SATURDAY 17 FEBRUARY 2024

SAT 01:00 Gameplay with Baby Queen (m001338k)
Iconic soundtracks to sweep you to victory

Baby Queen mixes a playlist of the finest gaming soundtracks to help you level up with music from Paradise Killer, Spelunky and Death Loop.

Join the Gameplay community at The Student Room to share your favourite gaming soundtracks. Search The Student Room x Gameplay to be part of the conversation.

01 Gordy Haab (artist)
Star Wars: Squadrons - First Assignment
Performer: Gordy Haab
Duration 00:04:51

02 00:04:51 aivi & surasshu (artist)
Ikenfell - Memories in the Mist
Performer: aivi & surasshu
Duration 00:04:24

03 00:09:15 Epoch (artist)
Paradise Killer - Temple of Tears
Performer: Epoch
Duration 00:04:34

04 00:13:49 Jason Hayes (artist)
World of Warcraft - Seasons of War
Performer: Jason Hayes
Duration 00:02:39

05 00:16:28 fingerspit (artist)
Atticus VII - Dark Matter Melody
Performer: fingerspit
Duration 00:02:52

06 00:19:20 Eli Rainsberry (artist)
A Monster's Expedition - Walking Through Mists
Performer: Eli Rainsberry
Duration 00:04:44

07 00:24:04 Todd Masten (artist)
Age of Empires II - Tazer
Performer: Todd Masten
Duration 00:04:03

08 00:28:08 Chris Christobolou (artist)
Risk of Rain 2 - Main Theme
Performer: Chris Christobolou
Duration 00:05:12

09 00:33:19 Kevin Penkin (artist)
Necrobarista - Duet
Performer: Kevin Penkin
Duration 00:02:14

10 00:35:33 Josie Brechner (artist)
Best Friends Forever - Let's Hold Hands
Performer: Josie Brechner
Duration 00:03:24

11 00:38:57 Jack Wall (artist)
Mass Effect 3 - Suicide Mission
Performer: Jack Wall
Duration 00:04:30

12 00:43:28 Ross Tregenza (artist)
Deathloop - Carnival
Performer: Ross Tregenza
Duration 00:02:26

13 00:45:54 Eirik Suhrke (artist)
Spelunky 2 - Molten Factory
Performer: Eirik Suhrke
Duration 00:02:06

14 00:48:00 Viacheslav Pakalin (artist)
Sherlock Holmes - Epilogue
Performer: Viacheslav Pakalin
Duration 00:03:03

15 00:51:02 Peter McConnell (artist)
Costume Quest - Combat Loop
Performer: Peter McConnell
Duration 00:04:21

16 00:55:23 Gareth Coker (artist)
Ruined King: A League of Legends Story - Rise Against Ruin
Performer: Gareth Coker
Duration 00:04:35


SAT 02:00 Gameplay with Baby Queen (m00139yw)
Orchestral beats to bring out your competitive side

Baby Queen brings you a mix of the best video game music to bring out your competitive side, featuring soundtracks of Zelda, Lost in Random, Signs of the Sojourner, Unravel and Darkfire Heroes.

Join the Gameplay community at The Student Room to share stories about your favourite gaming soundtracks. Search The Student Room x Gameplay to be part of the conversation.

01 Rozen (artist)
Legend of Zelda - Battle for the Sacred Realm
Performer: Rozen
Duration 00:05:09

02 00:05:09 Yoko Shimomura (artist)
Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep - Fate of the Unknown
Performer: Yoko Shimomura
Duration 00:03:34

03 00:08:43 Project Destasi (artist)
Kingdom Hearts - Dark Impetus
Performer: Project Destasi
Duration 00:03:36

04 00:12:18 Blake Robinson (artist)
Lost in Random - Random
Performer: Blake Robinson
Duration 00:02:50

05 00:15:08 Eli Rainsberry (artist)
Bird Alone - The Garden of Our Hopes and Dreams
Performer: Eli Rainsberry
Duration 00:05:59

06 00:21:07 Daniel James (artist)
Maneater - Prologue
Performer: Daniel James
Duration 00:03:09

07 00:24:16 Nobuo Uematsu (artist)
The Story of Blik-O/Fantasian - Act 3
Performer: Nobuo Uematsu
Duration 00:02:49

08 00:27:05 Riley Koenig (artist)
A Fold Apart - One Fold Closer
Performer: Riley Koenig
Duration 00:04:02

09 00:31:07 Bonnie Grace (artist)
The Vale: Shadow of the Crown - Call the Herd
Performer: Bonnie Grace
Duration 00:02:31

10 00:33:38 Bonnie Grace (artist)
The Vale: Shadow of the Crown - Norman Kings
Performer: Bonnie Grace
Duration 00:03:04

11 00:36:41 Niels Bye Nielsen (artist)
Darkfire Heroes - Heroes
Performer: Niels Bye Nielsen
Duration 00:02:59

12 00:39:40 Frida Johansson (artist)
Unravel - Watch the Waves
Performer: Frida Johansson
Duration 00:03:00

13 00:42:40 Patrik Jarlestam (artist)
Valheim - Out for a Sailing Adventure
Performer: Patrik Jarlestam
Duration 00:04:28

14 00:47:08 Skewsound (artist)
Signs of the Sojourner - Aldhurst
Performer: Skewsound
Duration 00:03:36

15 00:50:44 Yu-Peng Chen (artist)
Genshin Impact - Rite of Battle
Performer: Yu-Peng Chen
Duration 00:04:14

16 00:54:58 Ryan Lott (artist)
Tell Me Why - Epilogue
Performer: Ryan Lott
Duration 00:02:40

17 00:57:39 IronFairy (artist)
Unsighted - Crystalline
Performer: IronFairy
Duration 00:02:20

18 00:59:59 Mahalia (artist)
Whenever You're Ready
Performer: Mahalia
Duration 00:03:34

19 00:59:59 Bicep (artist)
Apricots
Performer: Bicep
Duration 00:02:34


SAT 03:00 Through the Night (m001w1kn)
SNG Maribor Symphony Orchestra

Ivan Hut conducts the SNG Maribor Symphony Orchestra in Mozart's 2nd Horn Concerto, Gliere's Symphony no.1 and music by Slovenia's Janez Maticic. Presented by Danielle Jalowiecka.

03:01 AM
Janez Maticic (1926-2022)
Suite for strings
SNG Maribor Symphony Orchestra, Ivan Hut (conductor)

03:21 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Horn Concerto no.2 in E flat major, K.417
Bostjan Lipovsek (french horn), SNG Maribor Symphony Orchestra, Ivan Hut (conductor)

03:35 AM
Maria Theresia von Paradis (1759-1824), Ziga Stanic (arranger)
Sicilienne
Bostjan Lipovsek (french horn), SNG Maribor Symphony Orchestra, Ivan Hut (conductor)

03:39 AM
Reinhold Gliere (1875-1956)
Symphony no.1 in E flat major, Op.8
SNG Maribor Symphony Orchestra, Ivan Hut (conductor)

04:16 AM
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Trio for piano and strings No.7 in B flat major, 'Archduke' (Op.97)
Arcadia Trio, Reiner Gepp (piano), Gorian Kosuta (violin), Milos Mlejnik (cello)

04:57 AM
Jacobus Gallus Carniolus (1550-1591)
Madrigal: Musica noster amor a 6 (M 28)
Ljubljanski madrigalisti, Matjaz Scek (director)

05:01 AM
Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)
Overture to La Forza del destino
Orchestre du Conservatoire de Musique du Quebec, Raffi Armenian (conductor)

05:08 AM
Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179)
Ave Generosa
Orpheus Women's Choir, Albert Wissink (director)

05:14 AM
Carl Friedrich Abel (1723-1787)
Concerto for flute and orchestra in C major, Op 6 no 1
Karl Kaiser (transverse flute), La Stagione Frankfurt, Michael Schneider (director)

05:27 AM
Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959)
Prelude for guitar no 3 in A minor
Norbert Kraft (guitar)

05:34 AM
Stanislaw Moniuszko (1819-1872)
Ballet Music from Hrabina 'The Countess'
Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Lukasz Borowicz (conductor)

05:49 AM
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Sonata in A minor HWV 362
Bolette Roed (recorder), Allan Rasmussen (harpsichord)

06:00 AM
Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)
Holberg Suite, Op 40
Zurich Chamber Orchestra, Willi Zimmermann (conductor)

06:21 AM
Lars-Erik Larsson (1908-1986), Sigfrid Siwertz (lyricist)
De nakna tradens sanger, Op 7 (Songs of the Naked Trees)
Swedish Radio Choir, Gote Widlund (conductor)

06:37 AM
Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
Sextet for piano and strings in D major, Op 110
Wu Han (piano), Philip Setzer (violin), Nokuthula Ngwenyama (viola), Cynthia Phelps (viola), Carter Brey (cello), Michael Wais (bass)


SAT 07:00 Breakfast (m001w8pg)
Start your weekend the Radio 3 way, with Saturday Breakfast

Elizabeth Alker with a breakfast melange of classical music, folk and the odd Unclassified track. Start your weekend right.


SAT 09:00 Record Review (m001w8pj)
Saint-Saëns's 'Organ Symphony' in Building a Library with Anna Lapwood and Andrew McGregor

Andrew McGregor with the best new recordings of classical music.

9.30 am
Jeremy Sams brings his selection of exciting new releases to the studio and shares his On Repeat track: music he has been listening to again and again.

10.30 am
Building a Library

Anna Lapwood chooses her favourite recording of Camille Saint-Saëns's Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Op. 78 'Organ Symphony'.

Camille Saint-Saëns's prodigious musical talent and long life gave him the distinction of having been mocked by Berlioz ("He knows everything, but lacks inexperience”) and dismissed by Debussy (as “the musician of tradition”).

At the age of 51, commissioned by the London Philharmonic Society, the 'French Beethoven' (as Gounod described him) was determined to write a masterpiece and his third and final symphony was a colossal success at its 1886 London premiere. Much recorded, with memorable tunes, dazzling orchestration, visceral excitement and grandeur (including an unforgettable organ entry) it still fills concert halls and thrills audiences today. As if that wasn't enough, the main theme of its last section spawned both the 1978 Scott Fitzgerald & Yvonne Keeley UK hit “If I had Words” and the soundtrack of the 1995 film Babe, about a pig who wants to be a sheepdog.

11.20 am
Record of the Week: Andrew’s top pick.

Send us your On Repeat recommendations at recordreview@bbc.co.uk or tweet us @BBCRadio3


SAT 11:45 Music Matters (m001w8pl)
Music and Theatre

Tom Service joins the Canadian-American singer, songwriter, and composer Rufus Wainwright during rehearsals in London for his new musical Opening Night. Based on the 1977 John Cassavetes film, Wainwright is collaborating with director, Ivo van Hove, and actress and singer, Sheridan Smith, to depict the mental and creative survival of the protagonist Myrtle Gordon. He tells Tom about the project’s serendipitous genesis, his love of song, and why only now he’s approaching the genre.

The historian Suzanne Aspden and baritone and director Thomas Guthrie join Tom at His Majesty’s Theatre on the Haymarket in London, home to Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera for the past four decades, to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the premiere of Handel’s opera, Giulio Cesare at the former King’s Theatre built on the same site. They discuss Handel’s entrepreneurship, the opera’s popular acclaim, and the financial and operational challenges still faced across the world of musical theatre.

During a break in auditions for their new musical, Why Am I So Single?, Tom travels to Vauxhall to meet Lucy Moss and Toby Marlow - the creatives behind the smash-hit musical retelling the tale of the six wives of Henry VIII, Six: The Musical. He hears about the development required to take a musical from idea to stage, and learns more about the National Youth Music Theatre’s work to support the next generation of musical theatre stars.

And, Music Matters travels to Stratford-upon-Avon to find out more about the Royal Shakespeare Company’s staging of BEN and IMO – a new production by playwright Mark Ravenhill and director Erica Whyman which explores the creative relationship between the composer Benjamin Britten and Imogen Holst as they prepare the opera Gloriana for the coronation of Elizabeth II in 1953. Composer Conor Mitchell describes the approach he took to writing the music which accompanies the play, and the actors Samuel Barnett and Victoria Yeates are joined by director Erica Whyman to share the insights informing their characterisation of these two complex figures and the musical endeavour they embark on together.


SAT 12:30 This Classical Life (m001w8pn)
Jess Gillam with... Jordan Bak

Jess Gillam meets violist Jordan Bak to share some of their favourite music.

Jamaican-American violist Jordan Bak is a proud new music advocate – he’s performed world premieres of works by composers including Kaija Saariaho and Augusta Read Thomas. His debut album IMPULSE was released in 2022 and he’s performed with orchestras including London Mozart Players. His musical picks include works by Florence Price, reggae singer Koffee, and Benjamin Britten, whilst Jess has chosen a classic Radiohead track and Stokowski’s take on Bach.

PLAYLIST:

FLORENCE PRICE – String Quartet No 2 in A minor (3rd mvt, Juba) [Catalyst Quartet]
FANNY MENDELSSOHN - Schluss [Heather Schmidt (piano)]
PALACE – Live Well
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH, ARR LEOPOLD STOKOWSKI – Passacaglia And Fugue in C minor, BWV 582 [Philadelphia Orchestra, Yannick Nézet-Séguin (conductor)]
KOFFEE – Toast
RADIOHEAD – House of Cards
BENJAMIN BRITTEN – Night Piece “Notturno” [Stephen Hough (piano)]


SAT 13:00 Inside Music (m001w8pr)
Conductor Chloe Rooke with music that fizzes and music that breathes

Chloe Rooke conducts orchestral concerts and opera performances regularly in both the Netherlands and the UK, besides enjoying bringing musicians together in more unusual places - taking music directly to people, wherever they might be.

Chloe’s choices on Inside Music range from the positive message of unity implied in Gustav Holst’s ‘Jupiter’ from his Planets suite, to the jazzy influences and melodic gorgeousness of Madeleine Dring’s Trio for flute, oboe and piano.

She also plays a calm but deeply emotional piece by Benjamin Britten, celebrates the precocious composing talent of Clara Schumann and delves into what she calls the ‘intention and intensity’ of two Intermezzi by Johannes Brahms.

A series in which each week a musician explores a selection of music - from the inside.

A Tandem Production for BBC Radio 3


SAT 15:00 Sound of Cinema (m001kpc8)
Stephen Warbeck

Matthew Sweet in conversation with the Oscar-winning composer of Shakespeare in Love, Stephen Warbeck.


SAT 16:00 Music Planet (m001w8pw)
Cosquín Festival, Argentina

Lopa Kothari with the latest releases from across the globe, plus a Road Trip to Córdoba in Argentina, where Betto Arcos reports from the Cosquín Festival of traditional music.


SAT 17:00 J to Z (m001sf4y)
London Jazz Festival Highlights

Kevin Le Gendre presents highlights from the J to Z Presents stage at the Barbican as part of the London Jazz Festival – including a dazzling solo piano performance by Japanese virtuoso Hiromi, propulsive grooves and serene ballads from drum great Mark Guiliana, an intimate duo set by vocalist on the rise Sofia Grant, and bold colours from pianist Zoe Rahman and her quintet.

