麻豆社

Please note that exact dates will be confirmed closer to transmission.

Our Classical Century

Our Classical Century will take place across the year in four parts, ending on the First Night of the Proms 2019. Further programming will be announced throughout the season.

PART ONE: November - December 2018 (1918-36)

麻豆社 Four	Our Classical Century episode one, 1918-1936 Presented by Suzy Klein and Sir Lenny Henry
麻豆社 Two	Holst & Vaughan Williams - Making Music English Presented by Tom Service & Amanda Vickery
麻豆社 Four	Discovering… Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue Performed by the 麻豆社 Scottish Symphony Orchestra conducted by Thomas Dausgaard Presented by Josie D’Arby
麻豆社 Four	The Prince and the Composer: The Prince and the Composer: A Film about Hubert Parry by HRH The Prince of Wales (archive)
麻豆社 Radio 3	Top 100 Countdown in Essential Classics (1-25)

 

PART TWO: February - March 2019 (1936-53)

麻豆社 Four	Our Classical Century episode two, 1936-1953 Presented by Suzy Klein and John Simpson CBE
麻豆社 Four	Discovering… Britten’s The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra Performed by the 麻豆社 National Orchestra of Wales, conducted by Moritz Gnann Presented by Katie Derham
麻豆社 Four	Britten’s War Requiem at English National Opera
麻豆社 Radio 3	Top 100 Countdown in Essential Classics (26-50)

PART THREE: April - May 2019 (1953-71)

麻豆社 Four	Our Classical Century episode three, 1953-1971 Presented by Suzy Klein and Joan Bakewell
麻豆社 Two	Brian Cox on Holst’s The Planets Performed by the 麻豆社 Symphony Orchestra conducted by Ben Gernon
麻豆社 Four	Discovering… Arnold’s The Bridge on the River Kwai Performed by the 麻豆社 Concert Orchestra conducted by Christopher Seaman Presented by Katie Derham
麻豆社 Radio 3	Top 100 Countdown in Essential Classics (51-75). NB: Radio 3 will explore 1954-79.

PART FOUR: June - July 2019 (1980s-Present)

麻豆社 Four	Our Classical Century episode four, 1980s-Present Presented by Alexandra Burke and Suzy Klein
麻豆社 Two	Lucy Worsley presents Queen Victoria and the British Musical Revolution
麻豆社 Four	Discovering… Saariaho’s Graal Théâtre Performed by the 麻豆社 Philharmonic conducted by Ludovic Morlot Presented by Tom Service
麻豆社 Radio 3	Top 100 Countdown in Essential Classics (76-100)
	First Night of the Proms 2019

Episode one - 1918-36: Suzy Klein and Sir Lenny Henry
麻豆社 Four, November 2018

Our Classical Century brings together the greatest moments in classical music in Britain over the last 100 years in a four-part series that celebrates moments of extraordinary musical ambition and excellence, deep emotion and of great pleasure, and the artists who have brought audiences this music. Over the course of the series, viewers will see and hear how, over the past one hundred years, classical music has given dazzling virtuosity and innovation, and how music provided a unifying soundtrack to the times when national identity and destiny was at stake.

The series explores how classical music collided with popular culture, influencing and being influenced by rock music and providing epic film soundtracks. The programme also looks at how classical music is adored by millions, and provides the musical accompaniment to both the most important days as well as the everyday - from weddings to funerals and much more in between.

This first programme captures the profound influence of the First World War on classical music in the UK, both in terms of how it affected a generation of musicians and composers, and how the music they created came to be a crucial part of the nation’s sense of identity; From the martial might of Mars in Gustav Holst’s The Planets to the pastoral beauty of Vaughan Williams’ much loved The Lark Ascending, this film tells the story of the music which brought together the United Kingdom. Suzy Klein and Sir Lenny Henry reveal the phenomenal popularity of the musical extravaganza Hiawatha by the now relatively- unknown composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, and examine the enduring impact of the American Jazz-Age with Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. Suzy and Lenny also look at how Hubert Parry’s wartime composition to William Blake’s poem Jerusalem became the anthem of the Suffragette movement, and how the opening of Glyndebourne saw the start of a new chapter for opera in Britain.

