Exploring the life and works of composers. Get in touch... [email protected] Call: 03700 100 300
Donald Macleod explores the life and music of Aaron Copland through the prism of five key relationships, without which his musical career might have gone very differently
DetailsDonald Macleod explores the music of Richard Addinsell and his close contemporary Noel Coward, who both composed songs and music for stage and screen from the 1920s to the 1960s
DetailsDonald Macleod explores the life and music of Albert Roussel, who created a highly individual style and was regarded in his time as one of the most important French composers of his generation
DetailsDonald Macleod explores the life and work of Alessandro Scarlatti, who is seen as the founder of Neapolitan opera. He appraises the composer's legacy, asking if we should re-evaluate his importance
DetailsDonald Macleod explores the life and work of Alexander Borodin, a polymath, who was one of Russia's great research chemists as well one of the 19th century's most enchanting composers
DetailsDonald Macleod and Russian music expert Alexander Ivashkin explore the work of Alfred Schnittke, the USSR's last great composer. He was an enigmatic man and had a very individual musical style
DetailsDonald Macleod explores the music of Amy Beach - the first truly 'American' composer, and one of the most original, distinctive and gifted US musicians of the early 20th century
DetailsDonald Macleod and musicologist, harpsichordist and conductor William Christie explore the life and work of Andre Campra, to mark the 350th anniversary of the French composer's birth
DetailsThe life of the 19th century Austrian composer, famous for his grand symphonies. Donald Macleod focuses on Bruckner's time in Vienna, contrasting self-doubt with epic orchestral works
DetailsDonald Macleod explores the life and works of Anton Webern, who studied under Arnold Schoenberg and became one of the best-known serialist composers
DetailsDonald Macleod gives a comprehensive account of Dvorak's famous stay in America from 1892 to 1895, where he was director of the National Conservatory
DetailsDonald Macleod explores Dvorak's long and frustrating career in opera and discovers a wealth of great music rarely heard outside the composer's Bohemian homeland
DetailsDonald Macleod surveys the life and music of Antonio Salieri, a celebrated and highly influential composer of his day, but who is remembered for supposedly poisoning Mozart
DetailsDonald Macleod explores Vivaldi's large and little-heard musical catalogue, revealing an energetic and diverse composer
DetailsDonald Macleod follows the glittering career of Arcangelo Corelli, whose meteoric rise to stardom in Rome was followed by fame and honour across all of Europe
DetailsDonald Macleod explores Schoenberg's position as an outsider and musical innovator
DetailsDonald Macloed explores the life and music of Argentinian composer and bandoneon player Astor Piazzolla. Although he is best-known for his tango music, he also worked with classical and jazz styles
DetailsDonald Macleod explores Bach's six years in service at the court of Cothen. It gave him the opportunity to explore fresh musical ground and open himself up to new styles of music making
DetailsDonald Macleod charts the period from 1708 to 1717, which Bach spent working at the ducal court in Weimar
DetailsDonald Macleod is joined by writer and broadcaster Geoffrey Smith to explore the jazz mode of bebop. It emerged in the 1940s, out of different combinations of musicians, styles and places
DetailsDonald Macleod explores the life and work of Bela Bartok, pianist, collector as well as - along with Liszt - Hungary's greatest composer
DetailsDonald Macleod explores Benjamin Britten's music in the light of two enduring influences - his life partner, the tenor Peter Pears and his beloved native county of Suffolk
DetailsDonald Macleod charts the fascinating life of Bernard Herrmann, the composer of music for Hitchcock's Psycho and many other groundbreaking film scores
DetailsDonald Macleod on the life and works of the 20th century Czech composer. He was educated in the Romantic style but embraced the avant-garde as a composer, taking influence from jazz and neo-classicism
DetailsDonald Macleod explores Weber's instrumental works
DetailsDonald Macleod explores the life and work of Carl Nielsen. Through his work as conductor, teacher, writer and composer, he became the most influential Danish musician of his time
DetailsDonald Macleod is joined by Professor Michael Kater, author of the book Composers in the Nazi Era, to unravel the complex life and work of Carl Orff
DetailsDonald Macleod, with the help of experts Marcia Citron of Rice University and Karen Henson of Columbia University, explores the life and work of Cecile Chaminade and Augusta Holmes
DetailsDonald Macleod explores the work of the 20th century modernist American composer, whose work gained in significance after his death in 1954. Son of an army bandleader, he experimented with bitonality
DetailsDonald Macleod and biographer Brian Priestley explore the life and music of the great jazz double bass player Charles Mingus
DetailsDonald Macleod explores the life of the 18th century German composer, who was Marie Antionette's music teacher. Famous for reforms in the field of opera, Orfeo ed Euridice is his most famous work
DetailsDonald Macleod examines the life and work of Claude Debussy
DetailsDonald Macleod visits Venice for this special series
DetailsAngela Hewitt plays a selection from Francois Couperin's Pieces de clavecin.