Produced by Thomas Rees for Somethin’ Else

01 Zoe Rahman Quintet (artist)
Dance of Time (Live on the J to Z Presents stage at LJF 2023)
Performer: Zoe Rahman Quintet

02 00:07:42 Zoe Rahman Quintet (artist)
For Love (Live on the J to Z Presents stage at LJF 2023)
Performer: Zoe Rahman Quintet
Duration 00:07:41

03 00:17:37 Daniel Villarreal (artist)
Daytime Nighttime
Performer: Daniel Villarreal
Performer: Anna Butterss
Performer: Jeff Parker
Duration 00:03:58

04 00:22:28 Sofia Grant (artist)
Walk On Water (Live on the J to Z Presents stage at LJF 2023)
Performer: Sofia Grant
Featured Artist: Lorenz
Duration 00:07:03

05 00:29:34 Sofia Grant (artist)
Storm (Live on the J to Z Presents stage at LJF 2023)
Performer: Sofia Grant
Featured Artist: Lorenz
Duration 00:04:16

06 00:35:42 John Coltrane (artist)
Like Sonny
Performer: John Coltrane
Duration 00:06:04

07 00:42:11 Hiromi (artist)
Once in a Blue Moon (Live on the J to Z Presents stage at LJF 2023)
Performer: Hiromi
Duration 00:11:45

08 00:58:26 Stanley Turrentine (artist)
Tacos
Performer: Stanley Turrentine
Duration 00:06:38

09 01:06:45 Mark Guiliana (artist)
The Most Important Question (Live on the J to Z Presents stage at LJF 2023)
Performer: Mark Guiliana
Duration 00:06:38

10 01:13:48 Mark Guiliana (artist)
Peace Please (Live on the J to Z Presents stage at LJF 2023)
Performer: Mark Guiliana
Duration 00:07:38

11 01:22:52 Courtney Pine (artist)
Children of the Ghetto
Performer: Courtney Pine
Duration 00:05:41


SAT 18:30 Opera on 3 (m001w8q2)
Wagner's Tannhäuser

From the Metropolitan Opera in New York: can medieval minstrel Tannhäuser find redemption? Donald Runnicles conducts an all-star cast, with Andreas Schager in the title role. Thirteenth-century German knight and musician Tannäauser is torn between sexual and spiritual love, personified by the goddess Venus - with whom he's recently been shacked up - and the chaste Landgrave's niece Elisabeth. Will Elisabeth's faithful love, the loyal friendship of Wolfram and a penitent pilgrimage to Rome be enough to bring Tannhäuser salvation?

Presented by Debra Lew Harder with commentator Ira Siff.

Tannhäuser ..... Andreas Schager (tenor)
Venus ..... Ekaterina Gubanova (mezzo-soprano)
Elisabeth ..... Elza van den Heever (soprano)
Wolfram von Eschenbach ..... Christian Gerhaher (baritone)
Landgrave Herrmann ..... Georg Zeppenfeld (bass)
Walther von der Vogelweide ..... Kyle van Schoonhoven (tenor)
Biterolf ..... Le Bu (bass-baritone)
Heinrich ..... Tony Stevenson (tenor)
Reinmar ..... Harold Wilson (bass)
Shepherd ..... Maureen McKay (soprano)
Metropolitan Opera Chorus and Orchestra
Conductor Donald Runnicles


SAT 22:30 New Music Show (m001w8q7)
Kronos Quartet at 50

Tom Service presents the best in new music performance, including highlights from a recent concert by the legendary Kronos Quartet, who are celebrating their 50th year of playing new music, with over a thousand commissions to their name.

Recorded at the Bristol Beacon last month, the Kronos play Flow by Laurie Anderson, Sun Rings by Terry Riley, and a brand new piece by Aleksandra Vrebalov: Gold came from space.

Also in this show, a large-scale concerto for percussion called Inferno, by Icelandic composer Daniel Bjarnason.

Martin Grubinger is the soloist, with SWR Symphony Orchestra, Stuttgart conducted by Dima Slobodeniouk.

SUNDAY 18 FEBRUARY 2024

SUN 00:00 Freeness (m001kpcn)
Phantasmagoria

Corey Mwamba presents improvised music blurring the lines between worlds.

Led by the indomitable Marshall Allen, we hear a futuristic refashioning of an old myth: The Gordian Knot, a tale stretching back to Alexander the Great, and describing human creativity to overcome a seemingly insurmountable obstacle. Through an ancient-to-future soundscape of flute, shamanic drums, electronic synths and spoken word, this bold quartet unleash an enchanting world of possibility and hope.

In Mexico, the long circular breaths of flautist Camilo Ángeles meet the focused study of Violeta García’s cello to create an intoxicating atmosphere, blurring the lines between the corporeal and dream worlds. Elsewhere, saxophonist Ayumi Ishito pulls listeners into an interstellar imaginary. Gauzy layers of electronic experimentation bubble and blink like living organisms, whilst a whistling theremin offers a heady backdrop of ambient escape.

Produced by Tej Adeleye
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3

01 00:00:10 William Parker (artist)
Duet 1
Performer: William Parker
Performer: Kidd Jordan
Duration 00:01:05

02 00:02:19 Camilo Ángeles (artist)
Volcán de Bocadillos
Performer: Camilo Ángeles
Performer: Violeta García
Duration 00:03:56

03 00:06:16 Zhu Wenbo (artist)
Fragments Song
Performer: Zhu Wenbo
Performer: Zhu Songjie
Duration 00:07:23

04 00:15:08 Ayumi Ishito (artist)
Marsh Vocab
Performer: Ayumi Ishito
Duration 00:01:37

05 00:16:43 Colin Webster (artist)
Set 2
Performer: Colin Webster
Performer: Mark Holub
Performer: Sofia Salvo
Performer: Jan Roder
Duration 00:06:47

06 00:25:29 Kaze & Ikue Mori (artist)
Shifting Blocks
Performer: Kaze & Ikue Mori
Duration 00:05:29

07 00:30:58 Satoko Fujii (artist)
One Hundred Dreams, Part One
Performer: Satoko Fujii
Duration 00:09:28

08 00:41:58 Marcus Wiberg (artist)
The First Time
Performer: Marcus Wiberg
Performer: Célio Barros
Duration 00:04:29

09 00:46:28 Núria Andorrà (artist)
Make the Prison Tremble and Burn The Roots
Performer: Núria Andorrà
Performer: Fred Frith
Duration 00:04:18

10 00:52:39 Marshall Allen (artist)
Der Gordische Knoten / Il Nodo Gordiano
Performer: Marshall Allen
Duration 00:07:21


SUN 01:00 Through the Night (m001w8qd)
Schubertiade in Vilabertran

Ferran Albrich sings Franz Schubert, Eduard Toldrà and Albert Guinovart in Catalonia. Presented by Jonathan Swain.

01:01 AM
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Ganymed, D.544
Ferran Albrich (baritone), Albert Guinovart (piano)

01:05 AM
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Atys, D.585
Ferran Albrich (baritone), Albert Guinovart (piano)

01:09 AM
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
An die Leier, D.737
Ferran Albrich (baritone), Albert Guinovart (piano)

01:13 AM
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Frühlingsglaube, D.686
Ferran Albrich (baritone), Albert Guinovart (piano)

01:17 AM
Eduard Toldra (1895-1962)
Festeig
Ferran Albrich (baritone), Albert Guinovart (piano)

01:20 AM
Eduard Toldra (1895-1962)
Les garbes dormen al camp
Ferran Albrich (baritone), Albert Guinovart (piano)

01:22 AM
Eduard Toldra (1895-1962)
Platxèria
Ferran Albrich (baritone), Albert Guinovart (piano)

01:23 AM
Eduard Toldra (1895-1962)
Aquarel·la del Montseny
Ferran Albrich (baritone), Albert Guinovart (piano)

01:26 AM
Eduard Toldra (1895-1962)
Camins de fada
Ferran Albrich (baritone), Albert Guinovart (piano)

01:28 AM
Albert Guinovart (b.1962), Salvador Brotons i Soler (b.1959), Jordi Domenech (20th cent.)
Cycle of songs on poems by Joan Margarit
Ferran Albrich (baritone), Oriol Prat (cello), Albert Guinovart (piano)

02:02 AM
Albert Guinovart (b.1962)
El poble perdut
Ferran Albrich (cello), Oriol Prat (cello), Albert Guinovart (piano)

02:07 AM
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Symphony No.2 in B flat major (D.125)
Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, Staffan Larson (conductor)

02:40 AM
Franz Berwald (1796-1868)
String Quartet No 2 in A minor (1849)
Bernt Lysell (violin), Per Sandklef (violin), Thomas Sundkvist (viola), Mats Rondin (cello)

03:01 AM
Giovanni Bottesini (1821-1889)
Gran Duo Concertante for Violin and Double Bass and orchestra
Olena Pushkarska (violin), Dmytro Zyuzkin (double bass), NRCU Symphony Orchestra, Vyacheslav Blinov (conductor)

03:18 AM
Zygmunt Noskowski (1846-1909)
The Pearls of Moniuszko - 15 Songs for orchestra
Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Lukasz Borowicz (conductor)

03:36 AM
Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
Trio for keyboard and strings H.15.28 in E major
Beaux Arts Trio

03:53 AM
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Overture from the Incidental music to König Stephan
Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Andrew Davis (conductor)

04:01 AM
Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Novellette in F sharp minor (Op 21, No 8)
Claire Chevallier (fortepiano)

04:14 AM
Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767)
3 arias: Harte Fessel, strenge Ketten (Die syrische Unruh); Der Himmel will, ich soll ein Ziel (Mario, TWV 21:6); Ach was für Qual und Schmerz (Der unglückliche Alcmeon)
Jan Kobow (tenor), United Continuo Ensemble

04:24 AM
Franz Doppler (1821-1883)
Fantaisie pastorale hongroise (Op.26) (version for flute & piano)
Ian Mullin (flute), Richard Shaw (piano)

04:35 AM
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
Sheherazade - 3 poems (1903)
Catherine Robbin (mezzo soprano), Nora Shulman (flute), Andre Laplante (piano)

04:52 AM
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
Laudate pueri – Gloria Patri et Filio, RV 601
Nora Ducza (soprano), Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Csaba Somos (conductor)

05:01 AM
Henry Purcell (1659-1695), John Playford (1623-1686)
Charon the peaceful shade invites
Anders J. Dahlin (tenor), Les Ambassadeurs, Alexis Kossenko (director)

05:09 AM
Jacques Casterede (1926-2014)
Fantaisie Concertante for euphonium and piano
David Thornton (euphonium), Joanne Seeley (piano)

05:17 AM
Kaspar Forster (1616-1673)
Vanitas vanitatum (KBPJ 46)
Olga Pasiecznik (soprano), Krzysztof Szmyt (tenor), Grzegorz Zychowicz (bass), Il Tempo Baroque Ensemble

05:28 AM
Henry Litolff (1818-1891)
Scherzo - Concerto Symphonique No.4, Op 102
Arthur Ozolins (piano), Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Mario Bernardi (conductor)

05:36 AM
Witold Lutoslawski (1913-1994)
Ten Polish Dances
National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Lukasz Borowicz (conductor)

05:49 AM
John Sheppard (1515-1558), Jonathan Dove (b.1959)
In manus tuas (Sheppard) & Into Thy Hands (Dove)
Gabrieli Consort, Paul McCreesh (director)

06:01 AM
Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)
Violin Sonata no 2 in G major, Op 13
Marianne Thorsen (violin), Havard Gimse (piano)


06:43 AM
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
En blanc et noir for 2 pianos
Lestari Scholtes (piano), Gwylim Janssens (piano)


SUN 07:00 Breakfast (m001w8sr)
Lazy classical Sunday

Ian Skelly presents Radio 3's classical breakfast show with music that captures the mood of Sunday morning. Email 3breakfast@bbc.co.uk


SUN 09:00 Sunday Morning (m001w8t0)
A classical mix to brighten your Sunday

Linton Stephens chooses three hours of attractive and uplifting music to complement your morning.

Linton’s choices range from one of Joaquin Rodrigo’s most ravishing guitar melodies to the energy of a horn concerto by Ruth Gipps. The Chamber Orchestra of Europe sparkle in a performance of a favourite Rossini overture, and the rich textures of sitar and orchestra are conjured by composer Jasdeep Singh Degur. We’ll also take a journey to the skies with Ralph Vaughan Williams’ celebrated Lark Ascending.

Plus Linton enjoys some musical snapshots of his own instrument, the bassoon.

A Tandem Production for BBC Radio 3


SUN 12:00 Private Passions (m001w8tc)
Ray Cooper

The percussionist Ray Cooper is often referred to as the ‘father of rock and roll percussion’. He is renowned for his exuberant stage presence and for incorporating unusual instruments, including cowbells, glockenspiels, timpani and tubular bells to name but a few. He has worked with many of the world’s leading musicians including Pink Floyd, the Rolling Stones, Billy Joel, Carly Simon, Eric Clapton, Sting, Art Garfunkel, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Ringo Starr and George Harrison.

His most enduring collaboration has been with Elton John. Ray is on more than 90 of Elton’s recordings, and has performed over 1000 concerts with him, most recently on the Farewell Tour.

In 1979, Ray was asked by George Harrison to help run Handmade Films and he remained at the helm for just over a decade, overseeing the production of seminal British films such as Withnail and I, Time Bandits and The Long Good Friday.

Ray's musical choices include Bach, Shostakovich, John Tavener and Elton John.

Producer: Clare Walker


SUN 13:00 Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert (m001w1vg)
Bass-baritone Ashley Riches at Wigmore Hall

From Wigmore Hall: bass-baritone Ashley Riches and pianist Joseph Middleton celebrate the art of story-telling.

The former Radio 3 New Generation Artist, Ashley Riches returns to the Wigmore stage with a programme that begins with Schubert's terrifying Erlking and ends in the cabaret world of Bolcom's Black Max. And, in between, he and pianist Joseph Middleton take us to the banks of the Rhine, to medieval France, to an English country fair and so on to the solitary hotel of James Joyces' Ulysses.

Presented by Andrew McGregor.

Schubert: Erlkönig D328
Schubert: Der König in Thule D367
Liszt: Die Loreley S273
Wolf: Mörike Lieder - Die Geister am Mummelsee
Carl Loewe: Der Zauberlehrling Op. 20 No. 2
Saint-Saëns: Le pas d'armes du Roi Jean
Hahn: Trois jours de vendange
Debussy: 3 ballades de François Villon - Ballade des femmes de Paris
Warlock: Yarmouth Fair
Trad (arr. R. Quilter): Barbara Allen
Britten: Little Sir William
Barber: Despite and Still Op. 41 - Solitary Hotel
William Bolcom: 12 Cabaret Songs - Song of Black Max
William Bolcom - George

Ashley Riches (bass-baritone)
Joseph Middleton (piano)


SUN 14:00 The Early Music Show (m0011cln)
Who wrote Monteverdi's Coronation of Poppea?

The question of who wrote Monteverdi's last opera, The Coronation of Poppea, is a lot harder to answer than the old joke, 'Who wrote Beethoven's Fifth?' There's no evidence from Monteverdi's lifetime that he was involved with the opera at all. It seems likely that he did compose most of the music, but other composers probably contributed too – and there are at least five suspects in the frame. Lucie Skeaping turns detective to try to unravel the mystery.

