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

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Composer of the Week

Music: Classical

An informative guide to composers' lives and their music.

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

Composer of the Week: Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)

Composer of the Week: Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958): Episode 2: The French Connection

Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)

Episode 2

Episode 2: The French Connection

The French Connection

BBC Radio 3 - Composer of the Week, Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958), The French Connection

Donald Macleod focuses on Vaughan Williams's fruitful relationship with Maurice Ravel.

Donald Macleod focuses on Vaughan Williams's fruitful relationship with French composer Maurice Ravel, cemented over steak and kidney puddings at Waterloo station.

"I came to the conclusion I was lumpy and stodgy ... and that a little French polish would be of use to me". That marked the beginnings of a relationship which did much to mould Vaughan Williams's talents.

Donald Macleod explores this French connection, seeing the composer develop a fruitful relationship with Maurice Ravel which eventually reached the heights of steak and kidney puddings at London's Waterloo Station.

Plus we follow the composer through his studies at Cambridge where he found only a cautious acceptance of his abilities by his tutors. 

The Sky Above the Roof
Susan Bickley, mezzo soprano
Iain Burnside, piano

Overture: The Wasps 
Kansas City Symphony
Michael Stern, conductor

5 Mystical Songs: Love Bade Me Welcome 
Thomas Allen, baritone 
Corydon Singers 
English Chamber Orchestra 
Matthew Best, conductor

Phantasy Quintet 
The Nash Ensemble:
Marianne Thorsen, Elizabeth Wexler, violins 
Lawrence Power, Louise Williams, violas
Paul Watkins, cello

Sea Symphony (1st movement: Songs for All Seas, All Ships) 
Joan Rodgers, soprano 
Christopher Maltman, baritone
Bournemouth Symphony Chorus
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra 
Paul Daniel, conductor.

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 charts the long life and career of English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams.

Donald Macleod charts the long life and career of Vaughan Williams, a composer in love with his country, with a passion for French music and who was scarred by wartime service

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Composer of the Week

Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)

Episode 2: The French Connection

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