DetailsDonald Macleod explores the music and musicians of James' time through five key moments in his reign
DetailsDonald Macleod explores the life and work of French composer Darius Milhaud. Once a member of the influential group Les Six, he was prolific, but known for a handful of works
DetailsDonald Macleod explores the history and music connected with the Drottningholm Opera House in Stockholm. It flourished in the 18th century, especially during the reign of King Gustavus III
DetailsDonald Macleod explores the life of the Norwegian composer who was much-loved in Britain
DetailsStephen Johnson joins Donald Macleod to explore the landscapes of Herefordshire and Worcestershire that inspired much of the music of anniversary composer Edward Elgar
DetailsDonald Macleod presents a survey of the life and music of Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara, with excerpts specially recorded for the programme by Rautavaara himself
DetailsDonald Mcleod explores the life and works of the British composer Eric Coates, who is perhaps best known today for composing the theme to the film The Dam Busters
DetailsDonald Macleod explores the life and work of Erik Satie, arguably one of the most peculiar, enigmatic and misunderstood figures in musical history
DetailsDonald Macleod explores the work of Moeran, who was a pioneer in the collecting of British folk music. Greatly influenced by Delius and Vaughan Williams, much of Moeran's output is inspired by nature
DetailsDonald Macleod explores the life and work of Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn, two sibling prodigies who were composers, pianists and conductors, and whose music had much in common
DetailsDonald Macleod explores the life and work of German pianist, composer, organist and conductor Felix Mendelssohn
DetailsDonald Macleod explores the life and music of unsung baroque hero Francesco Cavalli, best known for composing more than 40 operas
DetailsDonald Macleod explores the life and works of Couperin le Grand
DetailsDonald Macleod explores the five different aspects of Liszt as a musical personality
DetailsDonald Macleod is joined by writer and broadcaster Stephen Johnson to explore the highly productive 'Indian summer' of Schubert's final years
DetailsDonald Macleod explores the important role the colourful individuals in Schubert's social circle had on him and his music, and how his decadent lifestyle contributed to his untimely death
DetailsDonald Macleod explores the early life of Hollywood composer Franz Waxman
DetailsDonald Macleod charts the life and music of Frederick Delius whose uncompromising artistic vision was matched only by the tragedy of his final years of illness
DetailsDonald Macleod introduces music and stories from the life of Fryderyk Chopin
DetailsDonald Macleod explores Chopin's highly creative final years, spent at his lover's retreat in Nohant
DetailsDonald Macleod explores Faure's songs and chamber music, discovering some forgotten gems. The French composer is regarded as the master of the French art song, majoring in harmony
DetailsDonald Macleod charts the life and work of Gabriel Faure. He's joined by the composer's biographer Jessica Duchen, pianist Billy Eidi, and the leading authority on Faure's music, Jean-Michel Nectoux
DetailsDonald Macleod explores the life and work of Italian opera dynamo Donizetti, a prolific composer who quickly achieved fame around the world
DetailsDonald Macleod reviews the life and work of Telemann, most prolific composer of the baroque era, whose reputation, in his time, was even greater than that of his compatriot, Bach
DetailsHandel in London: 5 Musical Walks. Donald Macleod explores the London Handel lived in
DetailsDonald Macleod introduces one of Radio 3's 2008 Composers of the Year, making a complete survey of Handel's career, as documented by Handel's first biographer in 1760
DetailsDonald Macleod explores Handel's oratorios, introducing many of the famous ones, as well as other lesser-known examples
DetailsDonald Macleod and Suzanne Aspden of Oxford University focus on Handel the borrower of his own and others' music
DetailsAdored by some, hated by others, regardless of any opinion, these days Puccini's operas are repertory mainstays. Donald Macleod explores the composer's life and work
DetailsDonald Macleod introduces the life and music of the Italian composer who wrote 39 operas, as well as sacred and chamber music. His best known works include Il barbiere di Siviglia and Guillaume Tell