01 00:05:12 Francesco Cavalli
Sinfonia (The Coronation of Poppea, Act 1)
Orchestra: Orchestra of the Antipodes
Conductor: Erin Helyard
Duration 00:02:12

02 00:08:51 Unknown
Eccomi quasi priva dell'Impero e consorte (The Coronation of Poppea, Act 2)
Singer: Adelisa Tabiadon
Orchestra: Orchestra Pro Arte Bassano
Conductor: Alberto Zedda
Duration 00:05:26

03 00:16:03 Francesco Sacrati
Nel solo rimirarti (The Coronation of Poppea, Act 3)
Singer: Della Jones
Ensemble: City of London Baroque Sinfonia
Conductor: Richard Hickox
Duration 00:03:15

04 00:21:19 Claudio Monteverdi
The death of Seneca (The Coronation of Poppea, Act 2)
Singer: Francesco Ellero d’Artegna
Singer: Roberto Balconi
Singer: Nigel Robson
Singer: Mark Tucker
Singer: Julian Clarkson
Ensemble: English Baroque Soloists
Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner
Duration 00:09:03

05 00:32:49 Claudio Monteverdi
Signor, oggi rinasco (The Coronation of Poppea, Act 3)
Singer: Sylvia McNair
Singer: Dana Hanchard
Ensemble: English Baroque Soloists
Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner
Duration 00:05:36

06 00:40:37 Filiberto Laurenzi
Stolta Melanto (La finta pazza)
Singer: Elena Cecchi‐Fedi
Ensemble: Ensemble Sezione Aurea
Duration 00:04:43

07 00:46:56 Benedetto Ferrari
Queste pungenti spine (Spiritual cantata)
Conductor: Philippe Jaroussky
Ensemble: L’Arpeggiata
Director: Christina Pluhar
Duration 00:07:34

08 00:55:29 Claudio Monteverdi
Dolce speme (The Return of Ulysses, Act 2)
Singer: Francisco Fernandez-Rueda
Singer: Furio Zanasi
Ensemble: English Baroque Soloists
Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner
Duration 00:00:37

09 00:56:09 Claudio Monteverdi
Come dolce oggi l'auretta (Madrigals, Book 9)
Singer: Emma Kirkby
Singer: Judith Nelson
Singer: Poppy Holden
Ensemble: Consort of Musicke
Conductor: Anthony Rooley
Duration 00:03:23

10 00:56:47 Claudio Monteverdi
Pur ti miro (The Coronation of Poppea, Act 3)
Singer: Sylvia McNair
Singer: Dana Hanchard
Ensemble: English Baroque Soloists
Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner
Duration 00:04:07


SUN 15:00 Choral Evensong (m001w1y0)
Guildford Cathedral

From Guildford Cathedral on Ash Wednesday.

Introit: Kyrie after Byrd (Roxanna Panufnik)
Responses: Byrd
Psalm 51 (James MacMillan)
First Lesson: Isaiah 1 vv.10-18
Canticles: The Short Service (Weelkes)
Second Lesson: Luke 15 vv.11-32
Anthem: Half So Well (Gregory May) – World Premiere
Hymn: Forty Days and Forty Nights (Aus Der Tiefe)
Voluntary: Meditation (James MacMillan)

Katherine Dienes-Williams (Organist and Master of the Choristers)
Asher Oliver (Sub-Organist)


SUN 16:00 Jazz Record Requests (m001w8v0)
Your Sunday jazz soundtrack

Alyn Shipton presents jazz records of all styles as requested by you.

Get in touch: jrr@bbc.co.uk or use #jazzrecordrequests on social.


SUN 17:00 The Listening Service (m001fn3s)
Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune: Half Man, Half Myth, All Debussy

Tom Service plunges into the heady sound world of Debussy's Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune.

"The flute of the faun brought new breath to the art of music" according to composer Pierre Boulez - how does Debussy do it? A ten-minute piece of music that apparently broke all the existing rules of harmony and yet is as minutely detailed as any miniature.

And what do flautists make of the famous opening solo - we hear from principal flute player with the London Symphony Orchestra, Gareth Davies, who demonstrates Debussy's strange magic on a flute of the time.


SUN 17:30 Words and Music (m001w98v)
Antarctica - from Shackleton to Happy Feet

If you call to mind an image of Antarctica, it is likely you will come up with something informed by the heroic but ultimately unsuccessful Endurance Expedition led by Sir Ernest Shackleton. That’s because the extraordinary photographs and film from that trip planted the so-called White Continent in our imaginations for ever. Shackleton, who was born in Ireland in February 1874 before moving to London as a boy, might be best known for that failed trip but the fact that his crew survived, when so many did not, is now seen as a credit to his exceptional leadership skills.

Today’s Words and Music is a tribute to the frozen landscape that inspired the heroic age of exploration. It is not just remote - it contains the world's highest, driest, coldest and windiest places. And these days it’s a hub of scientific discovery, international diplomacy and environmental change too. We’ll hear fiction from Beryl Bainbridge to Edgar Allan Poe, poetry from Samuel Taylor Coleridge to Derek Mahon, memoir from Jenny Diski and Sara Wheeler as well David Attenborough, Maori scientists and other Polar Explorers. Alongside you’ll hear hugely varied music inspired by Antarctica from Vaughan Williams to Tanya Ekanayaka, from The Muppets to Nigel Westlake and Cab Calloway. Our readers are Jessica Turner and John Lightbody.

Produced in Salford by Olive Clancy

01 00:01:22 Glåsbird
Overwinter
Performer: Glåsbird
Duration 00:02:55

02 00:02:20
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner read by John Lightbody
Duration 00:01:36

03 00:04:20
Ranulph Fiennes
Shackleton: a biography read by Jessica Turner
Duration 00:00:50

04 00:05:09 Jabra Latham
Antarctic Triptych II: The Hut
Performer: Andew Seymor
Duration 00:02:07

05 00:05:24
Ranulph Fiennes
Shackleton: a biography read by Jessica Turner
Duration 00:00:46

06 00:06:23 Jabra Latham
Antarctic Triptych II: The Hut
Performer: Andew Seymor
Duration 00:00:46

07 00:07:16 Ezio Bosso
Symphony No 1 Oceans (Antarctic)
Performer: Ezio Bosso
Duration 00:02:31

08 00:07:18
Sir Ernest Shackleton
Race to the Pole
Duration 00:00:56

09 00:08:18 Ezio Bosso
Symphony No 1 Oceans (Antarctic)
Performer: Ezio Bosso
Duration 00:00:56

10 00:09:15 Ernest Shackleton (artist)
The Dash to the South Pole
Performer: Ernest Shackleton
Duration 00:00:37

11 00:09:50 Ralph Vaughan Williams
Symphony No 7 Sinfonia Antarctica
Performer: Halle Orchestra/Sir Mark Elder
Duration 00:04:03

12 00:13:28
Sara Wheeler
Terra Incognita read by Jessica Turner
Duration 00:01:50

13 00:15:20 Drecker/Jenssen/Johansen
White Out Conditions
Performer: Bel Canto
Duration 00:02:06

14 00:17:00
Derek Mahon
Antarctica read by John Lightbody The Poems: 1961-2020 (The Gallery Press, 2021)
Duration 00:01:26

15 00:18:34 Nigel Westlake
Antarctica Suite – Penguin ballet
Performer: John Williams
Duration 00:03:03

16 00:21:30
Beryl Bainbridge
Birthday Boys read by Jessica Turner
Duration 00:01:48

17 00:23:20 Ludovico Einaudi
Temple White
Performer: Ludovico Einaudi
Duration 00:03:38

18 00:25:30
Sinfonia antartica: I. Prelude. 'to suffer woes”
David Timson
Duration 00:00:33

19 00:26:00 Henry Mancini
Arctic Whale Hunt
Conductor: Erich Kunzel
Duration 00:02:35

20 00:28:20
Sir Ernest Shackleton and Crew
Parody of Kipling’s If read by John Lightbody
Duration 00:00:42


22 00:29:00 Men Without Hats (artist)
Antarctica
Performer: Men Without Hats
Duration 00:00:54

23 00:29:50
Doris Lessing
Afterward to The Making of the Representative for Planet 8 read by Jessica Turner
Duration 00:01:42

24 00:31:33 Howard Goodall
Shackleton’s Cross
Performer: Howard Goodall
Duration 00:04:18

25 00:34:00
Caroline Alexander
Mrs Chippy’s last Expedition: the remarkable journal of Shackleton’s Polar-Bound Cat read by John Lightbody
Duration 00:01:57

26 00:35:30 Brian Setzer
Stray Cat Strut
Performer: Stray Cats
Duration 00:01:13

27 00:36:40 Franz Schubert
Winter Journey - Frozen Tears
Performer: Roderick Williams
Duration 00:02:36

28 00:39:00
Emily Dickinson
Our Journey Had Advanced, read by Jessica Turner
Duration 00:00:33


30 00:39:57
Edgar Allan Poe
The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym
Duration 00:01:25


32 00:42:02
Bernadette Mayer
The Way to keep going in Antarctica read by Jessica Turner
Duration 00:02:15

33 00:44:00 John Grant
Glacier
Performer: John Grant
Duration 00:02:15

34 00:46:00
Jenny Diski
A feeling for Ice read by Jessica Turner
Duration 00:02:02

35 00:47:48 Evangelos Papathanassiou
Antarctica Echoes
Performer: Vangelis
Duration 00:05:52

36 00:48:39
Elizabeth Bishop
The Imaginary Iceberg read by Jessica Turner
Duration 00:02:52

37 00:51:32 Evangelos Papathanassiou
Antarctica Echoes
Performer: Vangelis
Duration 00:02:52

38 00:53:04 The Muppets (artist)
Antarctica!
Performer: The Muppets
Duration 00:01:15

39 00:54:18
Graham Billing
Forbush and the Penguins read by John Lightbody
Duration 00:01:40

40 00:56:00 Cab Calloway
Penguin Swing
Performer: Cab Calloway and Orchestra
Duration 00:02:40

41 00:58:36
MaoriAntarctica.org
Maori Antarctica read by Jessica Turner
Duration 00:01:35

42 01:00:00 Gillian Whitehead
Lullaby for Matthew
Performer: Dan Poynton
Duration 00:03:44

43 01:03:30
David Attenborough
Forward from Frozen Planet read by John Lightbody
Duration 00:01:55

44 01:05:30 Einojuhani Rautavaara
Cantus Arcticus: Melancholy
Performer: Max Pommer
Duration 00:04:14

45 01:08:17
Ailbhe Ni Ghearbhuigh
Return from Antarctica read by Jessica Turner
Duration 00:01:16

46 01:09:36 Tanya Ekanayaka
Antarctica with Mercury
Performer: Tanya Ekanayaka
Duration 00:04:25


SUN 18:45 Between the Ears (m001w8vv)
Staggering in the Dark

On the final Thursday of August each year, the patrons of The Hand In Hand pub in Kemptown, Brighton, get together to remember those regulars, friends and family members who have died in the past twelve months. Landlady Jennifer Left started the night in memory of two dear friends who passed away suddenly in the space of a few weeks; and over the years since, Staggering in the Dark has become a well-loved feature in the community’s calendar and consciousness. Poets, pianists, comedians and singers crowd into the tiny space to offer performances in honour of the dearly departed. The night lurches between riotous glee and pin-drop quietude as spontaneous singsongs and bawdy odes weave around hushed sonnets of remembrance. This mosaic for radio combines the companionship of barroom scenes with forays into the reflective inner worlds of those present on the night, in a sonic exploration of what it is to grieve, collectively and in private.

Produced by Phil Smith
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 3


SUN 19:15 Sunday Feature (m001qvsq)
Waiting for the Flood

After the storms that have swept through the start of 2024, New Generation Thinker Dr Seán Williams heads to Dunwich, East Anglia. Here a medieval harbour fell to a storm that also took Rungholt in the Wadden Sea, which was said to have re-appeared last year. Seán walks along ditches, looks out to sea, and turns to the pages of history and literature about the Wadden Sea – archipelagos along the opposite coast of Northern Europe, stretching from the Netherlands to Germany and Denmark.

Seán reflects on how people living in small communities along the threatened coastline wait for a flood: whether stoic, scared, or serene; whether determined to be the last man standing or to surrender to the storm tides with awe. When a tide is imminent, they pass the time playing board games and telling stories.

Surging waters and shifting sands are nothing new along coastlines such as these, but the question on everyone's mind is - will the dykes hold? The answer amid rising sea levels from climate change, is that some will certainly not.

Seán draws on a famous nineteenth-century novella called 'Schimmelreiter' about a German dyke-master by Theodor Storm, talks to eco critic and reader of literature about the Wadden Sea Dr Katie Ritson, from the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society at the University of Munich; and to Juan Palacios and Sofie Husum Johannesen – directors of a new Danish film that premiered in Amsterdam in late 2023 called 'As the Tide Comes In.'

Reader: John Lightbody

Producer: Mohini Patel


SUN 19:30 Drama on 3 (m001w8w8)
Oleanna

Oleanna by David Mamet

Carol is worried about her grades so she goes to see her Professor. What follows develops into an explosive series of events that will eventually involve the college authorities. This is David Mamet's most controversial play that divided audiences but captured the zeitgeist. It is an incendiary exploration of gender, education, class, power and perception.

John ..... Mark Bonnar
Carol ..... Cecilia Appiah

Produced/Director Gary Brown
Production Co-ordinator Lorna Newman
Sound Design Sharon Hughes
Tech Producer Alison Craig

A BBC Audio Drama North Production.


SUN 20:50 Record Review Extra (m001w8wn)
Saint-Saëns' Organ Symphony

Hannah French introduces more from the new releases featured on yesterday's Record Review, including the recommended version of the work under consideration in Building a Library: Saint-Saëns' Organ Symphony.


SUN 23:00 The Colours in Sound, with Caroline Shaw (m001w8wy)
Sounds You Can Feel

Grammy Awards-winning composer Caroline Shaw takes us on a journey through the colours in sound. She explores how composers use their paint brushes to draw light to hidden qualities within tones.

This episode looks at how composers evoke physical feeling in music, through the different instruments and tone colours they choose.

Featuring music from Byrd to Brahms, and Bach to André 3000.

Produced by James Taylor
An Overcoat Media production for BBC Radio 3

MONDAY 19 FEBRUARY 2024

MON 00:00 Classical Fix (m001w8x7)
Jo Brand

Linton Stephens tries out a classical playlist on comedian, actor, presenter and writer Jo Brand.

Jo's playlist:

Alexander Glazunov - Violin Concerto in A minor, Op 82 (3rd mvt)
Francisco Guerrero - Maria Magdalene
Meredith Monk - The Games: Memory Song (arr. J Wolfe for voices & chamber ensemble)
Antonio Pasculli - Le Api (Etude Caractéristique for oboe and piano)
Francesca Caccini - Romanesca
Edvard Grieg - Piano Concerto in A minor, Op 16 (2nd mvt)

Classical Fix is a podcast aimed at opening up the world of classical music to anyone who fancies giving it a go. Each week, Linton mixes a bespoke playlist for his guest, who then joins him to share their impressions of their new classical discoveries.

Linton Stephens is a bassoonist with the Chineke! Orchestra and has also performed with the BBC Philharmonic, Halle Orchestra and Opera North, amongst many others.


