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Wednesday - Rob Cowan with Tracy Chevalier

Essential Classics

With Rob Cowan. Includes My Favourite Liszt Transcriptions of Schubert Songs; Music in Time: M Haydn: Requiem for Archbishop Sigismund; Concerto Koln in Mozart: Piano Concerto in G.

9am
My favourite... Liszt transcriptions of Schubert songs. Liszt was an inveterate transcriber of other composers' music, partly because he needed material to supply the extraordinarily gruelling series of piano recitals he undertook during the 1840s. Schubert was among the composers Liszt turned to most frequently for this purpose, particularly with regard to his songs, which Liszt transformed into lovingly crafted piano miniatures. Rob shares a selection of his favourite Liszt transcriptions of Schubert songs throughout the week.

9.30am
Take part in our daily musical challenge: identify a piece of music played backwards.

10am
Rob's guest is the author Tracy Chevalier. Tracy is best known for her historical novel Girl With a Pearl Earring, inspired by the painting of the same name by Johannes Vermeer. The book sold millions of copies around the world and was turned into a Hollywood film. Tracy's other novels include Burning Bright, Remarkable Creatures and The Last Runaway. Tracy will be talking about the way she researches and writes her novels, and revealing her favourite classical music, every day at 10am.

10:30am
Rob places Music in Time. The focus is on the Classical period and Michael Haydn's Requiem for Archbishop Sigismund, written to commemorate the passing of Haydn's late, lamented employer, but informed too by the composer's grief at the death of his only child. The Requiem for Archbishop Sigismund helped to establish Michael Haydn's reputation as a composer of liturgical music - greater, in his day, than his brother Joseph's - and was to become an important model for the requiem that has become the most famous of all: Mozart's.

11am
Rob's artists of the week are Concerto Köln, one of the world's longest-established and most vibrant original-instrument ensembles. Founded in Cologne, Germany, in 1985, their core repertoire is Baroque, Pre-classical and Classical, but their interests extend into the Romantic period and even, on occasion, the 20th century. Throughout the week Rob showcases a selection of their finest recordings, ranging from JS Bach's Violin Concerto in E major to a Symphony by Anton Eberl and Henryk Górecki's Harpsichord Concerto.

Mozart
Piano Concerto in G, K 453
Andreas Staier, fortepiano
Concerto Köln.

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3 hours

Last on

Wed 16 Mar 2016 09:00

BBC Radio 3

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Antonín Dvořák

Slavonic Dance in C minor, Op.46 No.7
Orchestra: Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Rafael Kubelík.
- DG.
MY FAVOURITE...LISZT TRANSCRIPTIONS OF SCHUBERT SONGS
- Franz Schubert
  
  Standchen, S.560 No.7
  Performer: Vladimir Horowitz. Music Arranger: Franz Liszt.
  
  DG.
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Capriccio Italien, Op.45
Orchestra: Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Antal Doráti.
- DECCA.
Roxanna Panufnik

Kyrie after Byrd
Choir: ORA. Conductor: Suzi Digby.
- HARMONIA MUNDI.
César Franck

Les Eolides
Orchestra: Suisse Romande Orchestra. Conductor: Ernest Ansermet.
- DECCA.
Joseph Haydn

String Quartet in D minor, Op.103 (unfinished)
Ensemble: Dover Quartet.
- MUSIC@MENLOLIVE.
Leroy Anderson

The Typewriter
Orchestra: Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Frederick Fennell.
- MERCURY.
Leroy Anderson

The Syncopated Clock
Orchestra: Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Leonard Slatkin.
- Leroy Anderson: Favourites: Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra/Slatkin.
- RCA Red Seal.
- 16.
TRACY CHEVALIER'S CHOICE NO.1
- Antonín Dvořák
  
  IV. Allegro con fuoco (Symphony No.9 in E minor, Op.95 'From the New World')
  Orchestra: Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Rafael Kubelík.
  
  DG.
TRACY CHEVALIER'S CHOICE NO.2
- Sergey Rachmaninov
  
  Blessed is the man (All-Night Vigil, Op 37)
  Choir: Latvian Radio Choir. Conductor: Sigvards Kļava.
  
  ONDINE.
music in time: classical
- Michael Haydn
  
  Requiem for Archbishop Sigismund
  Singer: Carolyn Sampson. Singer: Hilary Summers. Singer: James Gilchrist. Singer: Peter Harvey. Choir: Choir of the King’s Consort. Ensemble: The King's Consort. Conductor: Robert King.
  
  HYPERION.
ARTIST OF THE WEEK: CONCERTO KÖLN
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
  
  Piano Concerto No.17 in G major, K.453
  Performer: Andreas Staier. Ensemble: Concerto Köln.
  
  TELDEC.
Johann Sebastian Bach

Toccata and Fugue in F, BWV 540
Performer: Ton Koopman.