Music documentaries on BBC Radio
Not being a resident of the United Kingdom, it has taken quite
a while for me to realise the extent of the treasure trove that
is BBC classical music. More than time, it has required the
program-on-demand facility that is iPlayer, the radio section
of which is available internationally (unlike the TV player
which is restricted to UK residents).
I’m sure there are many of you reading this, living in
the UK, who will be saying “oh, it was much better twenty/thirty/forty
(insert appropriate time period) years ago” but the Internet
wasn’t invented then, so it wasn’t accessible at
all to me.
It isn’t so much the broadcast of the music itself that
has impressed me - my CD collection is large enough for me to
be my own programmer - but the spoken word programs about classical
music, which have informed and educated my listening and ever
so gently expanded the rather limited boundaries of my technical
knowledge of music.
The programs are not all to be found on Radio 3, the BBC flagship
of classical music; three of the selections below are from Radio
4, the “speech station for curious minds” (its own
description).
On the basis that there will be other readers of Musicweb International
who don’t live in the UK and are similarly interested
in knowing more about the composers and the works to which they
listen, I present for you some programs to which I regularly
listen (plus a bonus one from Len).
Along with the website link, I have indicated the period of
time that each new program is available on iPlayer: it varies
from one week to at least a year. The exception to this is Desert
Island Discs, which are being made available in downloadable
form (as mp3) as well as being listenable online - there appears
to be no time limit.
Composer of the week (Radio 3)
An hour each day of the week dedicated to a single composer,
with biographical information and full performances, rather
than brief excerpts. The chosen composers are not just the usual
suspects: recent weeks have been devoted to Charles Koechlin,
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and John Adams.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006tnxf
Duration on iPlayer: 1 week
The early music show (Radio 3)
As the name suggests, we are in the Baroque period and earlier.
Presented by the singers Catherine Bott and Lucie Skeaping,
each hour-long episode covers a single topic, or a concert.
Recent shows have included Louis XIV's 1683 competition to find
his four new chapel composers, an interview with Harry Bicket
and a number of concerts from the 2012 York Early Music Festival.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006tn49
Duration on iPlayer: 1 week
Discovering music (Radio 3)
This provides analysis of individual works, but not in such
a detailed and technical way that those, like me, without formal
music training, become lost.
It was originally a 45 minute program in a weekly timeslot,
with the presenting duties shared. The conductor and presenter
of some outstanding TV documentaries Charles Hazlewood was one
presenter. It is now 20 minutes long, presented by Stephen Johnson,
scheduled during the interval of concert broadcasts, and generally
features the work to be heard in the second half of the concert.
Recent episodes include Bruckner’s ninth symphony, Zemlinsky’s
opera A Florentine Tragedy, Lully’s religious works and
Rachmaninov’s Elegiac Trio.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006tn54
Duration on iPlayer: at least a year, and past episodes
still available date back to October 2011 (at time of writing)
Music matters (Radio 3)
Its website describes the program as a magazine, and includes
a diverse range of interviews with notable performers, features
on composers and discussion of important topics in the classical
world. It is 45 minutes duration and presented by Tom Servis.
Recent episodes have included tributes to the late Hans W Henze
and Elliott Carter, a debate on ‘is classical music really
for everyone?’ from Radio 3’s Free Thinking Festival
of Ideas, an interview with Kent Nagano and a feature on Kathleen
Ferrier.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006tnvx
Duration on iPlayer: at least a year, and past episodes
still available date back to October 2011 (at time of writing)
Twenty minutes (Radio 3)
Another magazine program, but covering all of the arts. Recent
music-related programs have included the early music broadcasters,
the pastoralist school of British composers dealing with the
aftermath of WW1, the influence of Miles Davis and why we sing
to ourselves. As you might have guessed, the show lasts twenty
minutes!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006ts4r
Duration on iPlayer: at least a year, and past episodes
still available date back to 2009 (at time of writing)
Desert island discs (Radio 4)
An institution in British radio that has been running for more
than 75 years, the invitee gets to choose eight pieces of music
(of any genre) plus a book and a luxury item to take with them
to the mythical desert island. The BBC has begun to release
downloadable versions of the program sating back to at least
the 1950s so far. The musical selections are very brief excerpts
for copyright reasons, but the real reason to include it here
are the composers and performers who have been guests over the
years. At the time of writing, there are 135 tagged as Classical
Music. A few examples to whet your appetites: Sir Adrian Boult,
Vernon Handley, Jacqueline du Pre, Sir Arthur Bliss, Lady Susana
Walton, Kirsten Flagstad, Sir Charles Mackerras …
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/features/desert-island-discs
Duration: unlimited, and also available as downloads
Tales from the stave (Radio 4)
My personal favourite, but unfortunately the only one on this
list not to be a weekly program. The presenter Frances Fyfield
delves into the archives of various institutions, such as the
British Library, to examine the original manuscripts of great
musical masterpieces. With her are prominent musicologists and
performers, who are like children in a lolly shop, when faced
with these “holy relics”.
The six most recent episodes from a total of more than thirty
(with some of her guests in brackets):
- Mozart’s Don Giovanni (Simon Keenleyside, Jane Glover)
- Parry’s I Was Glad (Jeremy Dibble)
- Handel’s Firework Suite (Christopher Hogwood)
- Britten’s Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra
(Stueart Bedford)
- Hummel’s trumpet concerto (Alison Balsom)
- an apparently lost flute concerto of Vivaldi
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007050r
Duration on iPlayer: at least a year
There are, I realise, other music-related programs that I haven’t
mentioned, but there is only so much time available to listen
(particularly when the BBC has so much great comedy on the radio
as well!).
David Barker
Postscript
Len Mullenger has asked me to add one of his favourites to the
list.
Desmond Carrington’s The Music Goes Round (Radio
2)
This is light music form the 1920s to the modern day, and each
program has a particular theme, the most recent being birds.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006wr9d
Duration on iPlayer: one week