MON 00:30 Through the Night (m001w8xj)
Fidelio from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden

Antonio Pappano conducts a starry cast including Lise Davidsen as Leonore and Jonas Kaufmann as Florestan in Beethoven's dramatic opera. Presented by Jonathan Swain.

12:31 AM
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Fidelio, Op.72 final vers (1814) - act 1
Lise Davidsen (soprano), Jonas Kaufmann (tenor), Georg Zeppenfeld (bass), Michael Kupfer-Radecky (baritone), Amanda Forsyth (soprano), Robin Tritschler (tenor), Egils Silins (bass baritone), Filipe Manu (tenor), Timothy Dawkins (bass), Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Antonio Pappano (conductor)

01:48 AM
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Fidelio, Op.72 final vers (1814) - act 2
Lise Davidsen (soprano), Jonas Kaufmann (tenor), Georg Zeppenfeld (bass), Michael Kupfer-Radecky (baritone), Amanda Forsyth (soprano), Robin Tritschler (tenor), Egils Silins (bass baritone), Filipe Manu (tenor), Timothy Dawkins (bass), Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Antonio Pappano (conductor)

02:38 AM
Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962)
Rondino on a theme by Beethoven
Taik-Ju Lee (violin), Young-Lan Han (piano)

02:42 AM
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
Concerto da Camera in C major RV.88
Camerata Koln

02:50 AM
Gustav Holst (1874-1934)
St Paul's Suite (arr for guitar quartet)
Guitar Trek

03:03 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Divertimento in E flat major, K113
Saarbrucken Radio Symphony Orchestra, Myung-Whun Chung (conductor)

03:18 AM
Hubert Parry (1848-1918)
Lord, let me know mine end (no 6 from Songs of farewell for mixed voices)
Gabrieli Consort, Paul McCreesh (director)

03:29 AM
Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849)
Piano Sonata No 3 in B minor Op.58
Jakub Kuszlik (piano)

03:56 AM
Sigurd Lie (1871-1904)
Symphony in A minor
Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra, Terje Boye Hansen (conductor)

04:31 AM
Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904)
Two Slavonic Dances, op.46 - No.8 in G Minor and No.3 in A flat major
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Arvid Engegard (conductor)

04:39 AM
Camilla de Rossi (fl.1707-1710)
Duol sofferto per Amore' (excerpt Sant'Alessio)
Martin Oro (counter tenor), Musica Fiorita, Daniela Dolci (director)

04:45 AM
Richard Strauss (1864-1949)
Festmusik der Stadt Wien AV.133 for brass and percussion
Tom Watson (trumpet), Royal Academy of Music Brass Soloists

04:56 AM
Claude Debussy (1862-1918), Maurice Ravel (orchestrator)
Tarantelle styrienne
Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Kazuhiro Koizumi (conductor)

05:02 AM
Heinrich Schutz (1585-1672)
Vater Abraham, erbarme dich mein (SWV.477)
La Capella Ducale, Musica Fiata Koln, Roland Wilson (director)

05:16 AM
Ferenc Farkas (1905-2000)
5 Ancient Hungarian Dances for wind quintet
Tae-Won Kim (flute), Hyong-Sup Kim (oboe), Pil-Kwan Sung (oboe), Hyon-Kon Kim (clarinet), Sang-Won Yoon (bassoon)

05:26 AM
Samo Vremsak (1930-2004)
Three Poems by Tone Kuntner
Chamber Choir AVE, Andraz Hauptman (conductor)


05:59 AM
Camille Saint-Saens (1835-1921)
Piano Trio No 1 in F major, Op 18
Stefan Lindgren (piano), Ulf Forsberg (violin), Mats Rondin (cello)


MON 06:30 Breakfast (m001w8tb)
Sunny side up classical

Petroc Trelawny presents Radio 3's classical breakfast show with music that captures the mood of the morning.

Email your requests to 3breakfast@bbc.co.uk


MON 09:00 Essential Classics (m001w8tn)
The very best of classical music

Georgia Mann plays the best in classical music, with familiar favourites alongside new discoveries and musical surprises.

0930 Playlist starter – listen and send us your ideas for the next step in our musical journey today.

1010 Song of the Day – harnessing the magic of words, music and the human voice.

1045 Playlist reveal – a sequence of music suggested by you in response to our starter today.

1130 Slow Moment – time to take a break for a moment's musical reflection.


MON 12:00 Composer of the Week (m001w8tz)
Maddalena Sirmen and her World

Training in an Orphanage

Donald Macleod explores Sirmen’s early years and her education at one of Venice's famous orphanages.

Maddalena Sirmen was born in Venice in 1745 and christened Maddalena Laura Lombardini. Her poverty-stricken family were unable to support her and by the age of seven she was admitted to one of Venice’s ‘Ospedali’. The Ospedali were hospitals and orphanages set up to help the needy but also celebrated for the musical education they provided to their residents. Sirmen soon excelled in her training. By the age of fourteen she was accepted for additional music lessons in Padua with the famed violinist, Tartini, and became one of his favourite students. In 1767 she married fellow composer, Lodovico Sirmen, and was able to leave the Ospedale, at last. There followed many successful years of travelling and performing as a virtuoso violinist, often presenting her own works. Sirmen’s music was published in many leading European cities, and Leopold Mozart said of one of her works, that it was “beautifully written”. When visiting London for a third time, Sirmen decided to present herself as a singer, rather than a violinist. This proved to be a mistake and she was greatly criticised in the press. From this point onwards her reputation diminished despite further concerts, as a violinist, in Paris, Dresden and St Petersburg. Sirmen eventually settled back in Venice, where she died in 1818.

Today, Donald Macleod explores Maddalena Sirmen’s early life in Venice, including details of her family, and their application for Maddalena to enter the Ospedale dei Mendicanti. Maddalena was forced to leave her family behind, and a nun was assigned to be her mother figure. At the Ospedale, Sirmen was probably taught composition by the Music Director Ferdinando Bertoni. She also received lessons in Greek, Latin, French, grammar, poetry, logic and history, Sirmen would have taken part in the many liturgical services and concerts the girls performed in, including both singing and instrumental performance for which the Ospedale were famed.

Violin Concerto No 3 in A major, Op 3 No 3 (excerpt)
Stefano Montanari, violin
Arion Baroque Orchestra

Trio Sonata No 5 in G, Op 1 No 5 (Allegro Moderato)
The Vivaldi Project
Allison Nyquist, violin
Elizabeth Field, violin
Stephanie Vial, cello

Ferdinando Bertoni
Veni Creator (excerpt)
Choir of Radio Stockholm
I Solisti Veneti
Claudio Scimone, director

Maddalena Sirmen
Trio Sonata No 5 in G, Op 1 No 5 (Rondo Allegro)
The Vivaldi Project
Allison Nyquist, violin
Elizabeth Field, violin
Stephanie Vial, cello

Ferdinando Bertoni
Orfeo (excerpt)
Delores Ziegler (Orfeo),mezzo-soprano
Ambrosian Opera Chorus
I Solisti Veneti
Claudio Scimone, director

Maddalena Sirmen
String Quartet No 5 in F major
Lombardini Quartet

Violin Concerto No 3 in A major, Op 3 No 3
Stefano Montanari, violin
Arion Baroque Orchestra

Produced by Luke Whitlock


MON 13:00 Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert (m001w8vc)
Leonkoro Quartet

The shadow of Beethoven joins the dots in this recital from current Radio 3 New Generation Artists, the Leonkoro Quartet. Janacek's String Quartet No 1 'Kreutzer Sonata' was composed in just two weeks during an intensely creative period. It was inspired by Leo Tolstoy's novella, The Kreutzer Sonata, which in turn was inspired by the eponymous violin sonata by Beethoven. And Beethoven was a key source of inspiration for Schumann in his three string quartets, of which the last is performed here.

Live from Wigmore Hall, London
Presented by Hannah French

Janacek: String Quartet No 1 'Kreutzer Sonata'
Schumann: String Quartet in A, Op 41 No 3

Leonkoro Quartet


MON 14:00 Afternoon Concert (m001w8vr)
Walton's Violin Concerto

Penny Gore introduces a recent recording of Walton's Violin Concerto with soloist James Ehnes accompanied by the BBC Philharmonic under John Storgårds. We also hear James Ehnes in Tchaikovsky's Valse-scherzo for violin and orchestra, with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. And throughout the week, Rachmaninov's Vespers with the Berlin Radio Chorus - today we hear the opening 3 numbers. We hear the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in an early work by Mozart, his symphony No. 4, under Osmo Vanska.

Including,
2pm


Tchaikovsky: Valse-scherzo in C major Op.34 for violin and orchestra
James Ehnes, violin
Sydney Symphony Orchestra
Vladimir Azhkenazy, conductor

Rachmaninov: Vespers
(All-Night Vigil), op. 37, Nos. 1-3
Priidite, poklonimsia (Come, Let Us Worship)
Blagoslovi, duše moja, Gospoda (Praise the Lord, o My Soul)
Blažen muž (Blessed is the Man)
Judith Simonis, alto
Holger Marks, tenor
Berlin Radio Chorus
Gijs Leenaards, conductor

Mozart: Symphony No. 4 (K.19) in D major
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Osmo Vanska, conductor


Purcell: Welcome to all the pleasures - Ode for St Cecilia's Day, Z.339
Collegium Vocale Gent
Philippe Herreweghe, director

Gershwin: Porgy And Bess Suite
Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen
Jonathan Bloxham, conductor


MON 16:30 New Generation Artists (m001w8w5)
Janacek's Piano Sonata 'From the Street'

New Generation Artists: pianist Tom Borrow plays Janacek's sonata written as a tribute to a young carpenter who on 1 October 1905 was killed during demonstrations in support for a Czech university in Brno.

Janacek: Sonata 1.x.1905 in E flat minor (Z ulice [From the street])
Tom Borrow (piano)

Lionel Tertis: Hier au soir - Pensée Musicale
Timothy Ridout (viola), James Baillieu (piano)

Stenhammar: I Jag hörde din röst (I heard your voice) from Hennes ord (Her words)
Johanna Wallroth (soprano), Simon Lepper (piano)

Fergus McCreadie Snowcap with Improvisation
Fergus McCreadie (keyboards),
David Bowden (double bass)
Stephen Henderson (drums)


MON 17:00 In Tune (m001w8wk)
Discover classical music and artists

Sean Rafferty introduces live music from cellist Zlatomir Fung ahead of his upcoming concerto performance with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.


MON 19:00 Classical Mixtape (m001w8wx)
Expand your horizons with classical music

Take time out with a 30-minute soundscape of classical music.


MON 19:30 Radio 3 in Concert (m001w8x6)
Liszt and Shostakovich from the Berlin Philharmonic

One of the highlights of the current European music season, presented by Fiona Talkington.

The Berlin Philharmonic, conducted by Tugan Sokhiev, are joined by Alexandre Kantorow in Liszt’s Piano Concerto no. 2 and Shostakovich’s Symphony no. 4 in C minor Op. 43.

Liszt: Piano Concerto no. 2
Shostakovich: Symphony no. 4 in c minor Op. 43

Berlin Philharmonic
Alexandre Kantorow, piano
Tugan Sokhiev, conductor

In his Fourth Symphony, with its dance and marching motifs, its musical fragmentation and its stunning, prolonged coda, Shostakovich presents a harrowing depiction of the horrors of Stalin’s dictatorship. Conductor Tugan Sokhiev combines this monumental work with Franz Liszt’s Second Piano Concerto, a piece full of virtuosity and depth of expression. The soloist, French pianist Alexandre Kantorow, makes his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic in this concert.


MON 21:30 Compline (m001w8xg)
Lent 1

A reflective service of night prayer for the first week of Lent from All Saints Church, Tooting, London. With words and music for the end of the day, including works by Byrd and Judith Ward sung by Siglo de Oro.

Introit: Christe qui lux es et dies (Byrd)
Blessing of Light: Phos hilaron (Plainsong)
Preces (Plainsong)
Hymn: Before the ending of the day (Plainsong)
Psalm 32 (Plainsong)
Reading: Luke 4 vv.1-4
Responsory: Into thy hands, O Lord (Plainsong)
Canticle: Nunc dimittis (Plainsong)
Anthem: In manus tuas (Judith Ward)

Patrick Allies (conductor)


MON 22:00 Music Matters (m001w8pl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:45 on Saturday]


MON 22:45 The Essay (m000xlj1)
Adrian Edmondson - Signs of Life

Sugar Sugar

“So, it’s the end of the 60s, and while the rest of the world is flailing around in an orgy of free love, self-expression and hallucinogenic drugs, I’m trapped in a small prison learning to repress my emotions. Turns out I’m bloody good at it! If the 11-plus had been about repression I would have passed no problem.”

Unhappy at boarding school in England, his family far away in Africa, Adrian remembers his first dance at the school disco and the moment that signalled the end of his childhood.

Across this set of essays Adrian Edmondson considers moments of personal and social change.

His career has taken him from 20th Century Coyote (punk meets comedy) to The Young Ones to Malvolio at the RSC via Eddie Hitler in Bottom.

Adrian Edmondson studied drama at Manchester University where he met his comedy partner Rik Mayall. The influence of the absurdist dramatists he studied and his early love for The Goons, The Muppets and Monty Python are all reflected in his comedy practice. He and Rik were part of the first wave of Alternative Comedy where their glorious pursuit of laughter and anarchic performances changed the comedic landscape forever. He starred as Vyvyan in The Young Ones, the series that blasted its way onto our screens tearing into our preconceptions of what television comedy could be.

Adrian has since had a very significant career indeed. A career that has taken him in later years into 'straight' acting as well, at the RSC, BBC TV’s War and Peace and EastEnders, and as a writer of books for adults and children. He has also had an award-winning music career with his band The Bad Shepherds which fused punk and folk. In September 2023 he published his autobiography, Beserker!, the wellspring of which was this series of essays for BBC Radio 3.

Written and read by Adrian Edmondson
Produced by Caroline Raphael
A Dora Production for BBC Radio 3


MON 23:00 Night Tracks (m001qn1j)
Music after dark

Sara Mohr-Pietsch presents an adventurous, immersive soundtrack for late-night listening, from classical to contemporary and everything in between.

TUESDAY 20 FEBRUARY 2024

TUE 00:30 Through the Night (m001w8xx)
2023 BBC Proms: Sibelius's Symphony No 1

The BBC Philharmonic and Chief Conductor John Storgårds are joined by Canadian violinist James Ehnes in Walton’s fiercely direct Violin Concerto. The concert opens with a world premiere by Irish composer Gerald Barry, focusing on Franz Kafka’s obsession with wearing earplugs to silence the noise around him. Jonathan Swain presents.



