The Making Of Music

39/60. Elgar

Elgar's music has become emblematic of England. But does his music merely express jingoistic nationalism, or is there a deeper understanding of English values? Music includes Falstaff.

38/60. Pre-War Vienna

At the turn of the century, Vienna was one of the most exciting cities in the world. Alongside the ideas of Freud and the paintings of Klimt, composer Schoenberg was exploring new musical forms that he would eventually make his own. Music includes his Transfigured Night.

37/60. Fakes and Mystics

The fashion for mysticism at the beginning of the 20th century played a part in musical history. Scriabin, a Russian composer, spent his career trying to depict the mystical in his work, such as in Prometheus, the Poem of Fire.

36/60. Exotic Paris

In 1890s France, Claude Debussy was looking for a sound that would move music into the new century. He produced music that was original, daring but immediately accepted by audiences. Including L'apres midi d'un faune, Pelleas et Melisande and Pagodes.

43/60. Out of Fashion

After World War I, some composers were looking for a radical shift in classical music, while others, such as Strauss and Rachmaninov, carried on writing in old 19th century styles and went out of fashion. Music includes excerpts from Strauss's Elektra, songs by Rachmaninov, and The Tempest by Sibelius.

42/60. The Path to War

Many composers' lives were shaped by the horrors of World War I. Some, like Ralph Vaughan Williams and Arnold Schoenberg, were drafted themselves. Including music by Gurney, Debussy and Berg.

41/60. The End of the Hapsburgs

As the Austro-Hungarian Empire was disintegrating, the Czech composer Janacek became a poet of his times and his people by drawing on the culture of the new Czech lands that were forming. Including music by Janacek and Bartok.

40/60. A Riot

In May 1913, the first night of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring caused a riot in Paris. Why did it create such an uproar and how did it become an iconic piece of the age?

47/60. Music for the Masses

A new democracy started to rise in music as composers like Vaughan Williams and Carl Orff encouraged participation from their audiences, who were able to buy vinyl discs for the first time. Plus music by Weill and Hindemith.

46/60. Into the Past

In the 1920s, Stravinsky, Poulenc and Prokofiev looked to the past to give a new dimension to their music, and neo-classicism became the vogue. Music includes Stravinsky's Pulcinella and Prokofiev's Classical Symphony.

44/60. Jazz

It bubbled up from the streets, drawing on the singing of spirituals and the early blues. But how did jazz influence classical composers like Stravinsky, Debussy and Satie? Music includes Stravinsky's Ragtime, Ravel's Concerto for the Left Hand and Lambert's The Rio Grande.

44/60. Revolution in Russia

The Russian Revolution had a huge impact on music. For some composers, it symbolised freedom, but for many others it meant being under suspicion. Including music by Roslavets, Miaskovsky and Prokofiev.

51/60. Second World War: Those Who Stayed Put

Focusing on Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time, Tippett's A Child of Our Time and Shostakovich's Leningrad Symphony, which was largely written during the 900-day siege of the city.

50/60. The Depression

Despite the Wall Street Crash and falling record sales, music was booming. Radio was reaching millions, swing bands entertained at speakeasies and Porgy and Bess had its premiere.

49/60. Stalin

When Stalin came to power, he wanted music that expressed socialist realism. How did composers like Shostakovich and Prokofiev fare under the Stalinist regime?

48/60. Cinema

The film industry became the great patron of music in the 20th century. Including music by Max Steiner, who wrote scores for Casablanca and Gone with the Wind, and said film music 'should be felt and not heard'.

55/60. Leonard Bernstein

Bernstein embraced the classical and the popular and pulled them together. His West Side Story in 1957 filled concert halls and theatres the world over.

54/60. The Modernists

A new generation of post-war composers, John Cage, Olivier Messiaen and Pierre Boulez, wanted to sweep away the past and make music speak for a new world.

