Classical Music Playlist, March 23, 2023
Grace Williams | photo: Grace Williams estate
CapRadio Classical and Jazz celebrates women in music all month long by featuring a different classical composer every weekday. Today's spotlight is on composer Grace Williams.
- Welsh composer Grace Williams (1906 – 1977) studied at the Royal College of Music in London from 1926 with composer Ralph Vaughan Williams (no relation).
- The first of her two symphonies was the first symphony by a Welsh composer.
- She also composed religious, opera, orchestral, chamber and vocal works.
- Williams was also the first British woman to score a feature film, in 1948.
- She is considered to have brought Wales to the world through her music inspired by Welsh culture, landscapes and the sea.
For more, here’s a very good biography written by Pamela Blevins.
Also today: English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams composed his Eighth Symphony in the mid 1950s when he was in his 80s. It was post-war and Queen Elizabeth had recently been crowned and an air of renewal and a fresh start was in the air. In that environment, Vaughan Williams experimented with new instrumental combinations with an equally forward-looking originality. The symphony was a smash hit at the premiere and has remained one of his most popular ever since. The Symphony #8 by Ralph Vaughan Williams is today's Midday Masterpiece.
6:00 a.m.
Antonio Vivaldi
Violin Concerto, Op. 4, No. 4 in A minor Opus 4/4 RV 357
The English Concert; Trevor Pinnock, conductor Simon Standage, violin
6:09 a.m.
Franz Joseph Haydn
Symphony No. 104 "London" in D major
Collegium Musicum 90; Richard Hickox, conductor
6:37 a.m.
Edvard Grieg
String Quartet No. 1: III. Intermezzo in G minor Opus 27
Oslo Camerata; Stephan Barratt-Due, conductor
6:46 a.m.
Hubert Parry
Symphonic Variations
London Philharmonic Orchestra; Matthias Bamert, conductor
7:01 a.m.
Arcangelo Corelli
Concerto Grosso No. 5 in Bb major Opus 6
Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra; Nicholas McGegan, conductor
7:13 a.m.
Ludwig Van Beethoven
Piano Sonata No. 8 "Pathetique" in C minor Opus 13
John O'Conor, piano
7:35 a.m.
Alexander Glazunov
Symphony No. 5: IV. Allegro maestoso in Bb major Opus 55
BBC Welsh Symphony Orchestra; Tadaaki Otaka, conductor
7:44 a.m.
Leo Delibes
Sylvia: Pizzicato Polka
New Philharmonia Orchestra; Richard Bonynge, conductor
7:46 a.m.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Turkish Rondo (from Sonata No. 11 "Turkish March") in A major
Mitsuko Uchida, piano
7:53 a.m.
Gisle Kverndokk
Symphonic Dances: II. Waltz
Stavanger Symphony Orchestra (sta VAHN ger); Ken-David Masur, conductor
8:00 a.m.
Georg Philipp Telemann
Concerto for horn and strings in D major
Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields; Iona Brown, conductor Hermann Baumann, horn
8:11 a.m.
Georges Bizet
L'Arlesienne Suite No. 2
Ulster Orchestra; Yan Pascal Tortelier, conductor
8:32 a.m.
Grace Williams
Fantasia on Welsh Nursery Tunes
Royal Ballet Sinfonia; Andrew Penny, conductor
8:44 a.m.
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Prelude in G minor in G minor Opus 23
Yuja Wang, piano
8:51 a.m.
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
African Suite: African Dance Opus 35/4
Chineke! Orchestra; Kevin John Edusei, conductor
8:59 a.m.
Johann Fischer
THE JOURNAL OF SPRING: Suite No. 1
L'Orfeo Barokorkester; Michi Gaigg, conductor
9:10 a.m.
Henry Litolff
Concerto Symphonique No. 4: II. Scherzo Opus 102
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; Moshe Atzmon, conductor Cristina Ortiz, piano
9:22 a.m.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Symphony No. 41 "Jupiter": I. Allegro vivace in C major K 551
Scottish Chamber Orchestra; Charles Mackerras, conductor
9:35 a.m.
Florence Price
Piano Concerto in One Movement
New York Youth Symphony; Michael Repper, conductor Michelle Cann, piano
9:44 a.m.
Grace Williams
Trumpet Concerto
London Symphony Orchestra; Sir Charles Groves, conductor Howard Snell, trumpet
10:00 a.m.
Ludwig Van Beethoven
String Quartet No. 15: III. Heiliger Dankgesang in A minor Opus 132 3rd Movement
A Far Cry
10:17 a.m.
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Humoresque Opus 10/2
Stephen Hough, piano
10:24 a.m.
Johannes Brahms
Symphony No. 1: IV. Finale in C minor Opus 68
Chicago Symphony Orchestra; Georg Solti, conductor
10:43 a.m.
Carlos Salzedo
Bolero
Yolanda Kondonassis, harp
10:50 a.m.
Max Bruch
Violin Concerto No. 1: III. Finale in G minor Opus 26
Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields; Joshua Bell, conductor Joshua Bell, violin
10:59 a.m.
Grace Williams
Carillons, for oboe and orchestra
London Symphony Orchestra; Sir Charles Groves, conductor Anthony Camden, oboe
11:11 a.m.
George Friederich Handel
SERSE: "Ombra mai fu"
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment; Harry Bicket, conductor Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, mezzo-soprano
11:18 a.m.