01:16 AM
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Allegra assai, from Violin Sonata No. 3 in C, BWV 1005
James Ehnes (violin)



02:03 AM
Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)
Ballade in G minor, Op 24
Leif Ove Andsnes (piano)


02:31 AM
Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764)
Zais Prologue
Jane Marsh (soprano), Mieke van der Sluis (soprano), Max von Egmond (bass), Collegium Vocale Gent, La Petite Bande, Gustav Leonhardt (conductor)

03:05 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Divertimento in B-flat major for violin, cello and piano, K254
Trio Orlando

03:27 AM
Heinrich Schutz (1585-1672)
Ich bin eine rufende Stimme, SWV383 & O lieber Herre Gott, wecke uns auf, SWV381
Danish National Radio Chorus, Stefan Parkman (conductor)

03:35 AM
Anton Webern (1883-1945)
Passacaglia Op.1
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Osmo Vanska (conductor)

03:47 AM
Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849)
Polonaise in F sharp minor, Op 44
Erik Suler (piano)

03:58 AM
Edvard Grieg (1843-1907), Alan Civil (arranger)
Suite for Brass Quintet
Brass Consort Koln

04:09 AM
Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)
Serenade no 2 in G minor for violin & orchestra, Op 69b
Judy Kang (violin), Orchestre Symphonique de Laval

04:18 AM
Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
Mephisto Waltz No 1, S514
Janina Fialkowska (piano)

04:31 AM
Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868)
Overture to La Gazza Ladra
Danish Radio Concert Orchestra, Roman Zeilinger (conductor)

04:41 AM
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
Concerto da Camera in F major RV.99
Camerata Koln


05:01 AM
Clara Schumann (1819-1896)
Variations on a theme of Robert Schumann for piano in F sharp minor, Op 20
Angela Cheng (piano)

05:10 AM
Jean Francaix (1912-1997)
Le Gai Paris for wind ensemble
Hungarian Radio Orchestra

05:21 AM
Pierre de Manchicourt (1510-1564)
Nunc enim si centum lingue sint (Antwerp 1547)
Corona Coloniensis, Peter Seymour (conductor)

05:28 AM
Eugen Suchon (1908-1993)
The Night of the Witches, symphonic poem
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Mario Kosik (conductor)

05:49 AM
Nino Rota (1911-1979)
Concerto for bassoon and orchestra
Christopher Millard (bassoon), CBC Vancouver Orchestra, Mario Bernardi (conductor)

06:07 AM
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Piano Sonata No 7 in D major, Op.10 No 3
Ingrid Fliter (piano)


TUE 06:30 Breakfast (m001w8gr)
Perk up your morning with classical music

Petroc Trelawny presents Radio 3's classical breakfast show with music that captures the mood of the morning.

Email your requests to 3breakfast@bbc.co.uk


TUE 09:00 Essential Classics (m001w8gt)
Relax into the day with classical

Georgia Mann plays the best in classical music, featuring new discoveries, some musical surprises and plenty of familiar favourites.

0930 Playlist starter – listen and send us your ideas for the next step in our musical journey today.

1010 Song of the Day – harnessing the magic of words, music and the human voice.

1045 Playlist reveal – a sequence of music suggested by you in response to our starter today.

1130 Slow Moment – time to take a break for a moment's musical reflection.


TUE 12:00 Composer of the Week (m001w8gw)
Maddalena Sirmen and her World

Lessons with Tartini

Donald Macleod explores Sirmen’s visits to Padua to learn from the great Giuseppe Tartini and her wish to leave her orphanage to marry.

Maddalena Sirmen was born in Venice in 1745 and christened Maddalena Laura Lombardini. Her poverty-stricken family were unable to support her and by the age of seven she was admitted to one of Venice’s ‘Ospedali’. The Ospedali were hospitals and orphanages set up to help the needy but also celebrated for the musical education they provided to their residents. Sirmen soon excelled in her training. By the age of fourteen she was accepted for additional music lessons in Padua with the famed violinist, Tartini, and became one of his favourite students. In 1767 she married fellow composer, Lodovico Sirmen, and was able to leave the Ospedale, at last. There followed many successful years of travelling and performing as a virtuoso violinist, often presenting her own works. Sirmen’s music was published in many leading European cities, and Leopold Mozart said of one of her works, that it was “beautifully written”. When visiting London for a third time, Sirmen decided to present herself as a singer, rather than a violinist. This proved to be a mistake and she was greatly criticised in the press. From this point onwards her reputation diminished despite further concerts, as a violinist, in Paris, Dresden and St Petersburg. Sirmen eventually settled back in Venice, where she died in 1818.

Today, Donald follows Sirmen to meet a new mentor who will transform her fortunes. During Sirmen’s education at the Ospedale dei Mendicanti, her musical skills developed to such a level that it was agreed by the Governors she could take additional training with the famed violinist and composer Giuseppe Tartini. Tartini lived in Padua, and Sirmen travelled there with an appointed nun as companion. Sirmen’s lessons went very well and soon there was a request to the Governors that she be allowed further time to study with Tartini. A Venetian aristocrat agreed to fund Sirmen’s travel and living expenses during these periods away in Padua. The Governors proclaimed themselves very pleased with her progress but how would they react when she asked them to release her from the Ospedali, so she could marry?

Giuseppe Tartini
Violin Sonata in G minor, “Devils Trill” (excerpt)
Nicola Benedetti, violin
Scottish Chamber Orchestra
Christian Curnyn, director

Maddalena Sirmen
String Quartet No 1 in E flat major (Andante)
Musica Fiorita
Daniela Dolci, director

String Quartet No 1 in E flat major (Allegretto)
Musica Fiorita
Daniela Dolci, director

Giuseppe Tartini
Stabat Mater
Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles

Maddalena Sirmen
Violin Concerto No 2 in E major, Op 3 No 2
Piroska Vitárius, violin
Savaria Baroque Orchestra
Pál Németh, conductor

String Quartet No 4 in B flat major
Accademia Della Magnifica Comunità

Produced by Luke Whitlock


TUE 13:00 Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert (m001lc0z)
Brahms from Perth Concert Hall (1/4)

Scotland's Maxwell Quartet are joined by leading chamber musicians Scott Dickinson and Su-a Lee to perform Brahms's joyful String Sextet No 2 in G and some of their own traditional style pieces arranged for strings.

Brahms: G major Sextet
Trad. Arr. Maxwell Quartat: MacIntosh’s Lament / Auld Foula, Oot / In Da Harbour
Maxwell Quartet: Haripol
Trad. Arr Maxwell Quartet: Cill Mhuire

Maxwell String Quartet
Scott Dickinson, viola
Su-a Lee, cello

Presented by Stephen Broad
Produced by Lindsay Pell


TUE 14:00 Afternoon Concert (m001w8gz)
Anna Clyne's DANCE

Penny Gore introduces a performance of Anna Clyne's DANCE, with cellist Alban Gerhardt as soloist accompanied by the BBC Philharmonic under conductor Ben Gernon. Also today, JS Bach's cantata Widerstehe doch der Sünde, BWV 54, with Bach Collegium Japan; Henriette Bosmans' Concertino for piano and orchestra with soloist, Ronald Brautigam, and another segment of Rachmaninov's Vespers with the Berlin Radio Chorus, which will appear throughout the week.

Including,


Verdi: Nabucco – overture
La Scala Philharmonic Orchestra
Riccardo Muti, conductor

Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 25 in C major, K.503 – 1st movt, Allegro
András Schiff, piano
Camerata Salzburg
Sándor Végh, conductor

JS Bach: Widerstehe doch der Sünde, BWV 54
Yoshikazu Mera, alto
Bach Collegium Japan
Maasaki Suzuki, director


Rachmaninov: Vespers (All-Night Vigil), op. 37; Nos 4-6
Svete tihij (O Gentle Light)
Nyne otpuščaješi (Lord, Now Lettest Thou)
Bogorodice Devo (Rejoice, o Virgin)
Judith Simonis, alto
Holger Marks, tenor
Berlin Radio Chorus
Gijs Leenaards, conductor

Haydn: String Quartet No. 60 in C Major, Op. 76/3, Hob III:77 "Emperor": II. Poco adagio
Zemlinsky Quartet

Henriette Bosmans: Concertino for piano and orchestra
Ronald Brautigam, piano
Netherlands Radio Chamber Orchestra
Ed Spanjaard, conductor


TUE 17:00 In Tune (m001w8h1)
Wind down from work with classical music

Sean Rafferty hears from violinist Pekka Kuusisto about his tour with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. There’s also live music from tenor Allan Clayton and pianist Julius Drake.


TUE 19:00 Classical Mixtape (m001w8h3)
Take 30 minutes out with a relaxing classical mix

Take time out with a 30-minute soundscape of classical music.


TUE 19:30 Radio 3 in Concert (m001w8h5)
Beethoven to Babi Yar

The BBC National Orchestra of Wales are joined in Cardiff once again by their Principal Conductor, Ryan Bancroft, to perform two masterful works. Shostakovich wrote his 13th Symphony to five poems by dissident Russian Poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko. It begins with his anti-antisemitic outcry, Babi Yar — a ravine in Kyiv that was host to a terrible massacre of Jews by the Nazis — which gives the symphony its nickname. The remaining four poems that Shostakovich set create a snapshot of Soviet life, from women queuing in a shop to the memory of waiting for the dreaded knock on the door from the secret police, and they draw on all of Shostakovich's characteristic compassion, wit, and derision. The concert opens with Jonathan Biss as soloist in Beethoven's charming First Piano Concerto; a dedicated Beethoven specialist and exceptionally skilled pianist, he is sure to deliver all the poise and grace needed for a truly unforgettable performance.

Beethoven: Piano Concerto No 1 in C major, Op 15
Shostakovich: Symphony No 13 in B flat minor, Op 113, 'Babi Yar'

Jonathan Biss (piano)
James Platt (bass)
BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales
Ryan Bancroft (conductor)


TUE 22:00 Free Thinking (m001w8h7)
Myths, ships and history

Asked to picture a nineteenth-century ship, you might think of the HMS Victory or HMS Temeraire, symbolic of empire. Something epitomised by flag-waving and victory - Britannia rules the waves. In this edition of Free Thinking, Catherine Fletcher asks if we memorialise one aspect of our maritime past at the expense of others.

Remember in Great Expectations when Magwitch escapes from a prison ship anchored by the coast? Dickens was likely inspired by the reality of the 19th century "prison hulks", decommissioned warships moored on docks to house criminals. Dr Anna McKay of the University of Liverpool can tell us more about how the hulks, supposed to be a short term solution to a crisis, ended up being used for decades. Dr Lloyd Belton of the University of Glasgow studies the Kru - fiercely independent West African sailors who formed an alliance with the Royal Navy to rid the African coast of slavers. His research follows what happened to these men, who saw themselves as servants of the Empire, when they settled in Liverpool between the wars. And Dr Oliver Finnegan from the National Archive at Kew will tell us about the enormous historical potential of the "Prize Papers", a collection of thousands of unopened letters, legal papers and other documents from ships captured by British privateers and the Royal Navy between 1652 and 1815.

Presented by: Catherine Fletcher
Producer in Salford: Olive Clancy

BBC Radio 3's Words and Music episode about Antarctica, the explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton and his ship The Endurance is available on BBC Sounds.


TUE 22:45 The Essay (m000xlst)
Adrian Edmondson - Signs of Life

Smoked Out

“We struggle through power cuts, algebra and the three-day week and the only constant is cigarettes. We sit in Jasper’s Folly, a café at the end of Market Place, thinking up new words for ennui and seeing how long we can burn our fingers with a lighter before we can’t stand it any more... Cigarettes were just a replacement for everything that was missing in my life.”

Adrian Edmondson celebrates a long love affair with cigarettes that came to an end when he found everything he had been missing.

Across this set of essays Adrian Edmondson considers moments of personal and social change.

His career has taken him from 20th Century Coyote (punk meets comedy) to The Young Ones to Malvolio at the RSC via Eddie Hitler in Bottom.

Adrian Edmondson studied drama at Manchester University where he met his comedy partner Rik Mayall. The influence of the absurdist dramatists he studied and his early love for The Goons, The Muppets and Monty Python are all reflected in his comedy practice. He and Rik were part of the first wave of Alternative Comedy where their glorious pursuit of laughter and anarchic performances changed the comedic landscape forever. He starred as Vyvyan in The Young Ones, the series that blasted its way onto our screens tearing into our preconceptions of what television comedy could be.

Adrian has since had a very significant career indeed. A career that has taken him in later years into 'straight' acting as well, at the RSC, BBC TV’s War and Peace and EastEnders, and as a writer of books for adults and children. He has also had an award-winning music career with his band The Bad Shepherds which fused punk and folk. In September 2023 he published his autobiography, Beserker!, the wellspring of which was this series of essays for BBC Radio 3.

Written and read by Adrian Edmondson
Produced by Caroline Raphael
A Dora Production for BBC Radio 3


TUE 23:00 Night Tracks (m001qvvp)
The constant harmony machine

Sara Mohr-Pietsch presents an adventurous, immersive soundtrack for late-night listening, from classical to contemporary and everything in between.

WEDNESDAY 21 FEBRUARY 2024

WED 00:30 Through the Night (m001w8hd)
Kristian Bezuidenhout with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra in Geneva

Kristian Bezuidenhout is the soloist and conductor in a concert featuring Mozart's 'Kegelstatt' Piano Trio, 9th Piano Concerto and Symphony no 25. Jonathan Swain presents.

12:31 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Symphony no 25 in G minor, K.183
Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, Kristian Bezuidenhout (conductor)

12:50 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Piano Trio no 2 in E flat, K.498 'Kegelstatt'
Kristian Bezuidenhout (fortepiano), Lorenzo Coppola (clarinet), Corina Golomoz (viola)

01:10 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Piano Concerto no 9 in E flat, K.271 'Jeunehomme'
Kristian Bezuidenhout (fortepiano), Kristian Bezuidenhout (conductor), Freiburg Baroque Orchestra

01:42 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
'Allemande' from Suite in C, K.399
Kristian Bezuidenhout (fortepiano)

01:45 AM
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Violin Concerto in D major, Op 61
Nikolaj Znaider (violin), Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Jukka-Pekka Saraste (conductor)

02:31 AM
Carl Luython (1557-1620)
Lamentationes Hieremiae Prophetae a 6
Huelgas Ensemble, Paul van Nevel (conductor)

02:51 AM
Krzysztof Penderecki (1933-2020)
Concerto grosso for 3 cellos and orchestra
Lukasz Frant (cello), Natalia Kurzac-Kotula (cello), Adam Krzeszowiec (cello), Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Katowice, Alexander Liebreich (conductor)

03:26 AM
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
L'Isle joyeuse
Jane Coop (piano)

03:33 AM
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Air: 'Return, O God of hosts' from "Samson", Act 2
Maureen Forrester (alto), I Solisti Zagreb, Antonio Janigro (conductor)

03:42 AM
Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767)
Violin Sonata in F major
Mary Utiger (violin), Rainer Zipperling (cello), Sabine Bauer (harpsichord), Camerata Koln

03:52 AM
Eugen Suchon (1908-1993)
Ballade for Horn and Orchestra
Peter Sivanic (horn), Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Mario Kosik (conductor)

04:02 AM
Isaac Albeniz (1860-1909), Andres Segovia (arranger)
Asturias (Suite española, Op 47) (1887)
Xavier Diaz-Latorre (guitar)

04:09 AM
Joaquin Turina (1882-1949)
Homenaje a Navarra
Niklas Liepe (violin), Niels Liepe (piano)

04:15 AM
Emmerich Imre Kalman (1882-1953)
Aria: 'Two lovely eyes' (from the operetta "The Circus Princess")
Gyorgy Korondy (tenor), Hungarian Radio Orchestra, Tamas Brody (conductor)

04:22 AM
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Toccata in G major BWV.916
Jayson Gillham (piano)

04:31 AM
Frantisek Jiranek (1698-1778)
Sinfonia in D major
Collegium Marianum, Jana Semeradova (director)

04:39 AM
Wilhelm Stenhammar (1871-1927)
Three choral songs: September; In the seraglio garden; If I had a grandson.
Swedish Radio Choir, Gustav Sjokvist (conductor)

04:45 AM
Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868)
Prelude, theme and variations for horn and piano
Mindaugas Gecevicius (horn), Ala Bendoraitiene (piano)

04:56 AM
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
Valses nobles et sentimentales (1912)
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Bernard Haitink (conductor)

05:13 AM
Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849)
Prelude for piano in C sharp minor, Op 45
Cedric Tiberghien (piano)

05:18 AM
Eduard Tubin (1905-1982)
Sonata for Violin and Piano in the Phrygian Mode
Ulrika Kristian (violin), Marje Lohuaru (piano)

05:39 AM
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Music for the Royal Fireworks
Collegium Aureum

06:02 AM
Anonymous
The gentle Lamb
Barbara Thornton (vocalist), Margaret Tindemans (fiddle), Sequentia

06:13 AM
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Intermezzo in A major, Op 118 no 2
Jane Coop (piano)

06:20 AM
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
Cello Concerto in D minor, RV 407
Charles Medlam (cello), London Baroque


WED 06:30 Breakfast (m001w8k6)
Daybreak classics

Petroc Trelawny presents Radio 3's classical breakfast show with music that captures the mood of the morning.

