Close menu

Programme Index

Discover 11,128,835 listings and 277,382 playable programmes from the BBC

2LO London
on 2LO London

View in Radio Times

SCARLATTI'S HARPSICHORD SONATAS
Played by BERNHARD ORD
WE remember that there were two Scarlattis— the father Alessandro, that great writer of operas and songs in the early seventeenth century, when the new operatic art was becoming very popular in Italy, and the son Domenico (1685— 1757), the contemporary of Bach and Handel. He met Handel in Venice and became his close friend and admirer. The two competed at Rome in keyboard performance. As harpsichordists they tied, but on the organ Handel was declared the finer player.
It is Domenico's music we are to hear this week. This great pioneer in keyboard writing was a bold experimenter, and had a wit as brisk as his fingers. He surprised all who heard him play his pieces, many of which require great agility, and frequent crossing of hands. In his later years he became so stout that some of his pieces were beyond him, for his hands wouldn't cross.
We may reckon Domenico Scarlatti the founder of modern pianoforte technique, although, of course, later research (particularly in the last thirty years or so) has shown what are the scientific bases of pianoforte playing, and has simplified the path of the player.
His bright and vigorous short pieces were written before the time of the four-Movement Sonata we usually hear in recitals. In his day ' Sonata ' was a term applied to an instrumental piece, as distinct from a ' Cantata ' or vocal piece. Pianoforte pieces were rarely of any complexity or length; only the fugue gave much room for science.
Scarlatti's main principle of structure is to write one Movement only, in two halves, both of which use much the same material; one of the attractions in this music is to hear how ho deals with his cheerful little tunes, getting quite a lot of variety out of them without ' developing ' them as later did Mozart and Beethoven. Always he is crisp and bright (he wrote very few slow Movements), and the natty busy-ness of his finished style, that so admirably suits the keyboard, is extremely attractive.

Source: Radio Times
2LO London
on 2LO London

View in Radio Times

by Poldowski
TATIANA MAKUSHINA (Soprano)
POLDOWSKI (Pianoforte)
TATIANA MAKUSHINA
9.44 POLDOWSKI
Caledonian Market
Street Hawkers ; Mouth Organs ; The Bloomsbury Waltz; The Musical Box ; Clowns
9.50 TATIANA MAKUSHINA
(THE Composer at the Piano)
'pOLDOWSKI ' is the composing-name of Lady Dean Paul , a daughter of the famous violinist
Wieniawski and of an Irish mother.
Her uncl-, Jules Wieniawski , was a notable Polish patriot.
She studied at the Brussels Conservatoire, in England under Percy Pitt , and in Paris under Gédalge and d'Indy. She began to compose at five, and in later years has written, amongst other works, Pat Malone 's Wake, for Pianoforte and Orchestra, Nocturnes for Orchestra, a Light Opera, Laughter, a Suite for Pianoforte, Gale-' donian Market, and songs, including many settings of Verlaine.
This evening we shall have opportunity to hear
Caledonian Market and also some of the Verlaine songs.

Pannyre aux Talons d'or - Words by Albert Samain
Crepuscule du Soir Mystique - Paul Verlaine
Cortege - Paul Verlaine
Spleen - Paul Verlaine
Nocturne (' des Cantilenes ') - Jean Moreas
Dansons la Gigue - Paul Verlaine
Effet de Leige - Paul Verlaine
Colombine - Paul Verlaine

Source: Radio Times

2LO London

Appears in

View magazine

About this data

This data is drawn from the Radio Times magazine between 1923 and 2009. It shows what was scheduled to be broadcast, meaning it was subject to change and may not be accurate. More