAXOS

Mahler
Nachtmusik I (Symphony No.7)
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Bernard Haitink (conductor)
PHILIPS

Broadcast

  • Wed 2 Mar 2016 09:00

Our Classical Century

Our Classical Century

Radio 3 explores 100 key musical moments that shaped us, from 1918 to the present day.

Time Travellers: the podcast

Time Travellers: the podcast

Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough presents quirky tales gathered from the corners of history.