Email your requests to 3breakfast@bbc.co.uk


WED 09:00 Essential Classics (m001w8kf)
Celebrating classical greats

Georgia Mann plays the best in classical music, with familiar favourites, new discoveries and the occasional musical surprise.

0930 Playlist starter – listen and send us your ideas for the next step in our musical journey today.

1010 Song of the Day – harnessing the magic of words, music and the human voice.

1045 Playlist reveal – a sequence of music suggested by you in response to our starter today.

1130 Slow Moment – time to take a break for a moment's musical reflection.


WED 12:00 Composer of the Week (m001w8km)
Maddalena Sirmen and her World

Sirmen the Virtuoso Violinist

Donald Macleod follows Sirmen and her husband as they journey around Europe and perform for royalty.

Maddalena Sirmen was born in Venice in 1745 and christened Maddalena Laura Lombardini. Her poverty-stricken family were unable to support her and by the age of seven she was admitted to one of Venice’s ‘Ospedali’. The Ospedali were hospitals and orphanages set up to help the needy but also celebrated for the musical education they provided to their residents. Sirmen soon excelled in her training. By the age of fourteen she was accepted for additional music lessons in Padua with the famed violinist, Tartini, and became one of his favourite students. In 1767 she married fellow composer, Lodovico Sirmen, and was able to leave the Ospedale, at last. There followed many successful years of travelling and performing as a virtuoso violinist, often presenting her own works. Sirmen’s music was published in many leading European cities, and Leopold Mozart said of one of her works, that it was “beautifully written”. When visiting London for a third time, Sirmen decided to present herself as a singer, rather than a violinist. This proved to be a mistake and she was greatly criticised in the press. From this point onwards her reputation diminished despite further concerts, as a violinist, in Paris, Dresden and St Petersburg. Sirmen eventually settled back in Venice, where she died in 1818.

When Maddalena Lombardini married fellow composer Lodovico Sirmen, she was able at last to leave the Venetian Ospedale behind. She had formed a close bond with a priest before leaving, Don Giuseppe Terzi, and he journeyed with the married couple from this point. They travelled to Turin to perform for the King of Sardinia, to Dresden where they performed at the court there, and then on to engagements in Paris at the Concert Spirituel. Sirmen’s violin playing created a sensation and her fame travelled widely. Further concerts followed in France and Holland, performing her own works and also works by her husband, and she found publishers eager to bring her music into print.

String Quartet No 2 in E flat major (excerpt)
Lombardini Quartet

Duet in C major, Op 4 No 6
Alessia Turri, violin
Matteo Zanatto, violin

Ludovico Sirmen
Sonata in A major (Moderato)
Giovanni Guglielmo, violin
Stefania Cavedon, cello
Enrico Zanovello, harpsichord

Maddalena Sirmen
Violin Concerto No 5 in B flat major, Op 3 No 5
Piroska Vitárius, violin
Savaria Baroque Orchestra
Pál Németh, conductor

Ludovico Sirmen
Sonata in A major (Lento)
Giovanni Guglielmo, violin
Stefania Cavedon, cello
Enrico Zanovello, harpsichord

Maddalena Sirmen
String Quartet No 2 in E flat major
Lombardini Quartet

Produced by Luke Whitlock


WED 13:00 Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert (m001lc39)
Brahms from Perth Concert Hall (2/4)

Featuring music for French horn, piano and violin, this concert starts with Brahms's nostalgic trio written in the year his mother died and around the same time as his epic A German Requiem. Ethel Smyth took her inspiration from Brahms, 60 years later, to write her only horn trio - first in the form of a double concerto with orchestra and later as a trio with piano.

Brahms: Horn Trio in E flat major, Op. 40
Ethel Smyth: Horn Trio

Ben Goldscheider, horn
Calum Smart, violin
Richard Uttley, piano

Presented by Stephen Broad
Produced by Lindsay Pell


WED 14:00 Afternoon Concert (m001w8kt)
Beethoven's Piano Concerto No 5 in E flat major, 'Emperor'

Penny Gore introduces a performance of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5, 'Emperor', with soloist Martin Roscoe, accompanied by the BBC Philharmonic under John Storgårds. The ensemble also appear in some Courtley dances from Britten's Gloriana; today more from Rachmaninov's Vespers, with the Berlin Radio Chorus. Also, from the German capital, Wagner's Tannhauser overture with Daniel Barenboim conducting the Staatskapelle Berlin; and Adam's Short ride in a fast machine with Simon Rattle and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.

Including,


Wagner: Tannhauser - opera in 3 acts: Overture
Staatskapelle Berlin
Daniel Barenboim, conductor

Rachmaninov: Vespers
(All-Night Vigil), op. 37, Nos. 7-9
Slava v vyšnih Bogu (Glory to God in the Highest)
Hvalite imja Gospodne (Praise the Name of the Lord)
Blagosloven jesi, Gospodi (Blessed art Thou, o Lord)
Judith Simonis, alto
Holger Marks, tenor
Berlin Radio Chorus
Gijs Leenaards, conductor

Handel: L' Allegro, il penseroso, ed il moderato - oratorio: Pt.3; As steals the morn
Lucy Crowe, soprano
Mark Padmore, tenor
English Concert
Andrew Manze, conductor


Dvorak: Serenade for Strings in E Major, Op. 22: III. Scherzo. Vivace
Granada Chamber Orchestra
Misha Rachlevsky, conductor

Adams: Short ride in a Fast Machine
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Simon Rattle, conductor


WED 16:00 Choral Evensong (m001w8l0)
The Queen's College, Oxford

Live from the Chapel of The Queen’s College, Oxford.

Introit: O Lord in thy wrath (Gibbons)
Responses: Tomkins
Psalm 106: Walmisley, Hunt, Goss, How, South, Howells
First Lesson: Genesis 11 vv.1-9
Office hymn: Lord Jesus, think on me
Canticles: Humfrey in E
Second Lesson: Matthew 24 vv.15-28
Anthem: Tribulationes cordes mei (Bernabei)
Motet: Libera Nos (Tallis)
Hymn: Father, hear the prayer we offer
Voluntary: Toccata prima (Muffat)

Owen Rees (Director of Music)
Luke Mitchell (Organ Scholar)


WED 17:00 In Tune (m001w8l7)
Classical artists live in session

Sean Rafferty meets Norwegian conductor Tabita Berglund, who conducts the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra later in the week from Glasgow. There’s also live music in the studio.


WED 19:00 Classical Mixtape (m001w8lf)
Classical music for focus or relaxation

Take time out with a 30-minute soundscape of classical music.




WED 22:00 Free Thinking (m00131sz)
Gloves

From duels to hygiene and medical protection to the image of the gloved aristocrat whose hands aren’t coarsened by work: Shahidha Bari dons a pair of gloves as she finds out about tranks, fourchettes, lace, wool and glove making which is on The Heritage Craft Association’s 'Red List' of Endangered crafts. The glove maker Riina Oun creates high-fashion bespoke gloves. She has collaborated with designers such as Giles Deacon and Meadham Kirchhoff, and she also teaches the art of gloving. Tom Chatfield, is the author of Wise Animals: How Technology has Made Us What We Are. He considers the glove as cutting-edge technology, explains what haptic feedback does for us and why the hand is so important in helping us navigate virtual worlds. Anne Green has looked at gloves in fiction and old documents in her book Gloves: An Intimate History and Rebecca Unsworth brings us stories from her work with Birmingham Museums as she considers the smells of gloves and their role as the ultimate 17th century gift.

Producer: Jessica Treen

You might be interested in other conversations about fashion in the Free Thinking archives:
Fashion stories in Museums hears from V&A fashion curator Claire Wilcox, Veronica Isaac and Cassandra Davies Strodder https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000s2by
Fashion, Art and the Body brings together Ekow Eshun, Charlie Porter and Olivia Laing https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000wc78
Jade Halbert discusses recycling of fashion in this episode https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00061m1
The Politics of Fashion and Drag hears from Scrumbly Koldewyn, visits the Vauxhall Tavern and talks to Jenny Gilbert https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09zcjch


WED 22:45 The Essay (m000xlzk)
Adrian Edmondson - Signs of Life

Fegato Per Due

“I’m working at The Comic Strip. ‘Evening Vernon, Evening Ray!’ I shout. ‘Evening Nigel,’ they shout back. Well, perhaps they don’t know me as well as I think they do, but at least they think they know me.”

Adrian Edmondson celebrates the glorious feeling of belonging as he remembers the early days of working in Soho at The Comic Strip and eating at the Italian restaurant where the waiters do know his name, and his favourite dish.

Across this set of essays, Adrian Edmondson considers moments of personal and social change.

His career has taken him from 20th Century Coyote (punk meets comedy) to The Young Ones to Malvolio at the RSC via Eddie Hitler in Bottom.

Adrian Edmondson studied drama at Manchester University, where he met his comedy partner Rik Mayall. The influence of the absurdist dramatists he studied and his early love for The Goons, The Muppets and Monty Python are all reflected in his comedy practice. He and Rik were part of the first wave of Alternative Comedy where their glorious pursuit of laughter and anarchic performances changed the comedic landscape forever. He starred as Vyvyan in The Young Ones, the series that blasted its way onto our screens tearing into our preconceptions of what television comedy could be.

Adrian has since had a very significant career indeed. A career that has taken him in later years into 'straight' acting as well, at the RSC, BBC TV’s War and Peace and EastEnders, and as a writer of books for adults and children. He has also had an award-winning music career with his band The Bad Shepherds which fused punk and folk. In September 2023 he published his autobiography, Beserker!, the wellspring of which was this series of essays for BBC Radio 3.

Written and read by Adrian Edmondson
Produced by Caroline Raphael
A Dora Production for BBC Radio 3


WED 23:00 Night Tracks (m001qvyl)
Evening soundscape

Sara Mohr-Pietsch presents an adventurous, immersive soundtrack for late-night listening, from classical to contemporary and everything in between.

THURSDAY 22 FEBRUARY 2024

THU 00:30 Through the Night (m001w8m7)
Poetry and Passion

Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra with Music Director Giordano Bellincampi perform the world premiere of a new work by celebrated Auckland composer Leonie Holmes plus classics by Robert Schumann and Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Presented by Jonathan Swain.

12:31 AM
Leonie Holmes (b.1962)
For just a little moment...
Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, Giordano Bellincampi (conductor)

12:40 AM
Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Piano Concerto in A minor, op. 54
Michael Endres (piano), Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, Giordano Bellincampi (conductor)

01:11 AM
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
Symphony No. 4 in F minor, op. 36
Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, Giordano Bellincampi (conductor)

01:51 AM
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Variations on a theme of Haydn (Op.56a) "St Antoni Chorale"
New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Gunther Schuller (conductor)

02:09 AM
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Trio in B flat major, Op 11
Thomas Norup Jensen (clarinet), Henrik Brendstrup (cello), Jorgen Larsen (piano)

02:31 AM
Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)
Divertimento
Esther Hoppe (violin), Alasdair Beatson (piano)

02:53 AM
Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)
6 Orchestral songs (Nos 1-5 only) (EG.177)
Solveig Kringelborn (soprano), Trondheim Symphony Orchestra, Eivind Aadland (conductor)

03:16 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Piano Sonata in F major, K 533
Anja German (piano)

03:39 AM
Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767)
Quartet in D Minor for flutes and bc from 'Musique de Table' TWV 43:d1
Les Ambassadeurs

03:54 AM
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
Estampes for piano
Roger Woodward (piano)

04:09 AM
Johann Strauss II (1825-1899)
Wienerblut (waltz), Op 354
Danish Radio Concert Orchestra, Borge Wagner (conductor)

04:19 AM
Ambroise Thomas (1811-1896)
O vin, dissipe la tristesse – from the opera 'Hamlet'
Gaetan Laperriere (baritone), Orchestre Symphonique de Trois-Rivieres, Gilles Bellemare (conductor)

04:23 AM
Traditional, Narciso Yepes (arranger)
Romanza for guitar
Stepan Rak (guitar)

04:31 AM
Alexander Glazunov (1865-1936)
Alto Saxophone Concerto in E flat major, Op 109
Virgo Veldi (saxophone), Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Tarmo Leinatamm (conductor)

04:44 AM
Giacomo Carissimi (1605-1674)
Dixit Dominus
Capella Regia Musicalis, Robert Hugo (organ), Robert Hugo (director)

04:59 AM
Leo Delibes (1836-1891)
Bell Song 'Ou va la jeune Hindoue?' from Act 2 of Lakme
Tracy Dahl (soprano), Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Mario Bernardi (conductor)

05:07 AM
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Concerto Grosso in D major, Op 6 no 5
Sofia Soloists Chamber Ensemble, Plamen Djurov (conductor)

05:22 AM
Artur Kapp (1878-1952)
Palumine (A Prayer)
Estonian National Male Choir, Ants Soots (director)

05:26 AM
Krasimir Kyurkchiyski (1936-2011)
Variations on a theme by Handel (1984)
Bulgarian National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Dimitar Manolov (conductor)

05:46 AM
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1788)
Concerto for flute and strings in D minor (H.426) (1747?)
Robert Aitken (flute), CBC Vancouver Orchestra, Mario Bernardi (conductor)

06:08 AM
Sergey Prokofiev (1891-1953)
Quintet in G minor, Op 39
Hexagon Ensemble


THU 06:30 Breakfast (m001w8hg)
Classical music to brighten your morning

Petroc Trelawny presents Radio 3's classical breakfast show with music that captures the mood of the morning.

Email your requests to 3breakfast@bbc.co.uk


THU 09:00 Essential Classics (m001w8hj)
Classical coffee break

Georgia Mann plays the best in classical music, with discoveries and surprises rubbing shoulders with familiar favourites.

