Main content
Sorry, this episode is not currently available

Thursday - Rob Cowan, plus Sarah Walker with Rick Wakeman

With Rob Cowan. Including Five Reasons to Love the Harpsichord; Musical challenge; Proms Artist of the Week: percussionist Evelyn Glennie, featured in Vittorio Monti's Czardas.

9am
A selection of music including '5 reasons to love... the harpsichord'. Rob explores the range of styles of this characterful instrument, including Spanish flavoured pieces by Soler and Scarlatti, works by Couperin with a sense of nobility, Bach's intricate Fantasia and Fugue and the percussive excitement of a concerto by Henryk Gorecki.

9.30am
Take part in today's challenge: listen to the clues and identify the mystery music-related object.

10am
Throughout the week Sarah talks to the musician Rick Wakeman, who shares a selection of his favourite classical music. Rick abandoned his piano studies at the Royal College of Music to pursue a career in rock, both as a solo performer and in the prog-rock group Yes. He has since become a familiar face on television through his appearances in the 麻豆约拍 television series Grumpy Old Men. Rick's music choices range from Bach to Shostakovich, and his conversations with Sarah cover topics including his friendship with the harpsichord maker Thomas Goff, as well as the everyday business of being a rock legend.

10.30am
This week Rob features recordings by 麻豆约拍 Proms artist Dame Evelyn Glennie, one of the UK's best loved solo musicians who celebrates her 50th birthday this summer. Glennie was born in Aberdeenshire, trained at the Royal Academy of Music, and swiftly became the world's most successful virtuoso percussionist. She has recorded over thirty CDs and, as well as commissioning new works, has written percussion pieces of her own to perform. Her range of instruments is huge; from her beloved marimba to ones she's developed herself including the Simtak, made from an old car exhaust pipe.

Monti orch. Palmer, arr Glennie
Czardas
Evelyn Glennie (marimba/xylophone/vibraphone/glockenspiel)
National Philharmonic Orchestra
Barry Wordsworth (conductor).

2 hours

Last on

Thu 13 Aug 2015 09:00
麻豆约拍 Radio 3

More episodes

Previous

Wednesday - Rob Cowan, plus Sarah Walker with Rick Wakeman

Next

Friday - Rob Cowan, plus Sarah Walker with Rick Wakeman

See all episodes from Essential Classics

Music Played

  • Gioachino Rossini

    Soldier鈥檚 Dance from William Tell

    Orchestra: Paris Conservatoire Orchestra. Conductor: Anatole Fistoulari.
    • DECCA.

  • 5 REASONS TO LOVE... HARPSICHORDS

    • Fran莽ois Couperin

      Passacaille (Ordre No.8)

      Performer: Blandine Verlet.
      • ASTREE.

  • Felix Mendelssohn

    Christe, du Lamm Gottes (Four sacred cantatas, No.4)

    Choir: Stuttgart Chamber Choir. Orchestra: W眉rttembergisches Kammerorchester Heilbronn. Conductor: Frieder Bernius.
    • EMI.

  • Johannes Brahms

    Ballade in B major, Op.10 no.4

    Performer: Barry Douglas.
    • CHANDOS.

  • RICK WAKEMAN'S CHOICE NO. 1

    • Claude Debussy

      Clair de Lune

      Performer: Jean-Efflam Bavouzet.

  • Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    Polonaise (Eugene Onegin)

    Orchestra: Orchestra of the Academy of Santa Cecilia, Rome. Conductor: Sir Antonio Pappano.
    • EMI.

  • Luigi Boccherini

    Quartet in G major, Op.44 No.4 鈥楲a Tiranna鈥�

    Ensemble: Quartetto Italiano.
    • ICA.

  • Benedetto Marcello

    Se morto mi brami

    Performer: Albrecht Mayer. Ensemble: New Seasons Ensemble.
    • DECCA.

  • Claude Debussy

    Clair de lune (Suite bergamasque)

    Performer: Jean-Efflam Bavouzet.

  • RICK WAKEMAN'S CHOICE NO. 2

    • Edvard Grieg

      In the Hall of the Mountain King (Peer Gynt Suite, No.1)

      Orchestra: Berliner Philharmoniker. Conductor: Herbert von Karajan.
      • DG.

  • RICK WAKEMAN'S CHOICE NO. 3

    • Jean鈥怭hilippe Rameau

      L鈥檈nharmonique (Suite in G minor, Premier livre de pieces de clavecin)

      Performer: Mahan Esfahani.
      • HYPERION.

  • PROMS ARTIST OF THE WEEK: EVELYN GLENNIE

    • Vittorio Monti

      Czardas

      Orchestrator: Christopher Palmer. Music Arranger: Evelyn Glennie. Performer: Evelyn Glennie. Orchestra: National Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Barry Wordsworth.
      • RCA.

  • Franz Liszt

    Hungarian Rhapsody No.5 in E minor (Heroide-elegiaque)

    Performer: Georges Cziffra.
    • EMI.

  • PROMS ARTIST OF THE WEEK: EVELYN GLENNIE

    • James McMillan

      Gaude, gaude (Veni, veni, Emmanuel)

      Performer: Evelyn Glennie. Orchestra: Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Conductor: Jukka鈥怭ekka Saraste.
      • CATALYST.

  • Jean Sibelius

    Why Is Spring So Fleeting (Op.17 No 1)

    Performer: Elisabeth S枚derstr枚m. Performer: Vladimir Ashkenazy.

Mystery Object

Answer: Oboe

Broadcast

  • Thu 13 Aug 2015 09:00
    麻豆约拍 Radio 3

Our Classical Century

Our Classical Century

Radio 3 explores 100 key musical moments that shaped us, from 1918 to the present day.

Time Travellers: the podcast

Time Travellers: the podcast

Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough presents quirky tales gathered from the corners of history.