Composer of the Week
533 episodes - English - Latest episode: 16 days ago - ★★ - 219 ratingsBBC Radio 3's Composer Of The Week is a guide to composers and their music. The podcast is compiled from the week's programmes and published on Friday, it is only available in the UK.
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Episodes
Prokofiev
January 11, 2013 14:00 - 1 hour - 59.7 MBDonald Macleod explores Prokofiev's life and music during his time as an emigre in Europe in the 1920s, as well as his return to Russia
Respighi
January 04, 2013 14:00 - 47 minutes - 43.9 MBDonald Macleod explores the lesser-known masterpieces of popular and controversial Italian composer Ottorino Respighi
Offenbach
December 28, 2012 14:00 - 57 minutes - 52.8 MBDonald Macleod explores the life and music of Jacques Offenbach.
Brahms
December 21, 2012 14:00 - 59 minutes - 54.8 MBDonald Macleod presents an exploration of the life and vocal music of Johannes Brahms.
Marais and Delalande
December 14, 2012 14:00 - 58 minutes - 53.1 MBDonald Macleod explores the life and music of Marin Marais and Michel-Richard Delalande, successors to Lully at the Louis XIV's court
Napoleon's Music
December 07, 2012 13:00 - 1 hour - 61.7 MBAs part of BBC Radio 3's Napoleon season, marking 200 years since his historic retreat from Moscow, Donald Macleod follows the French dictator's relationship with music
Glazunov
November 30, 2012 14:00 - 1 hour - 55.4 MBDonald Macleod explore the life and work of Russian composer Aleksandr Glazunov, who has been descried as 'the last of the Mohicans'
Telemann
November 23, 2012 14:00 - 53 minutes - 49.3 MBDonald Macleod reviews the life and work of Telemann, most prolific composer of the baroque era, whose reputation, in his time, was even greater than that of his compatriot, Bach.
Big Band
November 16, 2012 14:00 - 1 hour - 79.6 MBDonald Macleod is joined by jazz trumpeter, composer and conductor Guy Barker to explore the story of big band jazz.
Koechlin
November 02, 2012 14:00 - 56 minutes - 51.6 MBDonald Macleod explores the life and work of Charles Koechlin, an out-of-favour, free-thinking musician regarded as the 'missing link' between Debussy, Satie and Poulenc.
Rachmaninov and Medtner
October 26, 2012 13:00 - 1 hour - 57 MBFor the BBC's piano season, Donald Macleod explores the intersections between the lives of Rachmaninov and Medtner, as both forged their careers in the face of revolution, war and cultural exile
Granados and Albeniz
October 19, 2012 13:00 - 1 hour - 57.2 MBDonald Macleod explores the life and work of Spanish composers Enrique Granados and Isaac Albeniz
Debussy
October 12, 2012 13:00 - 1 hour - 55.4 MBDonald Macleod focuses on French composer and pianist Claude Debussy, examining his life, loves and passion for the piano.
Liszt and his world
October 05, 2012 13:00 - 1 hour - 59.9 MBDonald Macleod explores Liszt's extraordinary contribution to the piano repertoire, alongside the music of his friends, rivals and proteges
Field and Chopin
September 28, 2012 13:00 - 1 hour - 66.7 MBDonald Macleod is joined by pianist Miceal O'Rourke to explore the work of Romantic composer Fryderyk Chopin, and the 'father of the nocturne', John Field.
Muzio Clementi
September 21, 2012 13:00 - 1 hour - 60.3 MBDonald Macleod explores the life and work of the Italian-born composer Muzio Clementi, popularly regarded as 'the father of the pianoforte'
Muzio Clementi
September 21, 2012 13:00 - 1 hour - 60.3 MBDonald Macleod explores the life and work of the Italian-born composer Muzio Clementi, popularly regarded as 'the father of the pianoforte'
Coleridge-Taylor
September 14, 2012 13:00 - 54 minutes - 50.2 MBDonald Macleod explores the life and music of Anglo-African composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, an internationally renowned figure in late Victorian times.
Adams
September 07, 2012 17:52 - 1 hour - 64.3 MBDonald Macleod talks to America's most frequently performed living composer, John Adams, about his work
English Pastoralists
August 17, 2012 13:00 - 1 hour - 56.1 MBDonald Macleod explores the lives and works of the English Pastoralist composers. A feeling for landscape and place was important to them, and they often responded to places they knew and loved
Nyman
July 13, 2012 16:47 - 57 minutes - 52.5 MBDonald Macleod presents an exclusive week of interview with Michael Nyman.
Paganini
July 06, 2012 13:00 - 1 hour - 57.5 MBDonald Macleod unmasks the real Paganini, with the help of biographer Andrew McGee
Irving Berlin
June 01, 2012 13:00 - 1 hour - 64.1 MBDonald Macleod explores the life and work of Irving Berlin, a composer whose career spanned Dvorak to The Beatles. A celebrated songwriter, he composed for both Hollywood and Broadway
Chapel Royal
May 18, 2012 13:00 - 1 hour - 67 MBDonald Macleod explores the life and work of five itinerant musicians of the British Chapel Royal
Strauss Portraits
May 11, 2012 16:37 - 59 minutes - 54.2 MBDonald Macleod and guest Professor Julian Johnson from Royal Holloway, University of London explore Richard Strauss's life and music
Skalkottas
April 27, 2012 13:52 - 1 hour - 60.8 MBDonald Macleod explores the life and work of Greek composer Nikos Skalkottas, who died at the age of 46 with virtually none of his 150 or so works having been published or even performed in public
Andrea and Giovanni Gabrieli
April 20, 2012 12:02 - 51 minutes - 47.6 MBDonald Macleod explores the work of Andrea and nephew Giovanni Gabrieli, who presided over public music-making at a time when Venice was becoming one of the key centres of musical life in Europe.