0930 Playlist starter – listen and send us your ideas for the next step in our musical journey today.

1010 Song of the Day – harnessing the magic of words, music and the human voice.

1045 Playlist reveal – a sequence of music suggested by you in response to our starter today.

1130 Slow Moment – time to take a break for a moment's musical reflection


THU 12:00 Composer of the Week (m001w8hl)
Maddalena Sirmen and her World

A sensation in London

Donald Macleod delves into Sirmen’s time in London, performing alongside Johann Christian Bach.

Maddalena Sirmen was born in Venice in 1745 and christened Maddalena Laura Lombardini. Her poverty-stricken family were unable to support her and by the age of seven she was admitted to one of Venice’s ‘Ospedali’. The Ospedali were hospitals and orphanages set up to help the needy but also celebrated for the musical education they provided to their residents. Sirmen soon excelled in her training. By the age of fourteen she was accepted for additional music lessons in Padua with the famed violinist, Tartini, and became one of his favourite students. In 1767 she married fellow composer, Lodovico Sirmen, and was able to leave the Ospedale, at last. There followed many successful years of travelling and performing as a virtuoso violinist, often presenting her own works. Sirmen’s music was published in many leading European cities, and Leopold Mozart said of one of her works, that it was “beautifully written”. When visiting London for a third time, Sirmen decided to present herself as a singer, rather than a violinist. This proved to be a mistake and she was greatly criticised in the press. From this point onwards her reputation diminished despite further concerts, as a violinist, in Paris, Dresden and St Petersburg. Sirmen eventually settled back in Venice, where she died in 1818.

In the early 1770s Maddalena Sirmen travelled to London to perform at the concert season there, including at the famed Bach-Abel concerts. She left her husband, Lodovico, behind in Italy, with their daughter. Sirmen was a sensation in London for the first two seasons she was there, and even performed her own concertos between performances of Johann Christian Bach’s oratorio Gioas, King of Judah. Soon, Sirmen was organising her own benefit concerts, and not only performed as a violinist, but also played concertos on the harpsichord.

Violin Concerto No 1 in B flat major, Op 3 No 1 (Allegro)
Zefira Valova, violin
Il Pomo d’Oro

J. C. Bach
Gioas, re di Giuda (Fe giuriamo)
Rheinische Kantorei
Das Kleine Konert
Hermann Max, director

Maddalena Sirmen
Violin Concerto No 1 in B flat major, Op 3 No 1 (excerpt)
Zefira Valova, violin
Il Pomo d’Oro

J. C. Bach
Sonata in G, Op 10 No 3, W. B4 (Rondeaux)
Erika Petőfi, violin
Miklós Spányi, tangent piano

Maddalena Sirmen
String Quartet No 3 in G minor
Allegri String Quartet

Violin Concerto No 6 in C major, Op 3 No 6
Piroska Vitárius, violin
Savaria Baroque Orchestra
Pál Németh, conductor

Produced by Luke Whitlock


THU 13:00 Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert (m001lc1j)
Brahms from Perth Concert Hall (3/4)

The long-standing duo of Michael Collins (clarinet) and Michael McHale (piano) bring some of the best loved works for clarinet and piano to Perth. Brahms fell in the love with the clarinet late in his life and was inspired to write two glorious sonatas for his friend Richard Mühlfeld. Debussy's 'Premiere Rhapsodie' was written in more practical circumstances as a competition piece at the Paris Conservatoire but he modestly admitted that it was one of the most pleasing pieces he had ever written. Polish-American Robert Muczynski was a pianist-composer and concentrated his writing on small chamber works. Time Pieces is one of several short works loved by woodwind players and frequently performed in recital.

Debussy: Première rhapsodie
Muczynski: Time Pieces for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 43
Brahms: Clarinet Sonata in F minor Op 120 No 1
Field arr. McHale: Nocturne No.5

Michael Collins, clarinet
Michael McHale, piano

Presented by Stephen Broad
Produced by Lindsay Pell


THU 14:00 Afternoon Concert (m001w8hn)
Ruth Gipps' Symphony No 1

Penny Gore introduces a performance of Ruth Gipps' Symphony No. 1 with the BBC Philharmonic conducted by Rumon Gamba; and another instalment of Rachmaninov's Vespers (All-Night Vigil) with the Berlin Radio Chorus. Also, the BBC Symphony Orchestra with Nikos Skalkottas' Enos Aitos, part of his 36 Greek dances for orchestra; New Generation Artist, cellist Santiago Cañón-Valencia, offers Piazzolla's Le Grand Tango, for cello and accordion; and Roger Norrington conducts the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra in the 1st movement of Mozart's Symphony No. 38, 'Prague'.

Including,


Haydn: Piano sonata in E minor H.16.34 (1st mvt)
Paul Lewis, piano

Ruth Gipps: Concerto Op. 9 for clarinet and orchestra: 3rd mvt; Vivace
Robert Plane, clarinet
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Martyn Brabbins, conductor

Piazzolla: Le Grand Tango
Santiago Cañón-Valencia, cello
Ryan Corbett, accordion

Turina: Trio for piano and strings no. 1 (Op.35) in D minor, 3rd mvt; Sonate
Nash Ensemble


Rachmaninov: Vespers (All-Night Vigil), op. 37, Nos. 10-12
Voskresenie Hristovo videvše (Having Beheld the Resurrection)
Veličit duša moja Gospoda (My Soul Doth Magnify the Lord)
Velikoye slavosloviye (The Great Doxology)
Judith Simonis, alto
Holger Marks, tenor
Berlin Radio Chorus
Gijs Leenaards, conductor

Mozart: Symphony No. 38 (K.504) in D major "Prague", 1st movement; Adagio – allegro
Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra
Roger Norrington, conductor

Chopin: Scherzo No.2 in B flat minor, Op.31
Martha Argerich, piano


THU 17:00 In Tune (m001w8hq)
Music news and live classical music

Sean Rafferty is joined by soprano Sophie Bevan to talk about her upcoming role in Welsh National Opera’s Cosi fan tutte. Plus, there’s live music from pianist Marc-Andre Hamelin.


THU 19:00 Classical Mixtape (m000rd0h)
Switch up your listening with classical music

A specially curated playlist of classical music, including a traditional Norwegian wedding march, Anna Clyne's cello concerto and the finale of Borodin's second symphony. Along the way there's also music by Boccherini, Gabrieli, Florence Price and Debussy.

Producer: Ian Wallington

01 Luigi Boccherini
Symphony for small orchestra No 6 (1st mvt)
Orchestra: London Festival Orchestra
Director: Ross Pople
Duration 00:04:32

02 00:04:19 Giovanni Gabrieli
Canzon vigesima settima à 8
Ensemble: Philip Jones Brass Ensemble
Director: Philip Jones
Duration 00:03:05

03 00:07:20 Florence Price
Piano Sonata in E Minor (2nd mvt)
Performer: Hiroko Ishimoto
Duration 00:04:27

04 00:11:40 Claude Debussy
En bateau arr for wind trio
Performer: Anthony Averay
Performer: Lorne G Buick
Performer: Hamish Gordon
Music Arranger: Anthony Averay
Ensemble: Vancouver Wind Trio
Duration 00:04:04

05 00:15:35 Traditional Norwegian
Wedding March from Gudbrandsdalen
Performer: Birger Mistereggen
Choir: Trio Mediæval
Duration 00:03:05

06 00:18:34 Anna Clyne
Cello Concerto 'Dance' (When You're Broken Up)
Performer: Inbal Segev
Orchestra: London Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: Marin Alsop
Duration 00:04:40

07 00:23:15 Alexander Borodin
Symphony No 2 in B minor (4th mvt)
Orchestra: Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Neeme Järvi
Duration 00:06:34


THU 19:30 Radio 3 in Concert (m001w8hx)
Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony

No composer does emotion quite like Tchaikovsky. “With desire and passion,” he wrote on the score of his Fifth Symphony. No wonder it’s one of the most popular symphonies ever composed. In this concert from Glasgow Tabita Berglund guides the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra through all of this symphony's raw power and emotion. It’s a stirring climax to a concert that begins with a haunting folksong from the fjords of Norway, and stars the great Truls Mørk in Dvořák’s Cello Concerto: music of heartfelt tenderness and fearless beauty.

Live from City Halls, Glasgow

Presented by Kate Molleson

Geirr Tveitt: Velkomne med Æra (Welcome with Honour)
Antonín Dvořák: Cello Concerto
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5

Truls Mørk (cello)
Tabita Berglund (conductor)
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra


THU 22:00 Free Thinking (m001w8j0)
Can - Future Days

Formed in 1968, the German group Can's founding members included Irmin Schmidt and Holger Czukay who had both studied under Karlheinz Stockhausen. Joined by jazz drummer Jaki Liebezeit and Japanese vocalist Damo Suzuki for the group's 'classic' line-up that recorded Tago Mago (1971) and Ege Bamyasi (1972), their fourth album - Future Days - saw them exploring a more ambient, blissed-out sound, in contrast to their previous releases. Matthew Sweet is joined by musicians Jah Wobble and Gwenno, novelist Alan Warner and cultural historian Mererid Puw Davies to take a deep dive into the album and explore the blend of influences that made Can such a unique musical proposition.

Producer: Torquil MacLeod


THU 22:45 The Essay (m000xmk0)
Adrian Edmondson - Signs of Life

It's One Rule for Them

“It became a game really, to see how quickly we could break them... If the rules hadn’t been there, we might have been better behaved.”

Adrian Edmondson has always struggled with rules be they rules at school, dress codes or codes of conduct that create different rules for different people. In this essay he remembers a particular incident that occurred when he appeared on stage with The Who.

Across this set of essays Adrian Edmondson considers moments of personal and social change.

His career has taken him from 20th Century Coyote (punk meets comedy) to The Young Ones to Malvolio at the RSC via Eddie Hitler in Bottom.

Adrian Edmondson studied drama at Manchester University where he met his comedy partner Rik Mayall. The influence of the absurdist dramatists he studied and his early love for The Goons, The Muppets and Monty Python are all reflected in his comedy practice. He and Rik were part of the first wave of Alternative Comedy where their glorious pursuit of laughter and anarchic performances changed the comedic landscape forever. He starred as Vyvyan in The Young Ones, the series that blasted its way onto our screens tearing into our preconceptions of what television comedy could be.

Adrian has since had a very significant career indeed. A career that has taken him in later years into 'straight' acting as well, at the RSC, BBC TV’s War and Peace and EastEnders, and as a writer of books for adults and children. He has also had an award-winning music career with his band The Bad Shepherds which fused punk and folk. In September 2023 he published his autobiography, Beserker!, the wellspring of which was this series of essays for BBC Radio 3.

Written and read by Adrian Edmondson
Produced by Caroline Raphael
A Dora Production for BBC Radio 3


THU 23:00 The Night Tracks Mix (m001qmyf)
Music for night owls

Sara Mohr-Pietsch with a magical sonic journey for late-night listening. Subscribe to receive your weekly mix on BBC Sounds.


THU 23:30 Unclassified (m001sf9y)
Gazelle Twin’s Listening Chair

Indulge in a little sonic escapism and submerge yourself in the healing waters of ambient and experimental music with Elizabeth Alker.

This week, she invites composer, producer, singer, and visual artist Gazelle Twin, aka Elizabeth Bernholz, to lead us on a surprising and transportive journey in deep listening. Experimental electronics meet folk-horror in Gazelle Twin’s sound, which weaves together themes of the pastoral, the supernatural and the disturbing through haunting vocals and industrial drones. Her latest album Black Dog is about confronting fear, but for her Listening Chair she selects a piece of Japanese ambient from the 1980s that she listened to during a cesarean delivery a few years ago, which made the experience feel serene, safe and gentle.

Elsewhere, there’s splashing waves and electronic dolphins from the late composer Joanna Brouk’s early new age masterwork Sounds of the Sea, and chamber-pop from Manchester’s Daniel O’Sullivan based on an apocalyptic sonnet written in the 1880s. Plus a new hypnotic work for carillon bells from New York minimalist composer Charlemagne Palestine dedicated to his collection of over 18,000 cuddly toys, which he calls his ‘divinities’.

Produced by Katie Callin
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3

01 00:00:05 James Blake (artist)
Fire The Editor
Performer: James Blake
Duration 00:04:01

02 00:04:51 Gazelle Twin (artist)
Fear Keeps Us Alive
Performer: Gazelle Twin
Duration 00:04:28

03 00:09:19 Melanie De Biasio (artist)
We Never Kneel To Pray
Performer: Melanie De Biasio
Duration 00:04:49

04 00:15:21 Saint Malo (artist)
Dolce far Niente
Performer: Saint Malo
Duration 00:02:34

05 00:17:55 Priori (artist)
Seclusion
Performer: Priori
Performer: Al Wootton
Duration 00:06:34

06 00:24:44 Hilary Woods (artist)
Where the Bough Has Broken
Performer: Hilary Woods
Duration 00:04:43

07 00:29:27 Marysia Osu (artist)
Stryder
Performer: Marysia Osu
Duration 00:05:52

08 00:36:07 Haruomi Hosono (artist)
Muji Original BGM
Performer: Haruomi Hosono
Duration 00:03:15

09 00:45:16 Joanna Brouk (artist)
Diving Deeper, Remembering Love
Performer: Joanna Brouk
Duration 00:05:36

10 00:50:52 DOS (artist)
Sybil's Leaves
Performer: DOS
Duration 00:04:29

11 00:56:58 Charlemagne Palestine (artist)
DINGGGDONGGGDINGGGzzzzzzz ferrrr SSSOFTTT DIVINI TIESSSSS​!​!​!​!​!​!​!​!​!
Performer: Charlemagne Palestine
Duration 00:02:56

FRIDAY 23 FEBRUARY 2024

FRI 00:30 Through the Night (m001w8jd)
Arte dei Suonatori at the Copenhagen Baroque Festival

Soprano Francesa Lombardi Mazzulli joins the famed Polish early music ensemble to perform works by Propora, Bononcini and Handel. Presented by Jonathan Swain.