53/60. Britain Victorious

British composers responded to the war and its aftermath. Britten's Peter Grimes, first performed in June 1945, spoke to an audience that had been shaped by the experience of war.

52/60. Those Who Got Away

The story of what happened to the musicians who were exiles from Hitler's Europe. Bartok and Schoenberg fled to America, while others, like Goldschmidt, came to England.

60/60. The Making of Music

Looking back at a journey from the early monasteries through the Renaissance, to the present day. Where have we come to and what is the current state of classical music?

59/60. A Time of Plenty

John Tavener's Song for Athene was played at Princess Diana's funeral. But what is the importance and impact of modern British composers?

58/60. The Impact of Technology

How have composers experimented with electronic technology to push the boundaries of what sounds are possible? And how have they used music to create the sounds of machines?

56/60. The Sixties

Modern composers were trying to make their voices heard above the noise of pop culture. What were Stockhausen, John Tavener and Peter Maxwell Davies writing in the 1960s?

Produced by Rosie Boulton, Sara Conkey, Lucy Lunt

BBC Birmingham.

James Naughtie looks at classical music origins in churches and monasteries.

Produced by Rosie Boulton, Sara Conkey , Lucy Lunt

BBC Birmingham.

As Notre Dame was built, composers Perotin and Leonin wrote music to fill it.

Reader: Benedict Cumberbatch

Produced by Rosie Boulton, Sara Conkey, Lunt Lunt

BBC Birmingham.

In courts and great houses, the troubadours wrote secular songs of love and jealousy.

Produced by Rosie Boulton, Sara Conkey and Lucy Lunt.

BBC Birmingham.

The Burgundy Court was influenced by the musical style of England's John Dunstable.

Reader: Simon Russell Beale

Produced by Rosie Boulton, Sara Conkey, Lucy Lunt.

BBC Birmingham.

Music and the arts were beginning to celebrate man as well as God.

Reader: Benedict Cumberbatch

Produced by Rosie Boulton, Sara Conkey, Lucy Lunt

BBC Birmingham.

During the Reformation, Martin Luther harnessed secular songs for religious music.

Reader : Simon Russell Beale

Produced by Rosie Boutlon, Sara Conkey, Lucy Lunt

BBC Birmingham.

The composer Palestrina became accidentally embroiled in the politics of the high church.

Reader: Laurence Fox.

Produced by Rosie Boulton, Sara Conkey, Lucy Lunt

BBC Birmingham.

Produced by Rosie Boulton, Sara Conkey and Lucy Lunt

BBC Birmingham.

In the Elizabethan age, composers Byrd and Tallis revealed the religious divide.

Reader Benedict Cumberbatch

Produced by Rosie Boulton, Sara Conkey and Lucy Lunt.

BBC Birmingham.

The idea of telling a story in music proved immediately successful across Italy.

11/30. The Sun King

Jean-Baptiste Lully, despite his reputation as a notorious libertine, became the composer to Louis XIV. His music, used in extravagant court dances and spectacles, helped to establish the Sun King's image as a divine monarch.

Read by Laurence Fox and Benedict Cumberbatch.

How English composer John Dunstable's music travelled to the Burgundy court.

12/30. The Violin.

The design and production of the violin were perfected in Cremona around 1700. The music of Antonio Vivaldi established the instrument's popularity.

Read by Laurence Fox.

The design of the violin was perfected in Cremona around 1700.

13/30. The Puritans. Despite destroying church organs across the land, Oliver Cromwell privately not only appreciated music but also employed composers who used to work for the king to write for him and his new regime.

Oliver Cromwell not only appreciated music but also employed former royal composers.

14/30. The Restoration

The return of Charles II from exile heralded a revival in English music. Among several composers to emerge was Henry Purcell, who wrote a song for the king's birthday when he was only 11.

Read by Simon Russell Beale.

