Written by Darren Henley Marin Alsop conducting the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra

2 Darren Henley THE STORY OF CLASSICAL MUSIC

CONTENTS Track List 4 Classical Music – from the notes on the page, through history, to performance today 31 Biographies: Marin Alsop and Darren Henley 37 Historical Timeline 38 Acknowledgements 51

For interactive material and excerpts, including pictures, articles, sheet music, quizzes and more, visit:

n-ab.com/socm Password: classicalsounds

3 1 The Story of Classical Music 2:10

THE MEDIEVAL PERIOD (600–1490) 2 The Year 600 – Music in Churches 2:10 Music featured: Anonymous Gregorian chant from the Proper of the Mass: Introitus – Adorate Deum Nova Schola Gregoriana; Turco 8.550711

3 Hildegard of Bingen (1098–1179) 2:33 Music featured: O ignis spiritus Oxford Camerata; Summerly 8.550998

THE RENAISSANCE PERIOD (1490–1600) 4 Medieval to Renaissance 2:41 Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525/6–1594) Music featured: Missa Papae Marcelli Oxford Camerata; Summerly 8.550573 5 The Birth of Opera 3:49 Claudio Monteverdi (1567–1643) Music featured: ‘Ecco pur ch’a voi’ from L’Orfeo Cappella Musicale di S Petronio di Bologna; Vartolo 8.554094–95

4 Concerto: Duo seraphim from Vespers of the Blessed Virgin The Scholars Baroque Ensemble 8.550662–63 Franciscus Bossinensis (fl.1510) Music featured: Recercar Christopher Wilson, lute 8.553694

THE BAROQUE PERIOD (1600–1750) 6 Into the 17th Century 3:03 Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632–1687) Music featured: Entrée from Ballet des plaisirs Aradia Baroque Ensemble; Mallon 8.554003

7 London 2:09 Henry Purcell (1659–1695) Music featured: Voluntary in G Joseph Payne, organ 8.550718 Dido’s Lament from Dido and Aeneas Kym Amps, soprano; The Scholars Baroque Ensemble 8.553108

5 8 Germany 2:04 Johann Pachelbel (1653–1706) Music featured: Canon Anna Holbling, violin; Capella Istropolitana; Krcek 8.553221

9 Italy 2:04 Arcangelo Corelli (1653–1715) Music featured Concerto grosso No. 8 ‘Christmas Concerto’ Cologne Chamber Orchestra; Müller-Brühl 8.551077

10 Germany 6:48 Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) Music featured: Toccata in D minor Wolfgang Rübsam, organ 8.550184 Chorale: O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden from St Matthew Passion Hungarian Festival Choir; Hungarian SSO; Oberfrank 8.553257 (Favourite Arias and Choruses) Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 Cologne Chamber Orchestra; Müller-Brühl 8.554607 Air on the G string from Orchestral Suite No. 3 Capella Istropolitana; Dvorˇák 8.554043

6 11 George Frideric Handel (1685–1759) 8:01 Music featured: Zadok the Priest Tallis Chamber Choir; Royal Academy Consort; Summerly 8.557003 Alla hornpipe from Water Music Capella Istropolitana; Warchal 8.550109 La Réjouissance from Firework Music Capella Istropolitana; Warchal 8.550109 Hallelujah Chorus from Messiah The Scholars Baroque Ensemble 8.550827 (Choral Masterpieces) Presto from Recorder Sonata in G minor László Czidra, recorder; Zsolt Harsányi, bassoon; Pál Kelemen, cello; Zsuzsa Pertis, clavichord 8.550700

12 Tomaso Albinoni (1671–1750) 2:21 Music featured: Adagio in G minor Pavel Bogacz, violin; Capella Istropolitana; Edlinger 8.553221

13 Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741) 4:38 Music featured: Spring from The Four Seasons Takako Nishizaki, violin; Capella Istropolitana; Gunzenhauser 8.550056 Gloria in D major Oxford Schola Cantorum; Northern Chamber Orchestra; Ward 8.550767

