This programme explores the British Choral tradition – the choirs, the composers and the reasons why the British love to sing together. With the help of many choirs and choral societies – from Westminster Abbey to Watford football ground – the programme traces one thousand years of British Choral music. The guide is Simon Preston, organist and master of the choristers at Westminster Abbey.
Sounds Magnificent – The Story of the Symphony
This series, featuring Sir André Previn and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, tells the story of the symphony. In each programme, Previn introduces a performance of a major symphonic work. He sets the music to be performed in the context of its composer’s life and work, explaining the way in which it contributed to the development of the symphonic form. His comments are illustrated by the orchestra, who play a variety of supporting extracts. The music featured in the series is Haydn’s Symphony No. 87, Mozart’s Symphony No. 39, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 (extracts) and Symphony No. 7, Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique, Brahms’ Symphony No. 4, Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6 (Pathetique), and Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5. Six parts à 88′.
La cathédrale engloutie
Jiri Kylián’s ballet is set to a composition by Claude Debussy which was inspired by a fifteenth-century Breton legend. This tells how a cathedral was built on a seashore as a symbol to the Almighty that he would reign over the people. But they led godless lives and, as a result, the cathedral disappeared below the waves. This performance was recorded in studio.
Symphony of Psalms
Jiri Kylián’s ballet, set to Igor Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms, captures the archaic power of the music. The restrained gestures of a group of dancers contrast with the forceful and passionate movements of individuals and pairs who are set apart from them. The setting, designed by William Katz, enhances the suggestion of a ritual dance. This performance was recorded in studio.
Roger Daltrey
Having rocketed to fame in the 1960s as lead singer of The Who, Roger Daltrey went on to make a name as a film actor. Featuring his music and extensive Clips from his screen appearances, this profile looks at his career and at how he copes with success. It also focuses on his portrayal of the villain Macheath in Jonathan Miller’s television production of The Beggar’s Opera.
Symphony in D Workshop
A documentary introduction to Symphony in D shows Jirí Kylián rehearsing the work with students from The Royal Ballet School in London and includes an interview in which the Czech choreographer talks about his exile from his homeland and his career in dance.
Symphony No. 4
Maestro Celibidache (1912-96) was one of the most uncompromising figures in the music world, demanding three times as much rehearsal time as other conductors and with an ardent dislike of making recordings because he feared they misrepresented his musical intentions. This concert from the Herkulessaal in Munich captures one of the rare occasions on which he consented to a recording being made. He conducts the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra.
Symphony No. 3 in D minor
In this live concert recording from the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, Haitink conducts the NOS Women’s Choir, the North Holland Boys’ Choir and the Concertgebouw Orchestra in a performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 in D minor, with soloist Carolyn Watkinson (contralto).
Jules Feiffer
This film about the American humorist – cartoonist and dramatist – was shot at his summer home on Martha’s Vineyard. Feiffer talks about his early life, his obsessive mockery of figures of authority, and the genesis of his famous stock characters, Bernard Mergendeiler and Hughie. He is also seen at work on a cartoon strip.
Ken Russell’s View of The Planets, Op.32
The Planets by Gustav Holst is one of the best-loved pieces of twentieth-century music. Ken Russell has taken a brilliant recording of this work, with Eugene Ormandy conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra, and illustrated the music with passages from a mass of documentary material. In true Russell style, his view of The Planets is provocative, entertaining and wonderfully watchable.