12:31 AM
Johann Adolf Hasse (1699-1783)
Sinfonia (Overture), from 'Cleofide'
Arte dei Suonatori

12:40 AM
Nicola Porpora (1686-1768)
Raggio amico di speranza, Cleofide's aria from 'Poro'
Francesca Lombardi Mazzulli (soprano), Arte dei Suonatori

12:46 AM
Antonio Maria Bononcini (1677 -1726)
Lasciami un sol momento, Rosiclea's aria from 'Rosiclea in Dania'
Francesca Lombardi Mazzulli (soprano), Arte dei Suonatori

12:54 AM
Johann Adolf Hasse (1699-1783)
Mandolin Concerto in G, op. 3/11
Alon Sariel (mandolin), Arte dei Suonatori

01:02 AM
Nicola Porpora (1686-1768)
Alto Giove, Aci's aria from act 3 of 'Polifemo'
Francesca Lombardi Mazzulli (soprano), Arte dei Suonatori

01:12 AM
Johann Joachim Quantz (1697-1773)
Adagio cantabile, from Horn Concerto in E-flat, QV 5:Anh.14
Ursula Paludan Monberg (horn), Arte dei Suonatori

01:15 AM
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Lusinghe più care, Rossane's aria from act 1 of Alessandro, HWV 21
Francesca Lombardi Mazzulli (soprano), Arte dei Suonatori

01:22 AM
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
Lute Concerto in D, RV 93
Alon Sariel (mandolin), Arte dei Suonatori

01:32 AM
Giovanni Alberto Ristori (1692-1753)
Quanta volte in dolci accenti, aria from Didone Abbandonato, cantata
Francesca Lombardi Mazzulli (soprano), Arte dei Suonatori

01:37 AM
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Dixit Dominus, HWV 232
Hana Blazikova (soprano), Alena Hellerova (soprano), Kamila Mazalova (contralto), Vaclav Cizek (tenor), Tomas Kral (bass), Jaromir Nosek (bass), Collegium Vocale 1704, Collegium 1704, Vaclav Luks (conductor)

02:08 AM
Karol Szymanowski (1882-1937)
Violin Concerto No.2 (Op.61)
Edward Zienkowski (violin), Polish Radio National Symphony Orchestra Katowice, Michal Dworzynski (conductor)

02:31 AM
Julius Rontgen (1855-1932)
Piano Trio in C minor, Op 50 no 4
Alexander Kerr (violin), Gregor Horsch (cello), Sepp Grotenhuis (piano)

02:51 AM
Mikhail Mikhaylovich Ippolitov-Ivanov (1859 - 1935)
Caucasian Sketches - orchestral suite (Op.10)
Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Uri Mayer (conductor)

03:14 AM
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1788)
Concerto for harpsichord, fortepiano and orchestra (Wq.47) in E flat major
Michel Eberth (harpsichord), Wolfgang Brunner (pianoforte), Slovenicum Chamber Orchestra, Uros Lajovic (conductor)

03:32 AM
John Corigliano (b.1938)
Fantasia on an ostinato for piano
Ji-Yeong Mun (piano)

03:42 AM
Claude Le Jeune (c.1528-1600)
Dieu, nous te louons
Ensemble Vocal Sagittarius, Christina Pluhar (lute), Michel Laplenie (conductor)

03:51 AM
Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
Czardas macabre
Istvan Antal (piano)

04:00 AM
Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)
Overture (Sicilian Vespers)
Orchestre du Conservatoire de Musique du Quebec, Raffi Armenian (conductor)


04:16 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Sonata for violin and keyboard (K.301) in G major
Julie Eskaer (violin), Janjz Zapolsky (piano)

04:31 AM
Christoph Gluck (1714-1787)
Overture from Iphigenia en Aulide
Radio Bratislava Symphony Orchestra, Ludovit Rajter (conductor)

04:43 AM
Dietrich Buxtehude (1637-1707)
Missa brevis (BuxWV.114)
Marieke Steenhoek (soprano), Miriam Meyer (soprano), Bogna Bartosz (contralto), Marco van de Klundert (tenor), Klaus Mertens (bass), Ton Koopman (conductor)

04:53 AM
Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901), Franz Liszt (arranger)
Rigoletto (paraphrase de concert for piano) (S.434)
Georges Cziffra (piano)

05:01 AM
Johan Halvorsen (1864-1935)
Norwegian Rhapsody No 1 in A minor
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Ole Kristian Ruud (conductor)

05:14 AM
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Fantasia and fugue for organ in G minor (BWV.542) 'Great'
Ligita Sneibe (organ)

05:25 AM
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Der Leiermann - No.24 from Winterreise (song-cycle) (D.911)
Michael Schopper (bass), Andreas Staier (pianoforte)

05:29 AM
Joseph Martin Kraus (1756-1792)
Symphony in C minor
Concerto Koln

05:50 AM
Edward MacDowell (1860-1908)
Suite for large orchestra in A minor, Op 42
Eastman-Rochester Orchestra, Howard Hanson (conductor)

06:10 AM
Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767)
Quartet no.12 in E minor (Paris Quartet)
L'ensemble Arion, Claire Guimond (director)


FRI 06:30 Breakfast (m001w8hw)
Start the day right with classical music

Petroc Trelawny presents Radio 3's classical breakfast show with the Friday poem and music that captures the mood of the morning.

Email your requests to 3breakfast@bbc.co.uk


FRI 09:00 Essential Classics (m001w8j1)
A feast of great music

Georgia Mann plays the best in classical music, with familiar favourites alongside new discoveries and musical surprises.

0930 Playlist starter – listen and send us your ideas for the next step in our musical journey today.

1010 Song of the Day – harnessing the magic of words, music and the human voice.

1045 Playlist reveal – a sequence of music suggested by you in response to our starter today.

1130 Slow Moment – time to take a break for a moment's musical reflection.


FRI 12:00 Composer of the Week (m001w8j5)
Maddalena Sirmen and her World

A return to Venice

Donald Macleod follows Sirmen’s decline from the limelight and her return to Venice.

Maddalena Sirmen was born in Venice in 1745 and christened Maddalena Laura Lombardini. Her poverty-stricken family were unable to support her and by the age of seven she was admitted to one of Venice’s ‘Ospedali’. The Ospedali were hospitals and orphanages set up to help the needy but also celebrated for the musical education they provided to their residents. Sirmen soon excelled in her training. By the age of fourteen she was accepted for additional music lessons in Padua with the famed violinist, Tartini, and became one of his favourite students. In 1767 she married fellow composer, Lodovico Sirmen, and was able to leave the Ospedale, at last. There followed many successful years of travelling and performing as a virtuoso violinist, often presenting her own works. Sirmen’s music was published in many leading European cities, and Leopold Mozart said of one of her works, that it was “beautifully written”. When visiting London for a third time, Sirmen decided to present herself as a singer, rather than a violinist. This proved to be a mistake and she was greatly criticised in the press. From this point onwards her reputation diminished despite further concerts, as a violinist, in Paris, Dresden and St Petersburg. Sirmen eventually settled back in Venice, where she died in 1818.

Maddalena Sirmen’s third visit to London for the concert season was not a success. She no longer excited the English public, who were more interested in newer, younger violin virtuosos like Thomas Linley Junior. Sirmen launched herself as a singer, instead. This did not go down well, and she was lampooned in the press. After this there followed further concerts in Italy, France, Germany, and even a period in Russia too, but her comeback attempt as a virtuoso violinist did not take flight. Sirmen, with her priest companion Don Giuseppe Terzi, eventually returned to Venice. She died in her early seventies, just a few days after Terzi.

Violin Concerto No 4 in C major, Op 3 No 4 (excerpt)
Piroska Vitárius, violin
Savaria Baroque Orchestra
Pál Németh, conductor

String Quartet No 6 in E major (Andantino)
Lombardini Quartet

Thomas Linley Junior
The Song of Moses (Chorus: Praise be to God, and God alone)
Andrew King, tenor
Andrew Dales Forbes, bass
Holst Singers
The Parley of Instruments
Peter Holman, conductor

Maddalena Sirmen
String Quartet No 6 in E major (Con brio)
Lombardini Quartet

Ludovico Sirmen
Sonata in A major (Adagio cantabile)
Giovanni Guglielmo, violin
Stefania Cavedon, cello
Enrico Zanovello, harpsichord

Maddalena Sirmen
Violin Concerto No 4 in C major, Op 3 No 4
Piroska Vitárius, violin
Savaria Baroque Orchestra
Pál Németh, conductor

String Quartet No 5 in F minor
Musica Fiorita
Daniela Dolci, director

Produced by Luke Whitlock


FRI 13:00 Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert (m001lc44)
Brahms from Perth Concert Hall (4/4)

This final concert in the series exploring the chamber music of Johannes Brahms features the melodious and sunny natured A major Violin Sonata. This is the second of three sonatas described by the composer as sonatas for piano and violin where the piano is at least an equal partner in the duo. Lyrical and lovely, Brahms was at peace when writing this work unlike Martinů whose violin sonata, written in 1944 betrays the trauma and distress of his wartime exile in New York and frequently troubled life. Suk's Burlesque acts a sorbet between these two worlds - a whirlwind of perpetual motion highlighting the effortless virtuosity of the violinist.

Brahms: Violin Sonata No 2 in A
Suk: Burlesque
Martinů: Violin Sonata No 3
Dvorak: 4 Romantic Pieces Op 75 No 1

Irène Duval, violin
Sam Armstrong, piano

Presented by Stephen Broad
Produced by Lindsay Pell


FRI 14:00 Afternoon Concert (m001w8j9)
Eric Coates' The Three Elizabeths Suite

Penny Gore introduces a performance of Eric Coates' The Three Elizabeths Suite with the BBC Philharmonic, conducted by John Wilson, who also play more music by Coates, his Television March; and our final instalment of Rachmaninov (All-Night Vigil) with the Berlin Radio Chorus. Also today, the BBC Concert Orchestra under Barry Wordsworth with Enescu's Romanian Rhapsody No. 1; Telemann's Concerto for flute, recorder and strings with Musica Antigua Koln, and Marc-Antoine Charpentier's Te Deum, with William Christie conducting Les Arts Florissants.


Rachmaninov: Vespers (All-Night Vigil), op. 37, Nos. 13-15
Tropar 'Dnes' spasenije' (Troparion: Today Salvation is Come)
Tropar 'Voskres iz groba' (Troparion: Thou Didst Rise)
Vzbrannoj vojevode (To Thee, Victorious Leader)
Judith Simonis, alto
Holger Marks, tenor
Berlin Radio Chorus
Gijs Leenaards, conductor

Telemann: Concerto for flute, recorder and strings (TWV.52:e1) in E minor
Musica Antigua Koln


Puccini: Crisantemi, for string quartet
Puccini Quartet


Ravel: Rapsodie espagnole vers. for 2 pianos, Feria
Sergio Tiempo & Karin Lechner, pianos

Haydn: Haydn: Violin Concerto In A, Hob. VII A No. 3 - 1. Moderato
Giuliano Carmignola, violin
Orchestra of the Champs-Elysées
Alessandro Moccia, conductor

Charpentier: Te Deum
Les Arts Florissants
William Christie, conductor


FRI 16:30 The Listening Service (m001fn3s)
[Repeat of broadcast at 17:00 on Sunday]


FRI 17:00 In Tune (m001w8jf)
Live classical music for your drive

Sean Rafferty has live music in the studio from jazz ensemble Jivin’ Miss Daisy, amongst others.


FRI 19:00 Classical Mixtape (m001w8jh)
30 minutes of classical inspiration

Take time out with a 30-minute soundscape of classical music.


FRI 19:30 Radio 3 in Concert (m001w8jm)
Vienna 1783 with The London Mozart Players

The London Mozart Players at 75.

The popular chamber orchestra presents Mozart: The Mixtape, as the players are joined at Croydon's Fairfield Halls by the celebrated Viennese soprano Anna Prohaska, the Vienna-trained pianist Imogen Cooper and young British pianist Martin James Bartlett as they re-create Mozart's celebrated March 1783 in Vienna's Burgtheater: "Vienna, 22 March 1783 . . . Tonight the famous Herr Chevalier Mozart held a musical concert in the National Theatre, at which pieces of his already highly admired composition were performed. The concert was honoured with an exceptionally large concourse, and the two new concertos and other fantasies which Herr M. played on the fortepiano were received with the loudest applause. Our Monarch, who against his habit attended the whole of the concert, as well as the entire audience, accorded him such unanimous applause as has never been heard of here."
But Mozart: The Mixtape is a re-creation for our own times: "Imagine this. The year is 1783 and you’re a fashionable Viennese aristocrat, so of course you’ve heard of Mozart, the 27-year-old genius lighting up music halls across the continent. He might even be your piano teacher. Someone tells you that he’s got something new planned, so you show up to the palace theatre in your newest ‘fit. As the concert starts, you note that the Emperor is in attendance – a good sign. If you could, you’d livetweet the whole thing. It features many of Mozart’s greatest hits including the “Haffner” Symphony and Piano Concertos No.13 and No.5."

Hosted on stage by Petroc Trelawny.

Mozart: Symphony No. 35 in D Major "Haffner" K.385 - Allegro, Andante and Menuetto
Mozart: 'Se il padre perdei' (from Idomeneo)
Mozart: Concertante and Rondo from Serenade No. 9 in D Major (Posthorn) K. 320
Mozart: Misera, dove son! K. 369
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 13 in C Major K.415
Imogen Cooper (piano)

Mozart: “Temerari… come scoglio” (from Così fan tutte)
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 5 in D Major K. 175 (with Finale K. 382)
Martin James Bartlett (piano)
Mozart: Symphony No. 35 in D Major "Haffner" K.385 - Presto

Anna Prohaska (soprano)
Imogen Cooper (piano)
Martin James Bartlett (piano)

London Mozart Players
Jonathan Bloxham (conductor)


FRI 22:00 The Verb (m001w8jr)
Ian McMillan presents Radio 3's cabaret of the word.


FRI 22:45 The Essay (m000xn55)
Adrian Edmondson - Signs of Life

A Boy Named Sue

“No one knows what to call me. Even me. People say ‘Do we call you Ade or Adrian?’ And I usually say, ‘Whatever you can manage’”.

At various stages in his life Adrian Edmondson has attempted to change his name. He ponders his family history and how he came to be called Adrian. He was ribbed at school for having what was thought of as a girl’s name.

Across this set of essays Adrian Edmondson considers moments of personal and social change.

His career has taken him from 20th Century Coyote (punk meets comedy) to The Young Ones to Malvolio at the RSC via Eddie Hitler in Bottom.

Adrian Edmondson studied drama at Manchester University where he met his comedy partner Rik Mayall. The influence of the absurdist dramatists he studied and his early love for The Goons, The Muppets and Monty Python are all reflected in his comedy practice. He and Rik were part of the first wave of Alternative Comedy where their glorious pursuit of laughter and anarchic performances changed the comedic landscape forever. He starred as Vyvyan in The Young Ones, the series that blasted its way onto our screens tearing into our preconceptions of what television comedy could be.

Adrian has since had a very significant career indeed. A career that has taken him in later years into 'straight' acting as well, at the RSC, BBC TV’s War and Peace and EastEnders, and as a writer of books for adults and children. He has also had an award-winning music career with his band The Bad Shepherds which fused punk and folk. In September 2023 he published his autobiography, Beserker!, the wellspring of which was this series of essays for BBC Radio 3.

Written and read by Adrian Edmondson
Series recorded by Lucinda Mason Brown
Produced by Caroline Raphael
A Dora Production for BBC Radio


FRI 23:00 Late Junction (m001lc4l)
Newt Junction

It’s not easy being green… To herald the appearance of frogspawn in ponds and puddles across Britain, Jennifer Lucy Allan shares an amphibious-inspired selection of toadally adventurous sounds.

Frogs, toads, newts, axolotls - amphibians have been inspiring music-makers for centuries. We’ll play the frog dances of Renaissance composer Thomas Morley, ambient experiments from drone project Axolotl, 70s psych rock reflections on horned toads, squelchy newt dub from Dublin and crackled croaking from Japanese noise musician Merzbow. There’ll be snippets from the recently-repressed record of renowned herpetologist Charles M. Bogert, featuring field recordings of 57 species of frogs and toads across North America, originally released in 1958. Plus an appearance by, possibly, the most famous frog of all, he of Muppet fame.

Outside of the herpetological realm, Jennifer shares new releases from the likes of New Zealand cult guitarist Roy Montgomery, South London experimenter Louis Carnell, and French pagan Nina Harker.

Produced by Kit Callin
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3