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Thursday - Sarah Walker, plus Rob Cowan with guest Eddie Izzard

With Sarah Walker. Including Five Reasons to Love Nordic Song; Eddie Izzard; Music in Time: Bach: Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor; Nordic recordings: Nielsen: Symphony No 2.

Discover definitive recordings of the greatest classical music with your trusted guide, Sarah Walker. Plus Rob Cowan talks to the comedian Eddie Izzard.

9am
A selection of music including '5 reasons to love... Nordic song'. As part of Radio 3's Northern Lights season Sarah shares a selection of Nordic songs, showcasing their lyrical beauty, sense of melancholy and nostalgia, the way they celebrate nature, and the dramatic stories that they tell. Sarah hears from singers including Camilla Tilling, Anne Sofie von Otter and Anders Andersson as she explores these vocal works from the frozen North.

9.30am
Take part in our daily musical challenge: can you work out which two composers are associated with a particular piece?

10am
Rob talks to Eddie Izzard. Comedian, actor and multiple marathon runner, Eddie is one of the foremost stand-ups of his generation and has entertained audiences the world over. Eddie's epic Force Majeure tour, which he has toured around 28 countries (and performed in four languages), will be coming to London next year. Eddie spills the secrets of his unique brand of humour, and shares a selection of his favourite classical music, every day at 10am.

10.30am
Sarah places music in time as she travels back to the Baroque to hear Bach's definition of a passacaglia - his Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor.

11am
Sarah features recordings of major works by leading Nordic composers. Throughout the week Sarah travels through Finland, Norway, Denmark and Sweden as she shares a selection of music by Crusell, Sibelius, Grieg, Nielsen and Stenhammar.

Nielsen
Symphony No. 2, Op. 16 'The Four Temperaments'
San Francisco Symphony
Herbert Blomstedt (conductor).

3 hours

Music Played

  • Carl Nielsen

    Oriental Festive March (Aladdin Suite)

    Orchestra: San Francisco Symphony. Conductor: Herbert Blomstedt.
    • DECCA.
  • 5 Reasons to Love... Nordic Song

    • Hugo Alfvén

      Skogen sofver (The Forest Asleep), Op.28 No.6

      Performer: Folke Alin. Singer: Anders Andersson.
      • BIS.
  • Johan Halvorsen

    Entry March of the Boyars

    Orchestra: Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Neeme Järvi.
    • DG.
  • Joseph Haydn

    Keyboard Concerto in F major, H XVIII 3

    Performer: Leif Ove Andsnes. Orchestra: Norwegian Chamber Orchestra. Director: Leif Ove Andsnes.
    • EMI.
  • Bo Holten

    First Snow (part 1)

    Choir: Â鶹ԼÅÄ Singers. Conductor: Bo Holten.
    • DACAPO.
  • Vagn Holmboe

    Sonata Op.145

    Performer: Michala Petri. Performer: Mahan Esfahani.
    • OUR RECORDINGS.
  • Johann Strauss II

    Roses from the South

    Orchestra: Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Fritz Reiner.
    • RCA LIVING STEREO.
  • Eddie Izzard's Choice No. 1

    • Edward Elgar

      Enigma Variations, Op 36 (Variation 10, 'Dorabella')

      Orchestra: Â鶹ԼÅÄ Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Andrew Davis.
      • TELDEC.
  • Edward Elgar

    Finale (Enigma Variations)

    Orchestra: Â鶹ԼÅÄ Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Arturo Toscanini.
    • EMI.
  • Eddie Izzard's Choice No. 2

    • Gustav Holst

      Jupiter, Bringer of Jollity (The Planets)

      Orchestra: Hallé. Conductor: Mark Elder.
      • HELIOS.
  • Peter Heise

    For Denmark

    Choir: Danish National Vocal Ensemble and Choir. Conductor: Michael Schønwandt.
    • DACAPO.
  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV582

    Performer: Ton Koopman.
    • ARCHIV.
  • Vagn Holmboe

    Symphony No.8 'Sinfonia Boreale' - iv) Allegro passionato

    Orchestra: Aarhus Symfoniorkester. Conductor: Owain Arwel Hughes.
    • BIS.
  • Marie-Auguste Durand

    Waltz no.1 for piano (Op.83) in E flat major

    Performer: Philip Martin.
    • The Maiden's Prayer: Philip Martin.
    • Hyperion.
    • 24.
  • Nordic Masterpiece

    • Carl Nielsen

      Symphony No.2, Op.16 ‘The Four Temperaments’

      Orchestra: San Francisco Symphony. Conductor: Herbert Blomstedt.
      • DECCA.
  • Louis Vierne

    Messe solennelle for choir and 2 organs (Op.16) in C sharp minor

    Performer: Joseph Cullen. Performer: Andrew Reid. Choir: Westminster Cathedral Choir. Director: James O’Donnell.
    • Vierne, Widor & Dupre: Masses & Motets: Choir of Westminster, James O'Donell.
    • Hyperion.
    • 1.
  • Erik Satie

    Avant-dernieres pensees for piano, no.3; Meditations a Albert Roussel

    Performer: Anne Queffélec.
    • Satie: Gymnopedies, Gnossiennes & Sports et Divertissements: Anne Queffelec.
    • Virgin Classics.

By Association

Answer: Johann Strauss II & Arnold Schoenberg

The music played:

Johann Strauss II (arr. Schoenberg)
Roses from the South, Op.388
Boston Symphony Chamber Players
DG

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  • Thu 10 Dec 2015 09:00

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