DetailsDonald Macleod is joined by Christopher Stembridge to explore Frescobaldi's life and work, setting the composer's music in the context of his times
DetailsDonald Macleod looks at some of the personalities who were instrumental in helping Verdi achieve success
DetailsDonald Macleod surveys Mahler's last, eventful years, which were marked by both misfortune and personal success. With excerpts from all ten of Mahler's symphonies as well as historic audio excerpts
DetailsDonald Macleod explores Mahler's early years - from his humble birth in the Bohemian backwater of Kaliste to his triumphant installation as director of the Vienna Opera at the age of 37
DetailsDonald Macleod and composer George Benjamin explore the music of Ligeti, who came to prominence after his music was included in Stanley Kubrick's film 2001: A Space Odyssey
DetailsDonald Macleod discusses the music of Hector Berlioz with celebrated conductor Sir John Eliot Gardiner
DetailsDonald Macleod explores the work of German composer Heinrich Schutz
DetailsDonald Macleod explores Villa-Lobos's life by looking at five of the places which were important to him
DetailsTo mark the 350th anniversary of Henry Purcell's birth, Donald Macleod and leading Purcell scholar Bruce Wood explore the composer's life and work
DetailsDonald Macleod maps Howells's compositional roots, from an unprivileged Gloucestershire upbringing right back to the music of the Tudors
DetailsDonald Macleod explores the final part of Stravinsky's life, considering the impact his experience of America had on the man and his music
DetailsDonald Macleod explores Isaac Albeniz's piano music, presenting it in its original form and in a variety of other guises
DetailsDonald Macleod traces Jan Zelenka's career at the opulent court of Dresden, which was famed for its art collections, lavish festivals, and extravagant religious ceremonies
DetailsDonald Macleod explores the life and works of French Baroque composer Jean-Philippe Rameau, whose revolutionary Treatise on Harmony still forms the basis of much music theory teaching today
DetailsDonald Macleod commemorates the 50th anniversary of Finnish composer Sibelius's death
DetailsDonald Macleod introduces music and stories from the life of Johann Christian Bach, today best-known as the youngest son of Johann Sebastian, but in his day, the most famous Bach of all
DetailsDonald Macleod looks at the life and music of this little-known German composer, whose life and music, aside from his world-famous Canon, remain obscure
DetailsDonald Macleod looks at five decades of Bach's music, revealing a picture of the composer's evolving style
DetailsDonald Macleod explores Brahms's body of chamber and instrumental works, capturing the composer in five distinct, eclectic and turbulent periods of his life
DetailsDonald Macleod explores the music and life of the British composer John Ireland
DetailsDonald Macleod introduces a series featuring discussion and specially-recorded performances by British composer and pianist John McCabe
DetailsDonald Macleod talks to Britain's most famous producer of carols, John Rutter, and explores with him a career that goes far beyond those small-scale choral works for which he is best known
DetailsDonald Macleod explore the life and work of maverick British composer John Tavener. His work is notable for its pared-down beauty and intense spiritual nature
DetailsJohn Woolrich talks to Donald Macleod about what drew him towards composing, the way in which his works form a dialogue with the music of the past, and his love of the shadowy world of the viola
DetailsDonald Macleod explores the music of Jonathan Harvey, in the company of the composer himself
DetailsThe life and work of Austrian composer Joseph Haydn, with a focus on his often neglected operas. Presented by Donald Macleod
DetailsDonald Macleod explores the life and music of Joseph Haydn, the bicentenary of whose death is marked in 2009
DetailsDonald Macleod investigates many aspects of Haydn's turbulent personality, including commercial opportunism, double dealing, penny pinching and matrimonial misery
DetailsDonald Macleod explores the life of Kurt Weill. A composer who divides opinion, for some Weill is a writer of show tunes, while for others he represents the European theatrical innovators of the 1920s
