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Thursday - Rob Cowan with Antony Beevor

With Rob Cowan. Including My Favourite Fugues; Music in Time: Beethoven: Piano Sonata in A, Op 101; Artist of the Week: pianist Clara Haskil, featured in Schumann's Waldszenen.

9am
My favourite... Fugues
This week, Rob explores that ultimate test of a composer's mettle, the fugue - a musical form in which successive entries of the same melody weave together to create a complex contrapuntal fabric. Rob's favourites include fugues by Bach, Mozart, Walton and Shostakovich - plus a rarely-heard vocal one by the pianist Glenn Gould, aptly titled: "So you want to write a fugue?"

9.30am
Take part in today's musical challenge. Two pieces of music are played together: can you identify them?

10am
Rob's guest this week, sharing his favourite classical music every day, is the acclaimed military historian Antony Beevor. Famous for the best-selling histories of World War Two, Stalingrad and Berlin - The Downfall 1945, his works also include Crete: The Battle and the Resistance and The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936-39. Antony studied at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, and went on to serve with the 11th Hussars before becoming a writer, and this week he shares with Rob music including works by Vaughan Williams, Dvorak, Bach and Vivaldi.

10.30am
Music in Time: Classical
Rob places Music in Time. Today the spotlight is on the Classical era and Beethoven's Piano Sonata in A, Op 101, one of a handful of experimental works produced during the 1810s, a period of relative creative hiatus for the composer. Rob describes the sonata as "the Golden Gate that leads to the great 'late' piano sonatas and shares many of their qualities".

11am
Artist of the Week: Clara Haskil
Rob's Artist of the Week is the Romanian pianist Clara Haskil, one of the finest musicians of her generation, who endured a life of great suffering but was adored by a discerning public. Her precious discography has stood the test of time and includes many celebrated recordings - not least, Mozart concertos, heartfelt Schumann, sultry Falla, poetic Chopin, and Beethoven violin sonatas with Arthur Grumiaux, with whom she gave her last concert.

Schumann
Waldszenen, Op 82
Clara Haskil (piano).

3 hours

Music Played

  • Robert Schumann

    Kinderszenen, Op.15 No.2: Kuriose Geschichte [A curious story]

    Performer: Clara Haskil.
    • PHILIPS.
  • Georges Bizet

    Jeux d'enfants, Op.22 - petite suite d'orchestre

    Orchestra: Paris Conservatoire Orchestra. Conductor: Jean Martinon.
    • DECCA.
  • MY FAVOURITE... FUGUES

    • Dmitry Shostakovich

      Prelude and Fugue in B minor, Op.87 No.6

      Performer: Tatiana Nikolayeva.
      • MELODIYA.
  • John Cooper

    Fantasia Suite in C for 2 violins, bass viol and organ

    Ensemble: London Baroque.
    • BIS.
  • Anton Webern

    Im Sommerwind

    Orchestra: Staatskapelle Dresden. Conductor: Giuseppe Sinopoli.
    • TELDEC.
  • Anton Bruckner

    Virga Jesse Floruit

    Choir: Tenebrae. Conductor: Nigel Short.
    • Signum.
  • ANTONY BEEVOR'S CHOICE NO.1

    • Ferdinando Antonio Lazzari

      Sonata in D major for two trumpets, two violins, viola, cello & organ: I. Presto

      Performer: Alison Balsom. Performer: Crispian Steele鈥怭erkins. Performer: Peter Holman. Ensemble: The Parley of Instruments.
      • HYPERION.
  • ANTONY BEEVOR'S CHOICE NO.2

    • Gregorio Allegri

      Miserere mei Deus

      Choir: Tenebrae. Conductor: Nigel Short.
      • SIGNUM.
  • MUSIC IN TIME: ROMANTIC

    • Ernest Chausson

      Poeme, Op.25

      Performer: Arthur Grumiaux. Orchestra: Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux. Conductor: Manuel Rosenthal.
      • PHILIPS.
  • ARTIST OF THE WEEK: CLARA HASKIL

    • Robert Schumann

      Waldszenen, Op.82

      Performer: Clara Haskil.
      • PHILIPS.
  • Georg Philipp Telemann

    Fantasia in D for solo violin, TWV 40:23

    Performer: Fabio Biondi.
  • Karl Amadeus Hartmann

    Symphony No. 4 for string orchestra

    Orchestra: Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Rafael Kubel铆k.
    • WERGO.

By Association

Answer: Liszt and Wagner

The music played:

Liszt听
Ich m枚chte hingehen, S.296
Konrad Jarnot (baritone)听
Alexander Schmalcz (piano)听
OEHMS

Broadcast

  • Thu 15 Sep 2016 09:00

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