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Wednesday - Rob Cowan with Samantha Bond

With Rob Cowan. My Favourite Gypsy-Style Showpieces; Music in Time: Schutz: Nun Danket alle Gott; Artists of the Week: Staatskapelle Dresden, featured in Elgar's Symphony No 1.

9am
My favourite... Gypsy-style showpieces
Gypsy music has inspired generations of composers to write some of their fieriest and most appealing lighter, and sometimes not-so-light, music. Rob's selection ranges from authentic gypsy tunes played by the great Romanian violinist Grigoras Dinicu (and an Enescu Rhapsody that was inspired by them) to Brahms Zigeunerlieder and Strauss's effervescent Gypsy Baron overture.

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

10am
Rob's guest is the celebrated actress Samantha Bond, one of our most versatile actresses. Born into an acting family, her great uncle was a music hall performer and her father was in The Onedin Line, Samantha is famous for her appearances as Lady Rosalind Painswick in the worldwide hit Downton Abbey and the role of Auntie Angela in the comedy series Outnumbered. Her notable stage and screen appearances also include Juliet in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet with Kenneth Branagh, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels with Robert Lindsay, and Miss Moneypenny to Pierce Brosnan's James Bond. Through the week, Samantha shares her favourite pieces of classical music with Rob.

10.30am
Music in Time: Baroque
Rob places Music in Time. On the day Staatskapelle Dresden arrives at the Proms, Rob travels back to the early years of this venerable orchestra, with music by one of its first directors: Heinrich Schütz. His third volume of Symphoniae Sacrae was published in Dresden in 1650, at the end of the Thirty Years' War, and Schütz celebrated in grand style with works such as his magnificent "Nun Danket alle Gott".

11am
Artist of the Week: Staatskapelle Dresden
The Staatskapelle Dresden visits the Proms this week with Principal Conductor Christian Thielemann. With a roll-call of past directors that has included Schütz, Weber and Wagner, the orchestra is one of Europe's musical glories, its sound warm yet transparent, full-bodied and dynamic. Rob chooses a diverse and distinctive roster of recordings from Vittorio Negri in Vivaldi to Herbert Blomstedt in Beethoven and Otmar Suitner in Tchaikovsky.

Elgar
Symphony No. 1 in A flat major, Op.55
Staatskapelle Dresden
Sir Colin Davis (conductor).

3 hours

Music Played

  • François Couperin

    Dance Suite from harpsichord pieces by Couperin (Tourbillon)

    Orchestrator: Richard Strauss. Orchestra: Staatskapelle Dresden. Conductor: Rudolf Kempe.
    • EMI.
  • MY FAVOURITE...GYPSY-STYLE SHOWPIECES

    • Grigoras Dinicu

      Sarba Pompierilor

      • SYMPOSIUM.
  • George Enescu

    Romanian Rhapsody No.2 in D major

    Orchestra: Czech Philharmonic. Conductor: Constantin Silvestri.
    • SUPRAPHON.
  • Gabriel Fauré

    Nocturne no. 6 in D flat major Op.63

    Performer: Kathryn Stott.
    • HYPERION.
  • Leos Janáček

    Celandensky (Lachian Dances)

    Orchestra: London Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: François Huybrechts.
    • Decca.
  • Henry Purcell

    In nomine in G minor Z.747

    Ensemble: Fretwork.
    • VIRGIN CLASSICS.
  • Peter Maxwell Davies

    Seven In Nomine: V. In Nomine canon in 6 parts

    Ensemble: Aquarius. Conductor: Nicholas Cleobury.
    • NAXOS.
  • Ferenc Farkas

    Ancient Hungarian Dances

    Performer: Harmoniemusik.
    • CLASSICAL RECORDING COMPANY.
  • John Dowland

    Flow, my tears

    Performer: Elizabeth Kenny. Singer: Mark Padmore.
    • HYPERION.
  • Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck

    Paduana Lachrymae

    Performer: Robert Woolley.
    • CHANDOS.
  • SAMANTHA BOND'S CHOICE NO.1

    • Peter Ludwig Hertel

      Clog Dance (La fille mal gardée)

      Music Arranger: John Lanchbery. Orchestra: Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Conductor: John Lanchbery.
      • Herold/Lecocq: La Fille mal gardee: Royal Opera House Orchestra/Lanchbery.
      • Decca.
      • 17.
  • SAMANTHA BOND'S CHOICE NO.2

    • Felix Mendelssohn

      A Midsummer Night's Dream (Overture)

      Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Claudio Abbado.
      • DG.
  • Franz Liszt

    Rigoletto: concert paraphrase

    Performer: Jorge Bolet.
    • Decca.
  • MUSIC IN TIME: BAROQUE

    • Heinrich Schütz

      Symphoniae Sacrae III: Der Herr ist mein Hirt, SWV398

      Choir: Cantus Cölln. Orchestra: Concerto Palatino. Director: Konrad Junghänel.
      • HARMONIA MUNDI.
  • Heinrich Schütz

    Symphoniae Sacrae III: Mein Sohn, warum hast Du uns das getan, SWV401

    Choir: Cantus Cölln. Orchestra: Concerto Palatino. Director: Konrad Junghänel.
    • HARMONIA MUNDI.
  • Heinrich Schütz

    Symphoniae Sacrae III: Saul, Saul, was verfolgst du mich, SWV415

    Choir: Cantus Cölln. Orchestra: Concerto Palatino. Director: Konrad Junghänel.
    • HARMONIA MUNDI.
  • Heinrich Schütz

    Symphoniae Sacrae III: Nun danket alle Gott, SWV418

    Choir: Cantus Cölln. Orchestra: Concerto Palatino. Director: Konrad Junghänel.
    • HARMONIA MUNDI.
  • Scott Joplin

    The Entertainer

    Music Arranger: Itzhak Perlman. Performer: Itzhak Perlman. Performer: André Previn.
    • Scott Joplin: The Easy Winners: Previn, Perlman.
    • EMI.
    • 6.
  • ARTIST OF THE WEEK: STAATSKAPELLE DRESDEN

    • Edward Elgar

      Symphony No.1 in A flat major, Op.55

      Orchestra: Staatskapelle Dresden. Conductor: Colin Davis.
      • PROFIL.
  • Max Reger

    12 Pieces for organ (Op.59), no.5; Toccata

    Performer: Viktor Lukas.
    • Grandes Toccatas For Organ.
    • EMI Classics.
    • 14.

By Association

Answer: Sweelinck and Dowland

The music played:

Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck 
Paduana Lachrymae 
Robert Woolley (virginal) 
CHANDOS

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