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 two - 1936-53: Suzy Klein and John Simpson
麻豆社 Four, February 2019

This second episode explores classical music’s important role in the nation’s resistance and resilience during the perilous years of the Second World War.

Suzy Klein and John Simpson explore rare archive footage of morale-boosting wartime National Gallery concerts by pianist Myra Hess, as well as the dramatic arrival of Shostakovich’s Leningrad Symphony and its first performance at the 麻豆社 Proms.

The programme also features performances of some of the important repertoire of the day, including by world-class tenor Stuart Skelton singing part of Benjamin’s Britten’s opera Peter Grimes and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra performing part of The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra.

This film looks at how classical music came to the nation’s aid in difficult times and how it flourished, and was renewed and revived, in the years following the war.

• Producer/Director: James Giles
• Executive Producers: Steve Condie, Richard Bradley

A Lion Television Production for 麻豆社 Four

Discovering… Britten’s The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra

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

麻豆社 Four, February 2019

In the second discovery concert of the series, Katie Derham presents a concert featuring the 麻豆社 National Orchestra of Wales in Benjamin Britten’s The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra (1945), conducted by Moritz Gnann.

Benjamin Britten’s The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra is one of the most frequently performed works by any British composer, and is a piece which has introduced and enlivened the interest of whole generations of children to the instruments of the orchestra.

Following the performance, orchestral musicians will explain to Katie how Britten drew on the past for themes and techniques, and reapplied them in a twentieth-century context in order to showcase each orchestral instrument in such a captivating fashion. The history behind the work is also uncovered; Katie learns how the piece was commissioned for a Ministry of Education film which aimed to fill a post-war Britain with the optimism and promise of building a new world.

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

A Lion Television production for 麻豆社 Four

Britten’s War Requiem

麻豆社 Four, February 2019

‘My subject is war and the pity of war,
The poetry is in the pity,
All a poet can do today is warn.’

Wilfred Owen

Wilfred Owen’s words were the inspiration for Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem, first performed in 1962. It was the same starting point that English National Opera’s Artistic Director Daniel Kramer used today in order to stage the first-ever operatic rendering of this timeless masterpiece in the UK.

Filmed over twelve months, this programme follows the English National Opera staff as they lift the curtain on a debut performance of Britten’s War Requiem, staged to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the armistice in November 2018.

A Speakit Films production for 麻豆社 Four

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

Essential Classics: Top 100 Countdown (26-50)

麻豆社 Radio 3, February-March 2019

In this second instalment, 麻豆社 Radio 3 identifies more key moments in classical music from 1918 to the present day.

Presented as part of its popular morning programme, Essential Classics, this next segment looks at the years from 1936-1953. Presenters Kate Molleson, Kate Romano and Gillian Moore continue to build the Top 100 classical music moments from the last century.

Related Speeches

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