Composer of the Week

Mar 14 2025 619 ep. 65 mins 31.5k
Composer of the Week Podcast artwork

BBC Radio 3's Composer Of The Week is a guide to composers and their music. The podcast is compiled from the week's programmes and published on Friday, it is only available in the UK.

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Ruth Crawford Seeger (1901-1953)

Mar 14 2025 101 mins  
Between new sounds and old songs, Kate Molleson shares the story of Ruth Crawford-SeegerRuth 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

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)

Mar 07 2025 53 mins  
Donald Macleod dives into the life and music of Maurice RavelMusic featured: Jeux d'eau Shéhérazade (No 3, L'indifférent) Valses Nobles et Sentimentales Miroirs (No 5, La Vallée des Cloches) Une Barque sur L'océan Alborada del Gracioso Allegretto (incidental music for ‘Antar’) Rapsodie Espagnole (No 3, Habanera & No 4, Feria) Gaspard de la Nuit (No 2 Le gibet) Daphnis

The Turkish Five

Feb 28 2025 82 mins  
Donald Macleod delves into the lives and music of The Turkish FiveIn 1923 the Turkish Republic came into being. On the agenda for the founding father and first president, Mustafa Kemal Atatȗrk, was the aim to develop a new Turkish musical language, and to disassociate culturally with the Ottoman past. This new musical culture would be a blend of traditional Turkish music, in combi

Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)

Feb 21 2025 64 mins  
Donald Macleod explores the early years in Benjamin Britten's creative storyBenjamin Britten was one of the most influential British composers of the 20th century, with celebrated works such as 'Peter Grimes', 'Friday Afternoons' or 'A Simple Symphony'. Music infused his very first moments in life and he started to develop his musical instincts from a very early age. Many of his fu

Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791-1864)

Feb 07 2025 74 mins  
Curtain-up on the life of 19th-century opera star Giacomo Meyerbeer, with Donald MacleodWith smash hits including 'Robert le diable', 'Les Huguenots' and 'Le Prophète', Giacomo Meyerbeer was one of the most performed composers on the 19th-century stages: (re)discover the celebrated King of Grand Opera, in his own quasi-operatic life of sparkling successes, plot twists and travelli

Voices of Terezin

Jan 31 2025 79 mins  
Composer of the Week marks 80 years since the liberation of Auschwitz with a series commemorating some of the musical voices that were silenced by the atrocities of the Second World War. This week, Donald Macleod focuses on the penultimate destination of these musicians, the Nazi concentration camp at Terezin, and the incredible story of creative resistance in the face of unthinkab

Imogen Holst (1907-1984)

Jan 24 2025 68 mins  
Donald Macleod delves into the life and music of Imogen Holst Imogen Holst was a significant part of the British classical music scene during the twentieth century. Daughter of Gustav Holst, Imogen was raised in an artistic environment, and her early aspirations were to be a dancer. However, after studying at the Royal College of Music, Imogen Holst went on to be prominent as a com

Michel Legrand (1932-2019)

Jan 10 2025 74 mins  
Donald Macleod delves into the life and music of Michel Legrand Michel Legrand is best known for creating the soundtracks for over 200 films, including The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, The Thomas Crown Affair and The Go-Between. But he had an insatiable creative spirit that led him into the world of theatre, ballet, opera and more.Donald is joined by theatre director and composer Jeremy

Schubert and Vienna

Jan 03 2025 74 mins  
Donald Macleod explores Vienna in the company of Franz SchubertOf all Europe’s major cities, perhaps Vienna is the one with the reputation as the most comfortable, the most sophisticated, and the most musical. In fact, has any other city been home to so many great composers as Vienna? Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, and Salieri all spent their best years working there. Yet none of thos

Christmas in Latvia

Dec 27 2024 81 mins  
Donald Macleod visits the city of Riga to experience the seasonal music and Christmas traditions of Latvia – a country overflowing with choral excellence. Music Featured:trad.: Kaladô (arr. J. Vaivods) Dubra: Duo Seraphim Dubra: In Nativitate Domini (excerpts) anon.: Res est admirabilis Dubra: Te Deum Pēteris Butāns: In the Beginning was the Word Praulinš: Missa Rigensis: Cre