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Radio 3's Fifty Modern Classics Episodes

  1. Witold Lutoslawski's Jeux Venitiens

    Conductor and composer Esa-Pekka Salonen celebrates the music of Polish composer and...

  2. Toru Takemitsu's Kwaidan

    Writer and musician David Toop celebrates Toru Takemitsu's soundtrack for Masaki 1964...

  3. Terry Riley's In C

    Singer and conductor Paul Hillier celebrates Terry Riley’s icon of musical and to of...

  4. Steve Reich's Different Trains

    Matthew Herbert, songwriter and electronic music producer, reflects on the continuing...

  5. Schaeffer & Henry's Symphonie pour un homme seul

    Hollywood sound designer and film editor Walter Murch nominates Symphonie pour un seul...

  6. Pierre Boulez's Le Marteau sans Maitre

    Sir Harrison Birtwistle singles out Pierre Boulez's 1950s cycle for voice and mixed a...

  7. Philip Glass's Music in Twelve Parts

    Composer Nico Muhly nominates Philip Glass's Music in Twelve Parts, a large-scale set...

  8. Peter Maxwell Davies's Eight Songs for a Mad King

    Writer and critic Paul Driver explains why Maxwell Davies’s 8 Songs For A Mad King a...

  9. Per Norgard's Symphony No.2

    Novelist and critic Philip Hensher makes the case for Per Norgard's Symphony No.

  10. Pauline Oliveros's V of IV

    Composer and Hear and Now presenter Robert Worby singles out V of IV, an early work by...

  11. Olivier Messiaen's Chronochromie

    Composer George Benjamin advocates the "exuberant, thrilling and virtuosic" orchestral...

  12. Morton Subotnick's Silver Apples of the Moon

    Four Tet’s Kieran Hebden explains why Silver Apples of the Moon by the American out...

  13. Morton Feldman's Extensions 3

    Howard Skempton singles out Extensions 3 by the American composer Morton Feldman, a he...

  14. Milton Babbitt's Philomel

    Jazz pianist Ethan Iverson nominates Milton Babbitt's Philomel for soprano and tape,...

  15. Michael Nyman's The Draughtsman's Contract

    Violinist Alexander Balanescu recounts his part in Michael Nyman's groundbreaking for...

  16. Luigi Nono's Al gran sole carico d'amore

    Theatre director Katie Mitchell describes her first encounter with the music of Luigi...

  17. Luciano Berio's Sinfonia

    Conductor Richard Bernas recalls his momentous first encounter with Berio's Sinfonia,...

  18. Louis Andriessen's De Staat

    Dutch composer Michel van der Aa salutes compatriot Louis Andriessen's 1976 work for...

  19. Kevin Volans's White Man Sleeps

    Choreographer Siobhan Davies nominates White Man Sleeps by the South African-born and...

  20. Karlheinz Stockhausen's Gruppen

    Finnish conductor and music director of Ensemble InterContemporain Susanna Malkki pays...

  21. Jonathan Harvey's Mortuos Plango, Vivos Voco

    Film director Barrie Gavin selects Jonathan Harvey's Mortuos Plango, Vivos Voco, an of...

  22. John Zorn's Carny

    Critic and Hear and Now presenter Tom Service nominates American composer John Carny,...

  23. John Cage's 4'33"

    Artist Tacita Dean on John Cage's legendary 4'33" and how it provided an inspiration...

  24. Jean Barraque's Chant apres chant

    Pianist Nicolas Hodges nominates Jean Barraque's Chant apres chant, one of just a of...

  25. Igor Stravinsky's Requiem Canticles

    Composer John Woolrich nominates Stravinsky's last completed work with orchestra,...

  26. Iannis Xenakis's Nomos Alpha

    Mathematician Marcus du Sautoy explains how Iannis Xenakis uses the symmetry of a cube...

  27. Howard Skempton's Lento

    Artist Tom Phillips on Howard Skempton's Lento for orchestra, a completely tonal piece...

  28. Helmut Lachenmann's Mouvement

    Pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard champions the music of maverick German composer Helmut a...

  29. Heiner Goebbels's Surrogate Cities

    Hear and Now presenter Sara Mohr-Pietsch celebrates the music of German composer on...

  30. Harrison Birtwistle's The Triumph of Time

    Pianist Joanna MacGregor celebrates Harrison Birtwistle’s The Triumph of Time, an as...

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