麻豆约拍

For a special edition of Classical Now, Jamie MacDougall brings you two hours of classical music inspired by love.

Whether it's the first flush of youthful love, the 'will they, won't they' case of mistaken identity in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, or a reminder to 'love as long as you can,' romantic love has provided the creative spark for countless composers. Jamie has some of the finest examples, from Liszt, Shostakovich, Elgar, Alexander MacKenzie, and the Portugese composer Frederico de Freitas.

Love can also be about Faith, and renaissance composers Thomas Tallis and William Byrd wrote some of the most exquisite choral music in the service of prayer and contemplation. Jamie has a trio of tracks sung by the Dunedin Consort.

So much of modern culture focuses on the first fires of passions, but after the swooning is over, there are often children to raise and households to tend to. Faure and Richard Strauss wrote two hugely different but touching portraits of familial love.

Produced by Freya Hellier