Curtain Raiser
Collection items
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Curtain Raiser: Bach - Magnificat
25 Aug 2016Indra Hughes provides an introduction to the wonderful 'Magnificat', written by J S Bach to celebrate the Christmas of 1723, at the end of his first year as Director of Music at St Thomas's Church in… Audio
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Curtain Raiser: Beethoven - Archduke Trio
9 May 2013Beethoven had been living with deafness for over a decade when he played piano for the première of this Trio. Introduced by Peter Watts. Audio
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Curtain Raiser: Beethoven - Missa Solemnis
6 Jun 2013Composed between 1819 and 1823, the Missa Solemnis is one of Beethoven's supreme achievements. Introduced by Brian Kay. Audio
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Curtain Raiser: Beethoven - Piano Concerto No 4
7 May 2013Beethoven's elegant and genial 4th piano concerto, composed at the same time as his more famous 5th symphony, is introduced by Peter Watts. Audio
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Curtain Raiser: Beethoven - Symphony No 3, Eroica
16 Apr 2016Beethoven’s Third Symphony was criticised for being too long, but he’d already declared his intentions after finishing his second symphony, in 1802. The 'Eroica' is introduced by Peter Watts. Audio
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Curtain Raiser: Beethoven - Symphony No 5
13 Jun 2014Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony has so indelibly entered our cultural consciousness that it is as much a part of our collective identity as chocolate fish and jandals. Introduced by Rachel Hyde. Audio
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Curtain Raiser: Beethoven - Symphony No 7 in A
6 May 2015Beethoven himself considered this symphony one of his best works.
Introduced by Indra Hughes. Audio
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Curtain Raiser: Berg - Violin Concerto
26 Mar 2014This work is subtitled 'To the Memory of an Angel'. Matthew Crawford explains the story behind the dedication. Audio
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Curtain Raiser: Berlioz - Symphonie Fantastique
26 Mar 2014Berlioz's opium-fuelled vision of an artist's life is introduced by Erica Challis. Audio
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Curtain Raiser: Brahms, Beethoven & Monumentalising Music
6 Oct 2012Brahms’s first symphony reflects the traditions of monumentalisation that formed around Beethoven. Presented by Inge van Rij. Audio
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Curtain Raiser: Brahms, Joseph Joachim and the Paradox of the Concerto
13 Oct 2012Brahms’s Violin Concerto represents a high point in the relationship between composer and violinist. Presented by Inge van Rij. Audio
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Curtain Raiser: Brahms & Women
20 Oct 2012Mysterious relationships, presented by Inge van Rij. Audio
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Curtain Raiser: Brahms the Academic
27 Oct 2012A batch of polkas & waltzes presented by Inge van Rij. Audio
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Curtain Raiser: Britten - War Requiem
26 Mar 2014The War Requiem premiered in 1962 at the opening of the new Coventry Cathedral built alongside the ruins of the bombed out medieval one. Britten's chosen texts and searing music make a powerful… Audio
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Curtain Raiser: Canteloube - Songs of the Auvergne
6 Jun 2013These much-loved folk-song arrangements are introduced by Matthew Crawford. Audio
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Curtain Raiser: Debussy - La Mer
2 Jul 2015All too often a great work of art is completely misunderstood when it’s first unveiled. This was true of Claude Debussy’s 'La Mer' when it was premiered in Paris in 1905. Introduction by Indra Hughes.
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Curtain Raiser: Debussy - Nocturnes
4 Apr 2016Inspired by the paintings of Whistler, Debussy creates three moody impressions. Presented by Kenneth Young. Audio
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Curtain Raiser: Dvořák - Cello Concerto
6 Jun 2013Even critics, who don’t put Antonín Dvořák in the top echelon of composers, make an exception with this piece. Introduced by Murray Khouri. Audio
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Curtain Raiser: Elgar - Enigma Variations
18 Jun 2015Elgar's set of 14 variations are sketches of his friends ... well, actually 12 other people, the composer himself, and a dog. Indra Hughes presents an introduction. Audio
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Curtain Raiser: Fauré - Requiem
12 Jun 2013Some of the most beautiful music in the choral repertoire is to be found in the pages of Fauré's score.
Introduced by Brian Kay. Audio
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Curtain Raiser: Ross Harris - Symphony No 6, Last Letter
21 Jul 2016Amber Read talks to Ross Harris about his music and the four poems by Vincent O'Sullivan which serve as the text and subject matter of his sixth symphony. Video, Audio
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Curtain Raiser: Haydn - The Creation
12 Jun 2013Haydn's colourful oratorio uses texts from the book of Genesis and from Milton's Paradise Lost.
Introduced by Allan Badley. Audio
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Curtain Raiser: Holst - The Planets
17 May 2013Gustav Holst's seven movement work was composed during WW1 and needs a large orchestra plus chorus of women's voices. The composer's own favourite movement was Saturn - the Bringer of Old Age… Audio
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Curtain Raiser: Jenkins - The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace
13 Jun 2013The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace was composed in the year 2000 by Welshman Karl Jenkins. Our introduction to this popular modern work is by Brian Kay. Video, Audio
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Curtain Raiser: Mahler - Symphony No 3
2 Apr 2016Mahler creates a whole world in a symphony with grand concepts reflecting nature and humanity. He said, "My work forms a musical poem covering all stages of evolution, ascending stepwise. It begins… Audio
Don't know your Sibelius from your Shostakovich?
Curtain Raiser explains the background and what to listen for in one of the major pieces of the classical repertoire, and provides an illustrated introduction to a work coming up in Music Alive.