15/30. Bach in Leipzig

From a bustling town in Germany, a civic employee produced some of the most sublime church music ever written. Despite being frequently at loggerheads with his employers, Johann Sebastian Bach continued to compose at a prolific rate.

Johann Sebastian Bach produced some of the most sublime church music ever written.

17/30. Handel

German-born composer George Frideric Handel made English music great. He invented English oratorio and his Messiah became one of the foundation stones of the English choral tradition.

German-born composer George Frideric made English music great.

17/30. Rameau and the Philosophes.

Paris during the 1750s was the centre of a clash of cultural ideas, with music at the forefront. The Paris Opera House was the centre of the Battle of the Fools, where arguments raged about absolutism and enlightenment.

19/30. Music and Society

By the late 1700s, music was becoming part of the social fabric. Concerts and dances were regularly held in cities such as Bath and Oxford, and playing the piano was the accomplishment of every young lady.

20/30. Haydn and the Esterhazys

Employed by the hugely wealthy Esterhazy family, Joseph Haydn lived mainly in their isolated palace and produced music on demand. Of his prolific output, Haydn himself admitted that he was cut off from the outside world and forced to become original.

Joseph Haydn lived mainly in his patrons' isolated palace and produced music on demand.

21/30. Mozart

In the middle of the 18th century composers needed patrons, but by the end of Mozart's life the world had changed. The composer as servant was becoming a thing of the past, and Mozart both benefited and suffered because of it.

In the middle of the 18th century composers needed patrons, but this was soon to change.

22/30. Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro

As France teetered towards revolution, the play on which Mozart's masterpiece was based was banned in its original form by Louis XVI. The story of a count being exposed and humiliated by his servant was described by Napoleon as the revolution in action.

The play on which Mozart's opera was based was banned in its original form by Louis XVI.

23/30. The French Revolution

One night in April 1792, a young French captain spent the night writing a marching tune. La Marseillaise became a national anthem, and music inspired by the revolution was everywhere.

Read by Laurence Fox.

La Marseillaise became a national anthem, and music inspired by revolution was everywhere.

23/30. The French Revolution

One night in April 1792, a young French captain spent the night writing a marching tune. La Marseillaise became a national anthem, and music inspired by the revolution was everywhere.

Read by Laurence Fox.

La Marseillaise became a national anthem, and music inspired by revolution was everywhere.

23/30. The French Revolution

One night in April 1792, a young French captain spent the night writing a marching tune. La Marseillaise became a national anthem, and music inspired by the revolution was everywhere.

Read by Laurence Fox.

La Marseillaise became a national anthem, and music inspired by revolution was everywhere.

24/30. Beethoven

The great German composer worked at a time of seismic change in Europe. He was 19 at the start of the French Revolution and at his peak when Napoleon's empire was at its zenith. His music matches the ferment of the times.

Read by Simon Russell Beale.

25/30. Beethoven's Eroica

The original dedication to Napoleon was removed from the manuscript of Beethoven's Symphony No 3, allegedly by the composer's own hand, when Napoleon declared himself Emperor in 1804.

Read by Simon Russell Beale.

The composer allegedly removed his original dedication to Napoleon from the manuscript.

26/30. Schubert and the Piano

Vienna in the 1820s. The piano became mass manufactured and improved in quality. Schubert gave the piano personality, and his pieces were the lifeblood of a new kind of music making.

Schubert used improving piano quality to make it an instrument for the voice.

27/30. Weber and German Romanticism

Carl Maria Von Weber gave audiences what they wanted - storms and disasters, wild beasts and blood. Although German unification was a generation away, by drawing on folk tales, Weber wanted to create a German sensibility.

Read by Simon Russell Beale and Benedict Cumberbatch.

Weber gave German audiences what they wanted - storms and disasters.

29/30. Grand Opera

In the first half of the 19th Century, Italy consummated its love affair with opera. Donizetti, Rossini and Bellini's new operas were greeted with frenzy on the streets.

Read by Simon Russell Beale.