Delius
April 13, 2012 13:00 - 1 hour - 66.7 MBCelebrating the 150th year since the composer's birth, Donald Macleod is joined by violinist Tasmin Little and cellist Julian Lloyd Webber to discuss the life and music of Frederick Delius.
Franz Schubert
March 31, 2012 13:00 - 51 minutes - 47.1 MBDonald Macleod explores the life and work of Franz Schubert, as part of a season of programmes devoted to the Viennese composer
Glass
March 23, 2012 15:19 - 1 hour - 67.9 MBProlific, influential and controversial composer Philip Glass joins Donald Macleod to discuss his life and music. Including exclusive performances of some of Glass's new works
Bizet
March 16, 2012 14:00 - 58 minutes - 53.9 MBDonald Macleod explores the life and music of Georges Bizet, a pianist and composer, known for writing operas such as Carmen and The Pearl Fishers
Boccherini
March 09, 2012 14:00 - 57 minutes - 52.4 MBDonald Macleod explores the life and music of Luigi Boccherini, a composer who spent the majority of his life working in Spain
Sally Beamish
March 02, 2012 14:19 - 1 hour - 59.7 MBDonald Macleod visits Sally Beamish in her home near Loch Lomond to learn about her life and work.
Parry
February 17, 2012 14:00 - 1 hour - 59.5 MBDonald Macleod explore the life and music of Hubert Parry, regarded as Britain's unofficial composer laureate.
Couperin
January 13, 2012 14:01 - 1 hour - 59 MBDonald Macleod with biographer and musician Olivier Baumont explore the life and work of Francois Couperin. With music performed by Olivier on an original Ruckers harpsichord at the Cobbe Collection
Lehar
December 30, 2011 14:00 - 1 hour - 56.6 MBDonald Macleod explores the life and work of Ferencz Lehar, a naturally gifted melodist and orchestrator and the king of Viennese operetta
Ludwig van Beethoven
December 16, 2011 14:00 - 1 hour - 56.3 MBDonald Macleod introduces the life and music of Beethoven during the turbulent years from 1806 to 1812, when he produced some of the greatest masterpieces of his life.
Le Concert Spirituel
December 09, 2011 14:00 - 1 hour - 67.5 MBDonald Macleod explores the 18th century's longest-running concert series, Le Concert Spirituel, with expert guides Lionel Sawkins and Beverly Wilcox
Smetana
December 02, 2011 14:00 - 1 hour - 57.2 MBDonald Macleod explores the life and work of Bedrich Smetana, a composer credited with founding a national style of Czech music
Percy Grainger
November 25, 2011 13:05 - 1 hour - 59.2 MBDonald Macleod explores the unconventional life and music of Australian-born composer, arranger and pianist Percy Grainger
Bebop
November 18, 2011 14:33 - 58 minutes - 53.9 MBDonald Macleod is joined by writer and broadcaster Geoffrey Smith to explore the jazz mode of bebop. It emerged in the 1940s, out of different combinations of musicians, styles and places
Alessandro Scarlatti
November 04, 2011 14:09 - 59 minutes - 54.3 MBDonald Macleod explores the life and work of Alessandro Scarlatti, who is seen as the founder of Neapolitan opera. He appraises the composer's legacy, asking if we should re-evaluate his importance
Finnish Composers
October 28, 2011 13:12 - 1 hour - 58.7 MBDonald Macleod is joined by Finnish music expert Tim Howell, to explore the work of Sibelius's contemporaries as Finland was emerging as a state, and some of those who emerged subsequently.
Herold, Adam and Delibes
October 21, 2011 13:10 - 1 hour - 55.5 MBDonald Macleod explores the life and work of Ferdinand Herold, Adolphe Adam and Leo Delibes, three French composers who were significant figures in the world of ballet
Szymanowsi
October 14, 2011 15:55 - 55 minutes - 50.4 MBDonald Macleod explores the life and work of Karol Szymanowski
William Schuman
October 07, 2011 13:36 - 45 minutes - 41.9 MBDonald Macleod introduces the life and career of William Schuman - one of the most influential American composers and music administrators of the 20th century.
Grechaninov
September 16, 2011 13:24 - 1 hour - 60.8 MBDonald Macleod traces the life and music of Aleksandr Grechaninov, a composer who was considered a revolutionary in the realms of sacred music
Barber 2nd September 2011
September 02, 2011 13:55 - 1 hour - 62.7 MBDonald Macleod tells the story of the real Samuel Barber
Victoria
August 26, 2011 13:00 - 59 minutes - 54.8 MBVictoria's life and music burned with religious fervour. Swept up by the Catholic revival of the counter-reformation, he kept company with saints and created music to inspire the faithful. Presented by Donald Macleod.
Arensky
August 12, 2011 13:00 - 1 hour - 63 MBDonald Macleod explores the life and work of Anton Arensky