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Jordi Savall, Rafael Payare and Jennifer Higdon

Jordi Savall talks to Tom about his career, Rafael Payare speaks about Coleridge-Taylor's The Song of Hiawatha, and Jennifer Higdon reveals the origin of her piece Blue Cathedral.

Tom Service with guests, stories and the perfect classical soundtrack for the weekend!

Jordi Savall, now in his eighty-fifth year, talks to Tom about his remarkable career as a conductor, viol player and early music specialist. Jordi reflects upon his earliest years as a musician, his teachers, the first recordings he made, his thirst for giving previously-unknown music an audience, and how his approach has evolved over the decades.

Conductor Rafael Payare speaks about his forthcoming performance of Coleridge-Taylor's The Song of Hiawatha at the Edinburgh International Festival, and reveals why he thinks the work still has such appeal.

And in our ongoing Creators series, composer Jennifer Higdon talks about her piece Blue Cathedral, which has become one of the most popular and most performed of all American contemporary orchestral works.

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3 hours

Last on

Saturday 09:00
BBC Radio 3

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Music Played

  • Léo Delibes

    Les chasseresses (Sylvia)

    Orchestra: Philharmonia Orchestra. Conductor: Richard Bonynge.
    • Delibes: The 3 Ballets: Richard Bonynge.
    • Decca.

  • Paul Wranitzky

    Symphony in E flat major, Op 35 No 3 (4th mvt)

    Orchestra: Munich Radio Orchestra. Conductor: Howard Griffiths.
    • Paul Wranitzky: Symphonies op. 35 Nos. 1–3.
    • CPO.
    • 112.

  • Sarah Rimkus

    My heart is like a singing bird

    Lyricist: Christina Rossetti. Choir: The Gesualdo Six. Conductor: Owain Park.
    • Fading.
    • Hyperion.
    • 16.

  • Igor Stravinsky

    Symphony in E flat major Op.1 (4th mvt)

    Orchestra: Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Antal Doráti.
    • DECCA.

  • Mily Alexeyevich Balakirev

    The Bright Moon

    Performer: Sholto Kynoch. Singer: Erika Baikoff.

  • Claude Debussy

    La fille aux cheveux de lin (Preludes, Book 1)

    Orchestrator: Colin Matthews. Orchestra: Hallé. Conductor: Mark Elder.
    • HALLE.

  • Reinhard Keiser

    Croesus (Overture)

    Orchestra: Academy for Ancient Music Berlin. Conductor: René Jacobs.
    • Keiser: Croesus: Rene Jacobs.
    • Harmonia Mundi.

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    String Quartet No 17 in B flat major, K458 'The Hunt' (1st mvt)

    Ensemble: Casals Quartet.
    • Mozart: String Quartets dedicated to Joseph Haydn K. 421, 458 'Hunt', 464.
    • harmonia mundi.
    • 5.

  • Pyotr Tchaikovsky

    Scherzo (Souvenir d'un lieu cher, Op 42)

    Music Arranger: Alexander Glazunov. Performer: Baiba Skride. Orchestra: City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Andris Nelsons.
    • SONY CLASSICAL.

  • Franz Liszt

    Bagatelle sans tonalite

    Performer: Yulianna Avdeeva.
    • PENTATONE.

  • Cécile Chaminade

    Concertino for flute and orchestra

    Performer: Emmanuel Pahud. Orchestra: Paris Chamber Orchestra. Conductor: François Leleux.
    • Mozart & Flute in Paris.
    • Warner Classics.
    • 4.

  • Träd

    Son de la Tirana: Mariquita, María

    Ensemble: Hespèrion XXI. Ensemble: Tembembe Ensamble Continuo. Conductor: Jordi Savall.

  • Trad.

    Sinanon Saran (Chant de griot)

    Performer: Kassé Mady Diabaté. Performer: Mamani Keïta. Performer: Nana Kouyaté. Performer: Tanti Kouyaté. Performer: Driss El Maloumi. Performer: Ballaké Sissoko. Performer: Rajery. Performer: Jordi Savall. Ensemble: La Capella Reial de Catalunya.

  • Trad.

    Coma la rosa en su güerta

    Singer: Victoria de los Ángeles. Ensemble: Ars Musicae de Barcelona. Director: Enric Gispert.

