Episodes
| Series | Episode | Title | First Broadcast | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 01 | Stephen Sondheim And Judith Weir | 20230731 | Donald Macleod revisits conversations with musical theatre legend Stephen Sondheim and Master of the King's Music, Judith Weir. Composer of the Week is one of the longest-running strands on the BBC, first heard on the airwaves during the Second World War on the 2nd of August 1943. The first to be featured was Mozart - and today, the programme tells the stories of well-known and rediscovered composers across classical music, jazz, contemporary and beyond. Donald Macleod celebrates its 80th anniversary with highlights and behind-the-scenes stories from his encounters with some of our greatest living composers. Across the week, he looks back on ten memorable interviews from his nearly 25 years in the presenter's chair, showcasing the range of musical styles and personalities he's encountered. Today, Stephen Sondheim tells Donald about his early misadventures on Broadway, and Judith Weir gives us an insight into her routine and the role of the composer in the 21st century. Stephen Sondheim: Pretty Little Picture (from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum) Stephen Sondheim, piano and vocals Zero Mostel (Pseudolus) Brian Davies (Hero) Preshy Marker (Philia) Jule Styne/Stephen Sondheim: Everything's Coming Up Roses (from Gypsy) Ethel Merman (Rose) Stephen Sondheim: Free (from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum) Stephen Sondheim: There's Always a Woman (from Anyone Can Whistle) Madeline Kahn (Cora) Bernadette Peters (Fay Apple) American Theatre Orchestra Paul Gemignani, conductor Judith Weir: Variations For Judith, No 5 Melvyn Tan, piano Judith Weir: Vertue for chorus Gonville and Caius College Choir Geoffrey Webber, conductor Judith Weir: Piano Quartet (1st movement) Schubert Ensemble Judith Weir: Airs from Another Planet for wind quintet and piano (excerpt) Lontano Donald Macleod kicks off a week of 80th anniversary highlights from the archives. |
| 2023 | 02 | Meredith Monk And Steve Reich | 20230801 | Donald Macleod revisits conversations with two of America's most iconic living composers - Meredith Monk and Steve Reich - and we hear their different musical responses to World War II. Composer of the Week is one of the longest-running strands on the BBC, first heard on the airwaves during the Second World War on the 2nd of August 1943. The first composer to be featured was Mozart - and today, the programme tells the stories of both well-known and rediscovered composers across classical music, jazz, contemporary and beyond. Donald Macleod celebrates its 80th anniversary with highlights and behind-the-scenes stories from his encounters with some of our greatest living composers. Across the week, he looks back on ten memorable interviews from his nearly 25 years in the presenter's chair, showcasing the range of musical styles and personalities he's encountered. Today, Meredith Monk talks about how a megalithic site in France inspired her vocal piece, Dolmen Music, and Steve Reich tells us the personal backstory of his masterpiece Different Trains. Meredith Monk: Gotham Lullaby Meredith Monk, piano and vocals Meredith Monk: Quarry (Quarry Weave 2) Musica Sacra Richard Westenburg, conductor Meredith Monk: Dolmen Music (excerpt) Andrea Goodman, voice Meredith Monk, voice Monica Solem, voice Paul Langland, voice Julius Eastman, voice and percussion Robert Een, voice and cello Steve Reich: The Cave (excerpts from Act III) Cheryl Bensman Rowe, Marion Beckenstein, sopranos James Bassi, tenor Hugo Munday (baritone) The Steve Reich Ensemble Paul Hillier, conductor Steve Reich: Different Trains (iii. Europe, After the War) Kronos Quartet Steve Reich: Piano Phase (remixed by D*Note) Donald Macleod revisits his encounters with two of America's most iconic living composers. |
| 2023 | 03 | Harrison Birtwistle And Hans Werner Henze | 20230802 | On Composer of the Week's 80th birthday, Donald Macleod looks back on two especially memorable visits to the homes of late composers, Harrison Birtwistle and Hans Werner Henze, in some of the last longform interviews they gave. Composer of the Week is one of the longest-running strands on the BBC, first heard on the airwaves during the Second World War on the 2nd of August 1943. The first composer to be featured was Mozart - and today, the programme tells the stories of both well-known and rediscovered composers across classical music, jazz, contemporary and beyond. Donald Macleod celebrates its 80th anniversary with highlights and behind-the-scenes stories from his encounters with some of our greatest living composers. Across the week, he looks back on ten memorable interviews from his nearly 25 years in the presenter's chair, showcasing the range of musical styles and personalities he's encountered. Today, Harrison Birtwistle tells us how a lifelong fascination with moths and the plight of their extinction