7 THE CLASSICAL PERIOD (1750–1830) 14 The Classical Period – An Explanation 1:58

15 Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714–1788) 1:32 Music featured: Sinfonia No. 4 in G major Salzburg Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra; Lee 8.553289

16 Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714–1787) 1:35 Music featured: Dance of the Blessed Spirits from Orfeo ed Euridice Drottningholm Court Theatre Orchestra; Ostman 8.660064

17 Franz Joseph Haydn (1732–1809) 6:14 Music featured: Symphony No. 45 ‘Farewell’ Capella Istropolitana; Wordsworth 8.553222 Symphony No. 94 ‘The Surprise’ Capella Istropolitana; Wordsworth 8.553222 Symphony No. 101 ‘The Clock’ Capella Istropolitana; Wordsworth 8.553222

18 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) 5:21 Music featured: Eine kleine Nachtmusik, K. 525 Capella Istropolitana; Sobotka 8.550026

8 Symphony No. 41 ‘Jupiter’ Capella Istropolitana; Wordsworth 8.550299 Non più andrai from The Marriage of Figaro Andrea Martin, baritone; Donna Robin, soprano; Capella Istropolitana; Wildner 8.550435 (Operatic Arias and Duets) Piano Concerto in C major, K. 467 Jeno´´ Jandó, piano; Concentus Hungaricus; Ligeti 8.550434 Requiem Soloists; Slovak Philharmonic Chorus; Slovak PO; Kosˇler 8.550235 Piano Sonata in A major, K. 331 Jeno´´ Jandó, piano 8.550258 A Musical Joke Jeno´´ Keveházi, horn; Kodály Quartet 8.550437

19 Mozart’s great works 5:37 Music featured: Der Vogelfänger bin ich ja from The Magic Flute Andrea Martin, baritone; Donna Robin, soprano; Capella Istropolitana; Wildner 8.550435 (Operatic Arias and Duets) Symphony No. 40 in G minor Capella Istropolitana; Wordsworth 8.550299 Piano Sonata in A major, K. 331 Jeno´´ Jandó, piano 8.550258 Eine kleine Nachtmusik, K. 525 Capella Istropolitana; Sobotka 8.550026

9 20 Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) 4:31 Music featured: Symphony No. 5 Nicolaus Esterházy Sinfonia; Drahos 8.553476 Piano Sonata in C sharp minor ‘Moonlight’ Jeno´´ Jandó, piano 8.550294

21 Beethoven’s great works 5:00 Music featured: Egmont Overture Slovak PO; Gunzenhauser 8.550072 Symphony No. 1 Nicolaus Esterházy Sinfonia; Drahos 8.553474 Symphony No. 9 ‘Choral’ Soloists; Nicolaus Esterházy Chorus; Nicolaus Esterházy Sinfonia; Drahos 8.553478

THE ROMANTIC PERIOD (1830–1900)

22 Background History 2:25

23 The composer as a star 1:39

10 24 Nicolò Paganini (1782–1840) 2:48 Music featured: Caprice No. 24 in A minor Ilya Kaler, violin 8.550717 Violin Concerto No. 1 Ilya Kaler, violin; Polish NRSO; Gunzenhauser 8.550649

25 Gioachino Rossini (1792–1868) 2:05 Music featured: Overture to William Tell Zagreb Festival Overture; Michael Halász 8.556683

26 Carl Maria von Weber (1786–1826) 1:50 Music featured: Clarinet Concerto No. 2 Ernst Ottensamer, clarinet; Slovak SPO, Kosice; Wildner 8.550378

27 Franz Schubert (1797–1828) 4:48 Music featured: Gretchen am Spinnrade (Gretchen at the Spinning-Wheel) Ruth Ziesak, soprano; Ulrich Eisenlohr, piano 8.554666 Piano Quintet in A major ‘Trout’ Jeno´´ Jandó, piano; István Tóth, double bass; Kodály Quartet 8.550658 Symphony No. 8, ‘Unfinished’ Slovak PO; Halász 8.550145

