Andrew McGregor explores the role of cycling in Edwardian England and how Elgar's relationship with his bicycle influenced his music. Show more

Andrew McGregor with writer and broadcaster Jamie Bernstein and Nigel Simeone, editor of Bernstein's collected letters, talk about Leonard Bernstein's music for stage and screen. Show more

In a discussion held at the Royal College of Music in London, Chrisopher Cook introduces Carl Orff's choral cantata Carmina Burana, with guests Tony Palmer and Graham Lack. Show more

Anne McElvoy is joined by Shahidha Bari and Houda Echouafni to discuss the Arabian Nights, the collection of stories and folk tales compiled during the Islamic Golden Age. Show more

In a discussion held at the Royal College of Music in London, Petroc Trelawny delves into the life of Prokofiev and his five piano concertos with guests David Nice and Fiona Noble. Show more

In a discussion from the Royal College of Music in London, Rana Mitter is joined by poets Jo Shapcott and Sean O'Brien to discuss Ezra Pound's collection of poems entitled Cathay. Show more

Anne McElvoy is joined by writers Lynne Truss and Philip Ardagh to discuss the enduring appeal of Lewis Carroll's great novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Show more

Tom Service is joined by guests Marina Frolova-Walker and David Fanning to explore the historical context of Shostakovich's Seventh Symphony, known as the Leningrad. Show more

In an event from the Royal College of Music, Andrew McGregor investigates Charles Ives's Symphony No 4 in the context of his life, with guests Richard Bernas and Stephen Montague. Show more

Martin Handley is joined by Gavin Plumley and Erik Levi to discuss the life and work of Austrian composer Franz Schmidt, including his Symphony No 2. Show more

Tom Service is joined by guests Marina Frolova-Walker and Gerard McBurney - who orchestrated the work's prologue - to discuss Shostakovich's unfinished opera Orango. Show more

Rachel Beckles Willson offers an insight into Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra and discusses the life and work of the Hungarian composer. Show more

Musician Daniel Hyde, who has performed Bach's complete organ works, and musicologist Berta Joncus discuss Bach's works for the instrument and their influence on later composers. Show more

In a discussion held at the Royal College of Music, Martin Handley is joined by Daniel Grimley and Andrew Mellor to explore Sibelius's choral symphony Kullervo and its influences. Show more

Executive producer Michael Gunton and composer Murray Gold, who wrote the original score, discuss the making of David Attenborough's natural history television series Life Story. Show more

An insight into the work of the San Francisco Symphony, with guests including the orchestra's director of artistic planning, Nicholas Winter. Show more

Christopher Cook is joined by Mikkel Zangenberg, Emily Beynon and Daniel Grimley to outline the compositional styles in Nielsen's concertos. Show more

In a discussion held in front of an audience at the Royal College of Music, Sarah Dillon is joined by Hermione Lee to talk about writer Willa Cather's novel The Song of the Lark. Show more

Nicholas Baragwanath explores the musical styles of Brahms's era and considers how they affect present-day performances of the composer's works. Show more

In a discussion held at the Royal College of Music in London, Prof Michael Cox explores the key events in the history of the London School of Economics with Stephanie Flanders. Show more