led him to write his Moth Requiem, and Hans Werner Henze talks about revising works from earlier in his career, and his own voiceless take on the Requiem. Harrison Birtwistle: Virelai (sous une fontayne) London Sinfonietta David Atherton, conductor Harrison Birtwistle: The Minotaur (Part Two - excerpt) John Tomlinson, bass (the Minotaur) Christine Rice, mezzo-soprano (Ariadne) Johan Reuter, baritone (Theseus) The Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House Antonio Pappano, conductor Harrison Birtwistle: The Moth Requiem Philippa Davies, alto flute Lucy Wakefield, Helen Tunstall, Hugh Webb, harps BBC Singers Nicholas Kok, conductor Hans Werner Henze: Chamber Concerto, Op 1 (final movement) Matthias Perl, flute Christopher Tainton, piano NDR Symphony Orchestra Peter Ruzicka, conductor Hans Werner Henze: Serenade for piano trio (Adagio, Adagio) Nash Ensemble Hans Werner Henze: Scorribanda sinf　nica Hans Werner Henze: Requiem (excerpt) Ensemble Moderne Ingo Metzmacher, conductor Donald Macleod celebrates the programme's 80th birthday with some personal highlights. |
| 2023 | 04 | Adolphus Hailstork And Thea Musgrave | 20230803 | Donald Macleod shares highlights from his conversations with prolific composers Adolphus Hailstork and Thea Musgrave. Composer of the Week is one of the longest-running strands on the BBC, first heard on the airwaves during the Second World War on the 2nd of August 1943. The first composer to be featured was Mozart - and today, the programme tells the stories of both well-known and rediscovered composers across classical music, jazz, contemporary and beyond. Donald Macleod celebrates its 80th anniversary with highlights and behind-the-scenes stories from his encounters with some of our greatest living composers. Across the week, he looks back on ten memorable interviews from his nearly 25 years in the presenter's chair, showcasing the range of musical styles and personalities he's encountered. Today, Adolphus Hailstork tells Donald about the lifelong impact of spirituals on his creative journey, and on Thea Musgrave's 90th birthday, she discusses the pleasure she continues to derive from composing, and the importance of musical friendships. Adolphus Hailstork: Fanfare on Amazing Grace Eastern Virginia Brass Quintet Rob Cross, timpani James Kosnik, organ Adolphus Hailstork: Three Spirituals for Orchestra Virginia Symphony Orchestra JoAnn Falletta, conductor Adolphus Hailstork: Symphony No 2 (excerpts) Grand Rapids Symphony David Lockington, conductor Thea Musgrave: On the Underground, Set 1: Sometimes New York Virtuoso Singers Harold Rosenbaum, conductor Thea Musgrave: Two's Company Dame Evelyn Glennie, percussion Nicholas Daniel, oboe BBC Symphony Orchestra Jiri Belohlavek, conductor Donald Macleod revisits interviews with two of today's most prolific living composers |
| 2023 | 05 LAST | Anoushka Shankar And Oliver Knussen | 20230804 | Donald Macleod reminisces about the programme's live residency at the Southbank Centre in 2016, and his encounters with Anoushka Shankar and Oliver Knussen. Composer of the Week is one of the longest-running strands on the BBC, first heard on the airwaves during the Second World War on the 2nd of August 1943. The first composer to be featured was Mozart - and today, the programme tells the stories of both well-known and rediscovered composers across classical music, jazz, contemporary and beyond. Donald Macleod celebrates its 80th anniversary with highlights and behind-the-scenes stories from his encounters with some of our greatest living composers. Across the week, he looks back on ten memorable interviews from his nearly 25 years in the presenter's chair, showcasing the range of musical styles and personalities he's encountered. Today, Anoushka Shankar talks about the influence of her father Ravi, and how she presents the heart of Indian classical music in unexpected ways - and Oliver Knussen shares what drives him to compose, and how his perspective on life and music changed after turning 60. Anoushka Shankar: Traces of you Norah Jones, vocals Anoushka Shankar, sitar Tanmoy Bose, tabla Manu Delago, glockenspiel Nitin Sawhney, guitars, percussion, ukulele and programming Anoushka Shankar: Voice of the Moon Bhaskar, violin Barry Phillips, cello Tarun Bhattacharya, santoor Bikram Ghosh, percussion Pulak Sarcar, keyboards Anoushka Shankar: Red Sun Bikram Ghosh and Tanmoy Bose, vocals Jesse Charnow, drums Ajay Prasanna, bansuri Kevin Cooper, bass Anoushka Shankar, keyboards Sukanya Shankar, tanpura. Oliver Knussen: Flourish with Fireworks, Op 22 City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Sir Simon Rattle, conductor Oliver Knussen: Music for a Puppet Court, Op.11 London Sinfonietta Oliver Knussen, conductor Oliver Knussen: - Upon One Note Clio Gould, violin Michael Collins, clarinet John Constable, piano Christopher van Kampen, cello Paul Silverthorne, viola Donald Macleod looks back on two memorable and very different live interviews. |