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
70th Anniversary Special - Louise Farrenc
December 20, 2013 11:50 - 46 minutes - 42.4 MBDonald Macleod marks Composer of the Week's 70th birthday by featuring a composer suggested by Radio 3 listeners: Louise Farrenc
Iceland
December 13, 2013 12:00 - 1 hour - 71.7 MBDonald Macleod explores the landscapes and vistas of Iceland, to discover its unique musical culture, including the work of its greatest 20th-century composer, Jon Leifs
Pietro Mascagni
December 06, 2013 11:55 - 1 hour - 61.4 MBDonald Macleod explores the life and work of Mascagni, who triumphed in his early twenties with his opera Cavalleria Rusticana and, during his lifetime, was one of the most famous figures in Italy
Saint-Saens
November 29, 2013 12:00 - 1 hour - 59.9 MBDonald Macleod explores the charming and eccentric variety of later works by Camille Saint-Saens
Britten 100
November 22, 2013 12:00 - 1 hour - 58 MBDonald Macleod explores the life and work of Benjamin Benjamin Britten for the 100th anniverary of the composer's birth. From humdrum origins, he rose to be the pre-eminent British composer of his day.
Bill Evans
November 15, 2013 12:00 - 1 hour - 60.6 MBDonald Macleod explores the life and music of Bill Evans, the 'poet of the piano' and the 'Chopin of jazz'. He came to prominence working with Miles Davis and played with Tony Bennett and Stan Getz
Ethel Smyth
November 08, 2013 12:00 - 50 minutes - 46.5 MBDonald Macleod explores the life and work of composer, author and women's rights champion Ethel Smyth
Franz Joseph Haydn
November 01, 2013 12:00 - 48 minutes - 44.3 MBDonald Macleod explores the life and music of Haydn through another musical form apart from the symphony that the composer made his own, his music for trio
Lully
October 25, 2013 11:00 - 1 hour - 54.9 MBDonald Macleod explores the work of Lully, the pre-eminent composer of the French court in the late 17th century, the founding father of French opera and a leading figure in the music of his era.
Chaminade and Holmes
October 18, 2013 11:00 - 1 hour - 59.2 MBDonald Macleod, with the help of experts Marcia Citron of Rice University and Karen Henson of Columbia University, explores the life and work of Cecile Chaminade and Augusta Holmes
Verdi 200
October 11, 2013 11:00 - 51 minutes - 47.3 MBDonald Macleod explores Verdi's later life and music when, after years of honing his craft, he propelled opera from the world of the 19th century into the modern age
British Film Music
September 27, 2013 12:15 - 1 hour - 56.6 MBDonald Macleod is joined by writer and film music expert John Huckvale to explore British film music. Covering over eight decades, their focus embraces Ealing comedy, Hammer horror, jazz and rock
Golden Age of Hollywood
September 20, 2013 12:15 - 55 minutes - 50.7 MB"Sound of Cinema" continues as Donald Macleod explores the soundtrack of The Golden Age of Hollywood, in the company of conductor and film music expert, John Wilson.
Gluck
September 13, 2013 12:15 - 51 minutes - 46.9 MBDonald Macleod explores the life and music of Christoph Willibald Gluck, seen as having 'reformed' opera in the second half of the 18th century, rescuing it from the excesses of the opera seria style
Dvorak
September 06, 2013 12:15 - 57 minutes - 52.2 MBDonald Macleod explores the life and work of Antonin Dvorak.
Dvorak
September 06, 2013 12:15 - 57 minutes - 52.2 MBDonald Macleod explores the life and work of Antonin Dvorak.
Dvorak
September 06, 2013 12:15 - 57 minutes - 52.2 MBDonald Macleod explores the life and work of Antonin Dvorak.
Sibelius
August 23, 2013 12:15 - 59 minutes - 54.1 MBDonald Macleod explores the life and music of Finnish composer Jean Sibelius, from his early years to his famous silent period
200 Years of the Royal Philharmonic Society
August 09, 2013 12:04 - 1 hour - 66.5 MBDonald Macleod recalls the story of the Royal Philharmonic Society - and the remarkable roll-call of commissions and world premieres given by the Society during its two centuries of existence
Robert Schumann
August 02, 2013 14:21 - 47 minutes - 43.4 MBDonald Macleod explores the life and music of Robert Schumann, who drew his inspiration as much from literature and the dramas of his own life as from the music of the composers he revered
Tchaikovsky
July 26, 2013 12:15 - 1 hour - 57.3 MBDonald Macleod explores the life and works of Russia's most popular Romatic composer.
Tchaikovsky
July 26, 2013 12:15 - 1 hour - 57.3 MBDonald Macleod explores the life and works of Russia's most popular Romatic composer.
Ravel and His World
July 05, 2013 12:15 - 1 hour - 61.8 MBDonald Macleod explores Ravel's life and music in context with his friends in the artistic group Les Apaches. As well as Ravel, there is music by Maurice Delage, Déodat de Séverac and Florent Schmitt
George Lloyd
June 28, 2013 13:01 - 50 minutes - 46.2 MBDonald Macleod explores the life and work of George Lloyd, the English Romantic composer who never stopped writing tunes, long after they had gone out of fashion.
