Composer of the Week: Vaughan Williams Today

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Composer of the Week

Music: Classical

Kate Molleson

An informative guide to composers' lives and their music.

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

Composer of the Week: Vaughan Williams Today: Legacy with Alain Frogley

Vaughan Williams Today

Legacy with Alain Frogley

BBC Radio 3 - Composer of the Week, Vaughan Williams Today, Legacy with Alain Frogley

Donald Macleod and Alain Frogley explore changing attitudes to Vaughan Williams’ music.

Donald Macleod and Alain Frogley explore the changing attitudes to Vaughan Williams’ music since his death.

Donald Macleod and Alain Frogley explore changing attitudes to Vaughan Williams’ music since his death.

In the week of the 150th anniversary of Vaughan Williams' birth, Donald Macleod revisits a series of conversations he recorded earlier in the year with leading authorities on the composer.  Each day he explores a new area of Vaughan Williams' life and music; shedding light on his central role in Britain's musical story, his posthumous impact and how we respond to him today.  Part of Radio 3’s ongoing season, “Vaughan Williams’ Today”, marking the composer's 150th anniversary year.

In the last of these wide-ranging conversations Donald is joined by Vaughan Williams expert Alain Frogley, Professor of Music History at the University of Connecticut to explore the changing attitudes to Vaughan Williams’ music, tracking the reception of his work from the time of the composer’s death in 1958, to the present day.

Symphony no. 9 - II. Andante Sostenuto
London Philharmonic
Adrian Boult, conductor

The Lover’s Ghost
Cambridge Singers
John Rutter, director

Suite from 49th Parallel (excerpt)
BBC Philharmonic
Rumon Gamba, conductor

Nocturne: Whispers of Heavenly Death
Roderick Williams, baritone
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Martyn Brabbins, conductor

A London Symphony (1913 version) – IV. Finale (excerpt)
London Symphony Orchestral
Richard Hickox, conductor

Producer: Sam Phillips

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 takes a fresh look at the composer's life in his 150th anniversary year.

As part of Radio 3's season marking the 150th anniversary of Ralph Vaughan Williams's birth, Donald Macleod takes a fresh look at one of the UK's most significant musical figures.

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