DetailsDonald Macleod explores Bernstein's life and work - as an inexhaustible conductor, educator, performer and personality
DetailsDonald Macleod explores the brilliant, tempestuous last five years of the life of Leos Janacek, a composer who has been described as classical music's 'anti-prodigy'
DetailsDonald Macleod explores the life and music of the colourful and eccentric British composer Lord Berners. While he behaved as a very English gentleman, his compositions had a distinctive European slant
DetailsDonald Macleod reassesses Louis Spohr's reputation, arguing that we should give him more credit than he often receives
DetailsAn exploration of the last 12 years of Beethoven's career
DetailsDonald Macleod considers how Beethoven was affected by the various crises in his life. He focuses on the music and events in and around five significant years, beginning in 1803
DetailsDonald Macleod explores the life of Manuel de Falla, from his Andalusian beginnings, to his final days in Argentina
DetailsDonald Macleod explores the music Ravel wrote in connection with the people around him
DetailsWith film music historian Jon Burlingame and conductor John Mauceri, Donald Macleod explores the lives and music of two composers best known for providing the soundtrack to Hollywood's Golden Age
DetailsDonald Macleod explores the life and work of Modest Mussorgsky, a troubled, radical musical genius whose life was cruelly cut short at the age of 42
DetailsAs part of the BBC's focus on opera in 2010, Donald Macleod explores two centuries and more of Italian opera, from Monteverdi to Rossini
DetailsDonald Macleod explores the life and work of the now largely forgotten Moritz Moszkowski. He became one of the most successful composers of his day of lighter salon music
DetailsDonald Macleod explores the music that was performed at the Palace of Versailles before the French Revolution in 1789
DetailsDonald Macleod explores the life and works of Russian composer and music critic Nicolay Myaskovsky
DetailsDonald Macleod explores the life and work of Nikolay Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov
DetailsDonald Macleod is joined by biographer Harald Herresthal to explore the life and work of Norwegian composer, violinist and musical revolutionary Ole Bull
DetailsDonald Macleod and biographer Nigel Simeone explore the live and work of French composer and organist Olivier Messiaen
DetailsDonald Macleod and Karen Henson explore the world of the Opera-Comique - a type of opera, an institution and also a building - unravelling the intricacies of 19th-century Parisian operatic life
DetailsDonald Macleod meets a composer anointed by American critics as 'the saviour of classical music', and whose diverse background has given him a distinct musical voice
DetailsDonald Macleod explores the life and work of Paul Hindemith, charting his rise and fall
DetailsDonald Macleod introduces the composers of Restoration England who, from today's perspective, stand in Henry Purcell's shadow
DetailsDonald Macleod takes a series of snapshots of a period that lay at the centre of Tchaikovsky's creative life, from 1876 to 1890
DetailsDonald Macleod investigates a little-known 'lost decade' in Tchaikovsky's life - a period the composer spent aimlessly wandering around Europe writing songs, chamber works and religious choral music
DetailsDonald Macleod surveys Vaughan Williams's operas, a neglected area of his work
DetailsDonald Macleod and Gerard McBurney chart Reinhold Gliere's life and career, from his beginnings in Kiev to his later prominent position in Moscow as both compser and teacher
DetailsDonald Macleod explores the life and work of Richard Strauss, once hailed as 'the outstanding living composer'. His eclectic style blurred the boundaries between Romanticism and 20th century music
DetailsDonald Macleod explores the music and stories from five distinct years of Strauss's life, from the 19-year-old composer's first forays as a professional composer, to the final works of an old man
DetailsDonald Macleod explores the life and controversial work of Richard Wagner. His life was every bit as much of a titanic saga as the epic music dramas which he created
DetailsDonald Macleod explores the dark sides of the controversial and ground-breaking composer Richard Wagner
DetailsDonald Macleod charts the unique relationship between Robert Schumann and Clara Wieck