Felix Mendelssohn
Violin Concerto in E minor Opus 64
Boston Symphony Orchestra; Charles Munch, conductor Jascha Heifetz, violin
11:44 a.m.
John Williams
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: Scherzo for Motorcycle and Orchestra
Boston Pops Orchestra; John Williams, conductor
11:51 a.m.
Antonio Vivaldi
Four Seasons: Winter (L'Inverno) in F minor Opus 8 RV 297
...and friends Janine Jansen, violin
12:00 p.m.
Jean Sibelius
Karelia Suite Opus 11
Helsinki Philharmonic; Okko Kamu, conductor
12:18 p.m.
Philip Glass
Etude 2
Vikingur Olafsson, piano
12:28 p.m.
Grace Williams
Penillion
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; Sir Charles Groves, conductor
12:45 p.m.
Carter Burwell
Rob Roy: Robert & Mary
Cincinnati Pops; Erich Kunzel, conductor Eric Rigler, bagpipes
12:52 p.m.
Gioachino Rossini
THE BARBER OF SEVILLE: Overture (IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA)
Chamber Orchestra of Europe; Claudio Abbado, conductor
1:01 p.m.
Aaron Copland
Appalachian Spring
New York Philharmonic; Leonard Bernstein, conductor
1:28 p.m.
Francesco Geminiani
Concerto Grosso "La Follia" in D minor
Boston Baroque; Martin Pearlman, conductor
1:39 p.m.
Grace Williams
Symphony No. 2: III. Allegro scherzando
BBC Welsh Symphony Orchestra; Vernon Handley, conductor
1:48 p.m.
Jessie Montgomery
Peace
Anthony McGill, clarinet; Gloria Chien, piano
1:52 p.m.
Heitor Villa-Lobos
Prelude No. 1
Orchestre de Paris; Klaus Makela, conductor Xuefei Yang, guitar
2:00 p.m.
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Symphony No. 8 in D minor
London Symphony Orchestra; Andre Previn, conductor
2:30 p.m.
Rebecca Clarke
I'll Bid My Heart Be Still
Philip Dukes, viola; Sophia Rahman, piano
2:35 p.m.
Robert Schumann
Piano Concerto: III. Allegro vivace in A minor Opus 54
San Francisco Ballet Orchestra; Martin West, conductor Lara Downes, piano
2:48 p.m.
Arcangelo Corelli
Concerto Grosso No. 11 in Bb major Opus 6
Tafelmusik; Jeanne Lamon, conductor
3:00 p.m.
Grace Williams
Ballads
BBC Welsh Symphony Orchestra; Vernon Handley, conductor
3:18 p.m.
Johann Sebastian Bach
Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring
Voces8; Eric Whitacre, conductor Nelson Freire, piano
3:26 p.m.
Franz Liszt
Hungarian Fantasy
London Symphony Orchestra; Jun'ichi Hirokami, conductor Barry Douglas, piano
3:42 p.m.
Zhen Chen
On the Roof
Lin Ma, Pipa; Zhen Chen, piano; Liang Lin, violin; David Geber, cello
3:51 p.m.
Gustav Holst
The Planets: Jupiter, the Bringer of Jolity Opus 32
Philharmonia Orchestra; John Eliot Gardiner, conductor
4:00 p.m.
Ludwig Van Beethoven
Symphony No. 9: II. Molto Vivace (Scherzo and Trio) in D minor Opus 125
Cleveland Orchestra; Christoph Von Dohnanyi, conductor
4:13 p.m.
Grace Williams
Hiraeth for Harp
Sandrine Chatron, harp
4:19 p.m.
Richard Strauss
Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks Opus 28
Berlin Philharmonic; Gustavo Dudamel, conductor
4:36 p.m.
Andrew York
Quiccan
Aquarelle Guitar Quartet
4:47 p.m.
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Piano Concerto No. 2: II. Adagio sostenuto
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic; Vasily Petrenko, conductor Simon Trpceski, piano
5:00 p.m.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Clarinet Concerto - third movement in A major K 622
Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields; Neville Marriner, conductor Karl Leister, clarinet
5:10 p.m.
Antonin Dvorak
Slavonic Dance No. 8 in G minor Opus 46
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra; Vaclav Neumann, conductor
5:19 p.m.
Grace Williams
Sea Sketches, for string orchestra
English Chamber Orchestra; David Atherton, conductor
5:39 p.m.
Nino Rota
The Godfather: Selections
Orchestra of La Scala, Milan; Riccardo Muti, conductor
5:50 p.m.
Rebecca Clarke
Cello Sonata: I. Impetuoso
Raphael Wallfisch, cello; John York, piano
5:59 p.m.
Johannes Brahms
Serenade No. 2 in A major Opus 16
Scottish Chamber Orchestra; Charles Mackerras, conductor
6:32 p.m.
Maurice Ravel
Introduction and Allegro
Prometheus Ensemble Caryl Thomas, harp
6:44 p.m.
Jon Batiste
Chopinesque
Jon Batiste, piano
6:49 p.m.
Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco
Variations Across the Centuries: Waltz #2 & #3 & Foxtrot Op 71
Xavier Jara, guitar
6:54 p.m.
Lou Harrison
Suite for Violin with American Gamelan: III. Air
Boston Modern Orchestra Project; Gil Rose, conductor Gabriela Diaz, violin
