Anthony Burton introduces the European Broadcasting
Union's celebration of the 1890s.
1.00 Austria
To commemorate the centenary of Brahms's death, the Vienna Brahms
Soloists perform his String Quintet No 2 in G, Op 111. Like Brahms, Hugo Wolf settled in Vienna. The lieder contained in the second volume of his Italian Songbook were composed in 1896. Soprano
Cornelia Hosp sings a selection, accompanied by David Coleman.
2.00 Denmark
The Danish Radio Concert Orchestra perform orchestral music written by three representatives of Danish late romanticism.
Conductor Petter Sundkvist ,
Amalie Mailing (piano)
Horneman The Flight of the Muses
Otto Mailing Piano Concerto in C minor Lange-Muller At the Bosporus
3.00 Belgium
Paul Gilson was an important figure in Belgian music, yet his ballet-pantomime La Captive, composed in the last years of the 19th century, has not been performed since its premiere in 1902. The BRTN
Philharmonic, conductor
Frank Shipway , perform a suite from the ballet, and Debussy's Nocturnes.
4.00 France
Catherine Dubosc (soprano), Jean-Paul Fouchecourt (tenor) and Noel Lee and Christian Ivaldi (pianos) present a recital of French songs and music for two pianos.
Faure Le Pas Espagnol (Dolly Suite) Debussy Fêtes Galantes
Satie Chansons de Cafe-Concert
Ravel Habanera
Debussy Trois Chansons de Bilitis Faure Pleurs d'Or
Debussy, transcr Ravel Fetes (Nocturnes)
5.00 Czech Republic
Dvorak's Heroic Song was premiered on 4 December 1898, a time when
Czech music was moving towards more individual, creative writing. Leos Janacek wrote his cantata
Amarus in 1897, infusing it with the rhythms and intonations of the Moravian dialect.
Miroslav Kopp (tenor), Kuhn Mixed Chorus, Prague Radio Symphony
Orchestra, conductor Vladimir Valek
6.00 Finland
Jean Sibelius 's only opera is based on a Finnish tale about a maiden imprisoned in a castle by a bailiff. Sibelius The Swan of Tuonela;
The Maiden in the Tower
Jubilate Choir, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, conductor Thomas Ollila
7.00 Moscow
Liapunov collected folk songs from many parts of Russia and worked them into several compositions, including the Solemn Overture on Russian Themes. Also in 1896, Scriabin was composing his only
Piano Concerto, premiered in 1898. Alexei Lubimov (piano),
Russian National Orchestra, conductor Mikhail Pletnev
8.00 Wales
The British contribution is broadcast live from the Brangwyn Hall, Swansea. Des Knaben Wunderhom, an anthology of German folk poetry published in the first decade of the 19th century, dominated Mahler's song output at the end of the century. It is performed tonight by Jonathan Summers (baritone),
Louise Winter (mezzo) and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, conductor Paul Daniel.
9.00 Germany
The EBU Day concludes with a performance of two chamber works which look forward to the 20th century, Debussy's String Quartet in G minor of 1893 and Schoenberg's sextet Verklarte Nacht, written in the last month of 1899. The Leipzig
Quartet is joined by Hartmut Rohde (viola) and Christian Giger (cello). BBC producer Graham Dixon