Composer of the Week - Nicolay Yakovlevich Myaskovksy (1881-1950) - Episode 5

Donald Macleod discusses Myaskovsky's final years, when he not only suffered with stomach cancer, but also with bitterness and resentment induced by a second wave of persecution during Stalin's cultural attacks. Some of the composer's final works - the Second Cello Sonata, the 13th String Quartet and the 27th Symphony - each won him a Stalin Prize. Having asked Shostakovich whether his life's work was pointless, the composer died a few days later in 1950. Sonata No 5 in B, Op 64 (1944) - 3rd mvt Murray McLachan (piano) Olympia OCD704 disc 2 Tr 9 Symphony No 21 in F sharp minor, Op 51 (1940) - excerpt State Symphony Orchestra of the Russian Federation Evgeny Svetlanov (conductor) Warner 2564 69689-8 disc 14 Tr 1 Sonata No 2 in A minor for cello and piano, Op 81 (1948-9) - 2nd mvt Yuli Turovsky (cello) Luba Edlina (piano) Chandos CHAN8523 Tr 6 String Quartet No 13 in A minor, Op 86 (1949) - 2nd, 3rd mvts The Kopelman Quartet Nimbus NI5827 Trs 2-3 Symphony No 27 in C minor, Op 85 (1949) Russian State Symphony Orchestra Valeri Polyansky (conductor) Chandos CHAN10025 Tr 3.