Original version

BBC Radio 3 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced Third Programme.

BBC Radio 3

Radio 3

Migrated podcast image for: Composer Of The Week

Composer of the Week

Music: Classical

Composer of the Week - Brand

An informative guide to composers' lives and their music.

An informative and accessible guide to composers' lives and their music.

Composer of the Week: Niccolo Jommelli (1714-1774)

Composer of the Week: Niccolo Jommelli (1714-1774): Episode 5: Jommelli Falls Behind the Times

Niccolo Jommelli (1714-1774)

Episode 5

Episode 5: Jommelli Falls Behind the Times

Jommelli Falls Behind the Times

BBC Radio 3 - Composer of the Week, Niccolo Jommelli (1714-1774), Jommelli Falls Behind the Times

Donald Macleod on Jommelli's last years, marked by financial crisis and his wife's illness

Donald Macleod explores Jommelli's final years, when he faced financial crisis and his wife's illness. He travelled to Naples for the warmer climate and continued writing operas.

Described as the "New Orpheus", whose music had people literally rising to their feet in rapt attention, Niccolo Jommelli was patronised by the Pope, sought by many Royal Courts as their Director of Music, and was seen by many as the greatest opera composer of his day.

By the late 1760s, Jommelli was seeking new employment, wanting to leave the Court at Stuttgart which was now facing financial crisis. Due to his wife's illness, they travelled back to the warmer climate of Naples, where Jommelli was to remain for the rest of his life. He continued writing operas, but tastes had changed, and his music no longer suited his Neapolitan audience.

The Court in Germany refused to honour Jommelli's pension, and he was forced to seek finances elsewhere in his old age. With financial problems, and failing health, he died in 1774, and his funeral was a grand affair in Naples, attended by many dignitaries and musicians. His music remained popular for some time, including the Requiem and many of his operas, but his influence in the development of opera, and orchestral writing, has been largely forgotten in recent years.

Live music and the arts: broadcasts more live music than any other radio network. Classical music is its core. Genres include world and new music, jazz, speech and drama.

Donald Macleod surveys the life and music of Niccolo Jommelli

Donald Macleod surveys the life and music of Niccolo Jommelli, who was once dubbed 'the new Orpheus'

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Composer of the Week

Niccolo Jommelli (1714-1774)

Episode 5: Jommelli Falls Behind the Times

Genres

Brand

Series

BBC Radio 3

About BBC Radio 3