Elgar
June 21, 2013 12:46 - 57 minutes - 52.7 MBDonald Macleod explores the life and work of the 'quintessentially English' Edward Elgar, a composer who nevertheless had musical roots firmly in Europe
Vaughan Williams
June 07, 2013 12:15 - 56 minutes - 51.8 MBDonald Macleod reflects on Vaughan Williams's highly productive later years
Faure
May 31, 2013 12:15 - 1 hour - 57.9 MBDonald Macleod charts the life and work of Gabriel Faure. He's joined by the composer's biographer Jessica Duchen, pianist Billy Eidi, and the leading authority on Faure's music, Jean-Michel Nectoux.
Faure
May 31, 2013 12:15 - 1 hour - 57.9 MBDonald Macleod charts the life and work of Gabriel Faure. He's joined by the composer's biographer Jessica Duchen, pianist Billy Eidi, and the leading authority on Faure's music, Jean-Michel Nectoux.
Wagner and His World
May 24, 2013 12:15 - 1 hour - 60.5 MBDonald Macleod explores the connections and relationships that helped establish Wagner as the most revolutionary musical thinker of the 19th century
Hummel
May 17, 2013 12:15 - 53 minutes - 49.1 MBDonald Macleod explores the life and music of Hummel, regarded by Chopin as one of the three greatest masters alongside Mozart and Beethoven
Copland
May 10, 2013 12:15 - 59 minutes - 54.6 MBDonald Macleod explores Copland's life and work through the places he lived, visited, and evoked in his music
Meyerbeer
May 03, 2013 12:10 - 57 minutes - 53 MBDonald Macleod explores the life and work of Giacomo Meyerbeer in conversation with one of the composer's leading advocates, Robert Letellier
Gordon Jacob and Joseph Horovitz
April 19, 2013 15:44 - 1 hour - 80.6 MBDonald is joined by Joseph Horovitz,to talk about his own career and that of Gordon Jacob
Gordon Jacob and Joseph Horovitz
April 19, 2013 12:10 - 1 hour - 80.6 MBDonald Macleod is joined by composer Joseph Horovitz, who not only talks about his own career, but also that of his one-time teacher Gordon Jacob
Giacomo Puccini
April 05, 2013 12:15 - 40 minutes - 37.3 MBDonald Macleod explores the life and work of Giacomo Puccini
J S Bach
March 29, 2013 13:15 - 1 hour - 61.5 MBAs part of Baroque Spring, a month-long season of Baroque music and culture, Donald Macleod explores the life and music of Bach
J S Bach
March 29, 2013 13:15 - 1 hour - 61.5 MBAs part of Baroque Spring, a month-long season of Baroque music and culture, Donald Macleod explores the life and music of Bach
Vivaldi
March 22, 2013 13:15 - 57 minutes - 52.9 MBAs part of Baroque Spring, Radio 3's season celebrating Baroque music and culture, Donald Macleod explores the life and music of Vivaldi.
Purcell
March 15, 2013 13:15 - 55 minutes - 50.6 MBFor Radio 3's Baroque Spring season, Donald Macleod explores the life and music of arguably the greatest English composer of the era, Henry Purcell
Purcell
March 15, 2013 13:15 - 55 minutes - 50.6 MBFor Radio 3's Baroque Spring season, Donald Macleod explores the life and music of arguably the greatest English composer of the era, Henry Purcell
Handel
March 08, 2013 14:00 - 57 minutes - 52.4 MBFor Radio 3's Baroque Spring season, Donald Macleod explores Handel's years spent in Italy with the help of novelist, biographer and avid Handelian Jonathan Keates
Handel
March 08, 2013 14:00 - 57 minutes - 52.4 MBFor Radio 3's Baroque Spring season, Donald Macleod explores Handel's years spent in Italy with the help of novelist, biographer and avid Handelian Jonathan Keates
Handel
March 08, 2013 14:00 - 57 minutes - 52.4 MBFor Radio 3's Baroque Spring season, Donald Macleod explores Handel's years spent in Italy with the help of novelist, biographer and avid Handelian Jonathan Keates
Gounod
March 01, 2013 13:00 - 52 minutes - 48 MBDonald Macleod explores the life and music of Charles Gounod, known today for little other than the song Ave Maria and the hugely popular opera Faust, yet an important French composer
WF Bach
February 22, 2013 14:00 - 1 hour - 60 MBDonald Macleod presents a rare glimpse of WF Bach's life and legacy in conversation with Bach scholar David Schulenberg, featuring concerti, flute duets, cantatas and compositions for solo keyboard
Avison and Stanley
February 08, 2013 14:23 - 55 minutes - 51.1 MBDonald Macleod explores the lives and music of two composers who were 18th-century contemporaries but worked at opposite ends of the country: Charles Avison in Newcastle and John Stanley in London
Bruckner
February 01, 2013 14:00 - 55 minutes - 50.4 MBDonald Macleod explores the life and work of Anton Bruckner, now celebrated as one of the greatest symphonists of the 19th century
Jommelli
January 25, 2013 14:00 - 50 minutes - 46.2 MBDonald Macleod surveys the life and music of Niccolo Jommelli, who was once dubbed 'the new Orpheus'
John Williams
January 18, 2013 14:00 - 1 hour - 68.2 MBTo mark the composer's 80th birthday year, Donald Macleod is joined by John Williams for an exploration of his life and music
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