“Classical music has always been there in the background - I used to have a beatbox back in the day, blaring out Mahler and Mozart on the passenger seat of my van. This music has always been with me and I’m on a journey to get to know it a little bit better; I’m learning the piano, I go to concerts - I love it” - Sir Lenny Henry

• Producer/Director: Ellen Hobson
• Executive Producers: Stevie Condie, Richard Bradley

A Lion Television production for 麻豆社 Four

Holst & Vaughan-Williams: Making Music English

麻豆社 Two, November 2018

Presenter Tom Service is joined by Professor of History Amanda Vickery to unearth the fascinating story behind the life-long friendship between Ralph Vaughan Williams and Gustav Holst, two composers whose music is often credited with birthing the so-called ‘English Sound’ which emerged in the first half of the 20th century.

Tom and Amanda retrace the trips Vaughan Williams and Holst took across the country to discover how various influences, including works by Renaissance masters and folk music, imbued their music with the ‘English Sound’ we recognise today. The 麻豆社 Concert Orchestra performs excerpts of both composers’ music, illustrating the story.

• Director: Ben Weston

A Reef Television production for 麻豆社 Two

Discovering… Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue

Discovery Concerts - 麻豆社 Four

A range of guided concerts dissect music from the inside out. From the recording studio, audiences discover how and why key pieces of the orchestral repertoire were constructed in a series of performances for television.

Presented by Tom Service, Katie Derham, and Josie d’Arby, the 麻豆社 Orchestras will each perform. The concerts explore and aim to deepen knowledge of Gershwin’s virtuosic Rhapsody in Blue; Britten’s enduringly-popular Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra; Malcolm Arnold’s famous film-score Bridge on The River Kwai; and Kaaija Saariaho’s violin concerto Graal Théâtre, composed in 1994.

Britten’s War Requiem is also broadcast on 麻豆社 Four. Filmed over twelve months, the programme follows English National Opera staff as they prepare for their debut performance of Britten’s War Requiem, staged to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the armistice.

麻豆社 Four, November 2018

Orchestral music of the twentieth century at its best

This four-part series of ‘Discovery Concerts’ dissect a piece of music, the key things to listen out to, and the context within which the piece was written. The series of concerts aim to lift the lid on some of the most life-changing and seminal musical moments of the last 100 years, and the creative minds that inspired them.

Four extraordinary pieces of music will be performed by 麻豆社 Orchestras around the country, giving audiences the opportunity to explore this music in depth with the conductors and musicians who bring it to life.

In the first of these concerts, Josie D’Arby presents the 麻豆社 Scottish Symphony Orchestra performing George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue (1924), conducted by Thomas Dausgaard from Glasgow City Halls.

A landmark twentieth century work, Rhapsody in Blue drew on the jazz scene which exploded in New York City in the 1920s. Rhapsody in Blue is considered key in developing the ‘American Sound’ during this period which would inspire generations of composers to come.

Josie also delves deep into the story behind Gershwin’s swinging salute to the city that never sleeps, exploring his desire to be taken seriously as a composer beyond the realms of Broadway, and his improvisational approach which drew together so many different musical influences to create such an iconic piece of music.

• Producer/Director: Mathew Tucker
• Executive Producer: Richard Bradley

A Lion Television production for 麻豆社 Four

The Prince and the Composer: A Film about Hubert Parry by HRH The Prince of Wales

麻豆社 Four, November 2018 (Please note this is an archive programme)

In this programme, HRH The Prince of Wales, a longstanding enthusiast of the work of Sir Hubert Parry, sets out to discover more about more about the composer with help from members of Parry’s family, scholars and performers.

This film uncovers how Parry is simultaneously one of Britain’s best and least-known composers; although works such as Jerusalem are regularly performed everywhere from rugby stadiums and schools to the last night of the 麻豆社 Proms, many don’t know much about the man behind them.

This feature-length documentary by the award-winning director John Bridcut offers fresh insight into the life and work of Sir Hubert Parry through the unique perspective of HRH The Prince of Wales.

• Producer/Director: John Bridcut

Essential Classics: Top 100 Countdown (1-25)

麻豆社 Radio 3, November-December 2018

Over the course of the Our Classical Century year of programming, 麻豆社 Radio 3 identifies one hundred key moments from the world of classical music from 1918 until the present day as part of its popular morning programme, Essential Classics.

In this first segment which looks at the years from 1918 to 1936, Kate Molleson, Kate Romano and Gillian Moore present key moments which will include the world premieres of seminal works including Gustav Holst’s The Planets, Ralph Vaughan Williams’s The Lark Ascending and Ravel’s Boléro. Further important dates are also celebrated, including, the birth of composer Harrison Birtwistle, the 麻豆社’s first orchestral concert broadcast, the First Night of the 麻豆社 Proms and Nadia Boulanger making her debut as the first woman to conduct the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Related Speeches

• Tony Hall's speech at the launch of Our Classical Century