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Song Cycles and Concept Albums

Tom Service explores the connections between song cycles in classical music and concept albums in pop and rock music.

Tom Service explores the world of the song cycle - from the tortured passions and existential angst of Beethoven and Schubert's protagonists in 19th-century Vienna, to Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole's ebullient takes on the genre with the birth of the concept album, and Kate Bush's groundbreaking experimental pop suite The Ninth Wave.

Our witness today is composer Emily Hall whose work Life Cycle, written with Toby Litt for singer Mara Carlyle, explores the theme of motherhood.

Producer: Ruth Thomson

Available now

29 minutes

Last on

Fri 20 Oct 2023 16:30
ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 3

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Music Played

  • Franz Schubert

    Winterreise - song-cycle D.911

    Performer: Mark Padmore. Performer: Paul Lewis.
    • HARMONIA MUNDI.
    • HMU907484.

  • Kate Bush

    Kate Bush: The Ninth Wave - Hello Earth

    Performer: Kate Bush.
    • EMI.
    • CDP 7 46164 2.

  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    An die ferne Geliebte Op.98

    Performer: Dietrich Fischer‐Dieskau. Performer: JΓΆrg Demus.
    • DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON.
    • 463 5072.

  • Nat King Cole

    Ray Rasch/Dotty Rayne: Wild is Love

    • Capitol Records.
    • CDP 7243 8 28511 2 7.

  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    An die ferne Geliebte Op.98

    Performer: Dietrich Fischer‐Dieskau. Performer: JΓΆrg Demus.
    • DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON.
    • 463 5072.

  • Franz Schubert

    Winterreise - song-cycle D.911

    Performer: Mark Padmore. Performer: Paul Lewis.
    • HARMONIA MUNDI.
    • HMU907484.

  • Franz Schubert

    Winterreise - song-cycle D.911

    Performer: Mark Padmore. Performer: Paul Lewis.
    • HARMONIA MUNDI.
    • HMU907484.

  • Franz Schubert

    Winterreise - song-cycle D.911

    Performer: Mark Padmore. Performer: Paul Lewis.
    • HARMONIA MUNDI.
    • HMU907484.

  • Franz Schubert

    Winterreise - song-cycle D.911

    Performer: Mark Padmore. Performer: Paul Lewis.
    • HARMONIA MUNDI.
    • HMU907484.

  • Franz Schubert

    Winterreise - song-cycle D.911

    Performer: Mark Padmore. Performer: Paul Lewis.
    • HARMONIA MUNDI.
    • HMU907484.

  • Nacio Herb Brown

    Nacio Herb Brown: Paradise

    Performer: Frank Sinatra.
    • Columbia.
    • CK 62100.

  • Jimmy Campbell

    Jimmy Campbell: Try a Little Tenderness

    Performer: Frank Sinatra.
    • Columbia.
    • CK 62100.

  • Nat King Cole

    Ray Rasch/Dotty Rayne: Wild is Love

    • Capitol Records.
    • CDP 7243 8 28511 2 7.

  • Nat King Cole

    Ray Rasch/Dotty Rayne: Hundreds and Thousands of Girls

    • Capitol Records.
    • CDP 7243 8 28511 2 7.

  • Nat King Cole

    Ray Rasch/Dotty Rayne: Wild is Love

    • Capitol Records.
    • CDP 7243 8 28511 2 7.

  • Emily Hall

    Emily Hall: Life Cycle - Look at My Child

    Performer: Mara Carlyle. Performer: Emily Hall.
    • Bedroom Community.
    • unknown.

  • Pink Floyd

    Pink Floyd: Another Brick in the Wall Part 2

    • Columbia (2).
    • C2K 36183 P 164.

  • Kate Bush

    Kate Bush: The Ninth Wave - And Dream of Sheep

    Performer: Kate Bush.
    • EMI.
    • CDP 7 46164 2.

  • Kate Bush

    Kate Bush: The Ninth Wave - Under Ice

    Performer: Kate Bush.
    • EMI.
    • CDP 7 46164 2.

  • Kate Bush

    Kate Bush: The Ninth Wave - Waking the Witch

    Performer: Kate Bush.
    • EMI.
    • CDP 7 46164 2.

  • Kate Bush

    Kate Bush: The Ninth Wave - Hello Earth

    Performer: Kate Bush.
    • EMI.
    • CDP 7 46164 2.

  • Franz Schubert

    Winterreise - song-cycle D.911

    Performer: Mark Padmore. Performer: Paul Lewis.
    • HARMONIA MUNDI.
    • HMU907484.

Broadcasts

  • Sun 10 Apr 2022 17:00
    ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 3
  • Fri 15 Apr 2022 16:30
    ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 3
  • Sun 15 Oct 2023 17:00
    ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 3
  • Fri 20 Oct 2023 16:30
    ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 3

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