  • John Jenkins

    Bell Pavan

    Ensemble: Hespèrion XXI. Director: Jordi Savall.
    • ASTREE.

  • Marin Marais

    Suite No 4 in B minor: Menuet

    Performer: Jordi Savall. Performer: Pierre Hantaï. Performer: Rolf Lislevand. Performer: Xavier Díaz-Latorre. Performer: Philippe Pierlot.

  • Marin Marais

    La Rêveuse (Suitte d'un gout etranger)

    Performer: Jordi Savall. Performer: Rolf Lislevand. Performer: Pierre Hantaï.
    • Tous les matins du monde (Bande originale du film).
    • Aliavox.
    • 8.

  • Marin Marais

    Alcione: Première suite, Airs pour les driades et les bergers - Passepied I & II

    Orchestra: Le Concert des Nations. Conductor: Jordi Savall.

  • Charles Ives

    The Unanswered Question

    Orchestra: Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Michael Tilson Thomas.
    • CBS.

  • Dmitri Kabalevsky

    Colas Breugnon Op.24 (Overture)

    Orchestra: Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Director: Vasily Petrenko.
    • Khachaturian, Mussorgsky, Shchedrin etc..
    • Onyx.
    • 01.

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    3-part Invention No 5 in E flat major, BWV 791

    Performer: Sir András Schiff.
    • Bach, J.S.: Two and Three Part Inventions.
    • DECCA.

  • George Frideric Handel

    Tu del Ciel ministro eletto (Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno)

    Singer: Sabine Devieilhe. Ensemble: Pygmalion. Conductor: Raphaël Pichon.
    • ERATO.

  • Joseph Haydn

    Keyboard Concerto in D major, H.18.11 (1st mvt)

    Performer: Leif Ove Andsnes. Orchestra: Norwegian Chamber Orchestra.
    • EMI CLASSICS : CZS-574789 2.
    • EMI CLASSICS.
    • 7.

  • Max Bruch

    Kol nidrei Op.47

    Performer: Alisa Weilerstein. Orchestra: Staatskapelle Berlin. Conductor: Daniel Barenboim.
    • Decca.

  • Samuel Coleridge‐Taylor

    Hiawatha Overture, Op.30

    Orchestra: RTÉ Concert Orchestra. Conductor: Adrian Leaper.
    • Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, orchestral works.
    • MARCO POLO.
    • 1.

  • Samuel Coleridge‐Taylor

    Hiawatha's Wedding Feast, Op 30 (Part 1: Introduction; You shall hear)

    Choir: Welsh National Opera Chorus. Orchestra: Welsh National Opera Orchestra. Conductor: Kenneth Alwyn.
    • Coleridge Taylor: Hiawatha.
    • ARGO.
    • 1-2.

  • Samuel Coleridge‐Taylor

    Hiawatha's Wedding Feast (conclusion)

    Choir: Welsh National Opera Chorus. Orchestra: Welsh National Opera Orchestra. Conductor: Kenneth Alwyn.
    • DECCA : 473-431-2.
    • DECCA.
    • 7.

  • Selim Palmgren

    Cinderella Suite: Dance on the Hangman's Mountain

    Orchestra: Oulu Sinfonia.
    • CHANDOS.

  • Karol Szymanowski

    Concert Overture, Op 12

    Orchestra: BBC Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Edward Gardner.
    • Chandos.

  • Aaron Copland

    Fanfare for the Common Man

    Orchestra: Los Angeles Philharmonic. Conductor: Zubin Mehta.
    • Aaron Copland: The World of Aaron Copland.
    • Decca.
    • 1.

  • Jennifer Higdon

    Blue Cathedral

    Orchestra: Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Robert Spano.

  • Sir James MacMillan

    Ave maris stella

    Choir: Westminster Cathedral Choir. Conductor: Martin Baker.
    • James Macmillan: Tenebrae Responsories: Westminster Cathedral Choir/Baker.
    • Hyperion.
    • 8.

  • Henry Purcell

    Fantazia upon one note in F, Z.745

    Ensemble: Ricercar Consort. Director: Philippe Pierlot.
    • MIRARE.

  • Henry Litolff

    Concerto Symphonique no.4 in D minor, Op.102 (2nd mvt)

    Performer: Peter Donohoe. Orchestra: Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Andrew Litton.
    • Hyperion.

Broadcast

  • Saturday 09:00
    BBC Radio 3