Composer of the Week

Between new sounds and old songs, Kate Molleson shares the story of Ruth Crawford-Seeger

Ruth Crawford Seeger (1901-1953) had multiple lives. As Ruth, she was an aspiring poet and teacher, who longed to become a mother. Crawford the composer wrote some of the most daring pages of 20th-century American music, granting her a place among the group of the 'Ultra-Modernists'. And, as the matriarch of the Seeger dynasty, she collected and arranged countless pieces from treasures of the folk tradition. With Kate Molleson, discover the extraordinary life and work of a major American composer, in a story of creative experimentations, of family bonds, and most of all, of joy in music-making, accompanied by the memories of Crawford's daughter and folk legend, Peggy Seeger.

Music Featured:

Little Waltz
Five Songs to Poems by Carl Sandburg (1, Home Thoughts; 2, White Moon)
Theme and Variations
Selection from American Folk Songs for Children
Diaphonic Suite No 2 for bassoon and cello
Kaleidoscopic Changes on an Original Theme, Ending with a Fugue
Diaphonic Suite No 3 for Flute
Whirligig
Preludes for Piano
Caprice
Sonata for Violin and Piano
Trad: Prisoner Blues
Music for Small Orchestra
Marion Bauer: Four Piano Pieces
Selection from 19 American Folk Songs for piano
Three Songs to poems by Carl Sandburg
Diaphonic Suite No 4 for oboe and violoncello
Three Chants for Female Chorus
String Quartet
Diaphonic Suite No 1 for oboe
Selection from Animal Folk Songs for Children
Preludes for Piano
Two Ricercare to poems by Hsi Tseng Tsiang
Peggy Seeger: How I Long For Peace
Selection from American Folk Songs for Christmas
Andante for strings
Trad: "New River Train”
Trad: "Midnight Special"
Trad: "Irene (Goodnight, Irene)"
Charles Seeger: John Hardy
Piano Study in Mixed Accents
Suite No 1, for five wind instruments and piano
Elizabeth Cotten: "Freight Train"
Rissolty, Rossolty
Piano Sonata
Diaphonic Suite for two clarinets
Piano Study in Mixed Accents (Version 3)
Suite for Wind Quintet
Five Canons, for piano
Peggy Seeger: "Everything Changes"

Presented by Kate Molleson
Produced by Julien Rosa for BBC Audio Wales and West

For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Ruth Crawford Seeger (1901-1953) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0028k1v

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z