DetailsDonald Macleod explores the life and work of Robert Schumann. He uses the fascinating first-hand account of a man who knew the Romantic composer well - his first biographer Wilhelm von Wasielewski
DetailsAs part of the BBC's focus on opera in 2010, Donald Macleod explores the rich tradition of Russian opera, from Glinka in the early 19th century to Schnittke in the late 20th
DetailsDonald Macleod uncovers the real Samuel Barber, from his childhood experiences playing at his grandfather's factory to the failure of what was supposed to be his crowning achievement in music
DetailsDonald Macleod presents a portrait of irascible and eccentric organist and composer Samuel Sebastian Wesley. A musician largely forgotten today, Wesley was highly rated by Gounod, Parry and Elgar
DetailsDonald Macleod looks at the African-American composer, a pioneer of the ragtime style
DetailsDonald Macleod explores Prokofiev's music for stage and screen, with excerpts from the majority of his opera and ballet scores, and a good selection of his film and theatre music
DetailsDonald Macleod on the life of the Russian composer, a late champion of the Romantic style
DetailsDonald Macleod explores the life and work of the Russian composer, pianist and conductor Sergei Rachmaninov
DetailsDonald Macleod explores the myths and mysteries behind Sibelius's last, so-called 'silent' decades. With extracts from the composer's diary as well as a variety of rare pieces
DetailsDonald Macleod and musicologist Lewis Foreman on the early 20th century British composer
DetailsDonald Macleod shines a spotlight on the brilliant, but little-known musicians of 17th and 18th-century Spain and uncovers a hidden treasure-trove of masterpieces
DetailsDonald Macleod tells the eventful story of Johann Stamitz and his two sons, Carl and Anton. During the 18th century, Stamitz was one of the most famous and celebrated names in music
DetailsComposer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim joins Donald Macleod to discuss his life and work
DetailsDonald Macleod talks exclusively to one of the world's most celebrated living composers, Steve Reich, and presents music spanning his remarkable musical career
DetailsDonald Macleod explores the musical history of the MacDowell Colony, an artistic residency programme founded in 1907 by American composer Edward MacDowell
DetailsDonald Macleod explores the remarkable music of the Neapolitan school of composers of the 17th and 18th centuries
DetailsDonald Macleod explores the life and work of Thomas Arne, one of British music's most lively characters. He is remembered mainly for Rule Britannia and his setting of Shakespeare's Where the Bee Sucks
DetailsDonald Macleod explores the life and work of Tudor composer and organist Thomas Tallis. He served at the Chapel Royal under four monarchs and grappled with political and religious upheaval
DetailsDonald Macleod is joined by Jeremy Summerly to explore the life and works of Victoria
DetailsDonald Macleod explores Albinoni's life and work, discovering a composer whose music deserves to be far better know than it largely it is
DetailsDonald Macleod is joined by Italian opera expert Roger Parker to explore the influence of verismo - a mode of realism - in opera, from Verdi to the present day
DetailsDonald Macleod explores the music and life of a man who is not a household name nowadays, but in his own time was celebrated for his composing and was a hugely influential musical educator
DetailsDonald Macleod explores the range of music Alwyn created during his long and prolific career, which embraced film scores as well concert hall works
DetailsDonald Macleod explores the life and work of William Byrd. He composed beautiful church music and inventive keyboard and vocal music, but was also a complex man who pushed religious mores to the limit
DetailsDonald Macleod follows William Walton through the distinct eras of his life and explores the many sides to the man and his music
DetailsDonald Macleod explores the life and works of Mozart, arguably the most influential and enduringly popular composer of the Classical era
DetailsDonald Macleod explores Mozart's years spent in Vienna, which featured both creative triumph and personal tragedy
DetailsDonald Macleod explores the music of Hungarian composer Zoltan Kodaly, who lived and worked against a backdrop of unprecedented social and political turbulence
Details