The Story of the Symphony Andre Previn with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra leader BARRY GRIFFITHS
In this six-part series Andre Previn conducts some of the most enduring works in the orchestral repertoire and investigates the circumstances that prompted their creation. Tonight's programme includes symphonies by Haydn (No 87) and Mozart (No 39).
'Both men,' says Previn, 'lived through a period when the role of the composer was changing fundamentally -from court entertainer to creative artist - the difference between a servant in a grand household and an individual with a personal and committed voice.
'Sounds Magnificent examines that category of personal statement. It is tied up with the growth of the orchestra itself. It finds its most magnificent and powerful expression in that strange phenomenon we call "the symphony".
'But where did that burning creativity come from? Take Mozart - how could such unparalleled and inexhaustible genius be compressed into one mortal man, blue eyes, light brown hair, five-feet-four? All his life Mozart was an itinerant musician. As a child he had been touted around Europe by his father, displayed like a circus act. Compare that with Haydn, resident composer to one of the richest families in Europe, working in a palace so isolated, he said, that he was "forced to be original" '
Vision mixer ANGELA WILSON
Videotape editor ROGER HARVEY Designer KEITH HARRIS
Lighting KEN MACGREGOR
Sound RAY ANGEL. Written and directed by HERBERT CHAPPELL Book (same title) £13.95, from booksellers
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