11 28 Hector Berlioz (1803–1869) 4:10 Music featured: Un bal from Symphonie fantastique San Diego Symphony Orchestra; Talmi 8.553597 Dies irae from Requiem Toronto Mendelssohn Choir; Elora Festival Orchestra; Edison 8.554494–95

29 Fryderyk Chopin (1810–1849) 5:00 Music featured: Nocturne in E Flat, Op. 9 No. 2 Balász Szokolay, piano 8.550291 Prelude in D Flat ‘Raindrop’ Irina Zaritzkaya, piano 8.550291 Piano Concerto No. 2 István Szekely, piano; Budapest SO; Nemeth 8.550123

30 Felix Mendelssohn (1809–1847) 5:53 Music featured: Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream Slovak PO, Bramall 8.554433 Wedding March from A Midsummer Night’s Dream Slovak PO, Bramall 8.554433 The Hebrides Slovak PO, Dohnányi 8.554433 Violin Concerto in E minor Takako Nishizaki, violin; Slovak PO; Jean 8.550153

12 31 Franz Liszt (1811–1886) 1:57 Music featured: Hungarian Rhapsody No. 8 Jeno´´ Jandó, piano 8.554480

32 Robert Schumann (1810–1856) 1:36 Music featured: Piano Concerto in A minor Jeno´´ Jandó, piano; Budapest SO; Ligeti 8.550018

33 Clara Schumann (1819–1896) 1:34 Music featured: Romance, Op. 11 No. 1 Yoshiko Iwai, piano 8.553501

34 Johannes Brahms (1833–1897) 4:31 Music featured: Intermezzo in C sharp minor Idil Biret, piano 8.550354 Academic Festival Overture Belgian Radio and Television PO, Rahbari 8.550281 Piano Concerto No. 1 Jeno´´ Jandó, piano; Polish NRSO; Wit 8.553182

13 35 Max Bruch (1838–1920) 1:51 Music featured: Violin Concerto No. 1 Takako Nishizaki, violin; Slovak PO; Gunzenhauser 8.550195

36 Anton Bruckner (1824–1896) 1:42 Music featured: Symphony No. 4 ‘Romantic’ Royal Scottish NO; Titner 8.554128

37 Richard Wagner (1813–1883) 3:57 Music featured: The Ride of the Valkyries from The Valkyrie Slovak RSO; Mund 8.550211 Bridal Chorus from Lohengrin Slovak Philharmonic Chorus; Slovak RSO; Wildner 8.550507

38 Giuseppe Verdi (1813–1901) 4:17 Music featured: Anvil Chorus from Il trovatore Slovak Philharmonic Chorus; Slovak RSO; Dohnányi 8.550241 Triumphal March and Chorus from Aida Slovak Philharmonic Chorus; Slovak RSO; Dohnányi 8.550241 La donna è mobile from Rigoletto Yordy Ramiro, tenor; Slovak RSO; Rahbari 8.554065 Dies irae from Requiem Soloists; Hungarian State Opera Chorus and Orchestra; Morandi 8.550944–45

14 39 Jacques Offenbach (1819–1880) 1:16 Music featured: Can-Can from Orpheus in the Underworld Slovak SPO, Kosice; Walter 8.550468 (Can-Can and Other Dances from the Opera)

40 The Waltz – The Strauss Family 4:17 Johann Strauss I (1804–1849) Music featured: Kettenbrücke-Walzer Tanzquartette Wien 8.555689 Radetzky March Budapest Strauss Ensemble; Bogar 8.550900 Johann Strauss II (1825–1899) Music featured: The Blue Danube Strauss Festival Orchestra; Lenárd 8.550152

41 Camille Saint-Saëns (1835–1921) 4:49 Music featured: The Carnival of the Animals Soloists; Slovak RSO; Lenárd 8.550335

15 42 Léo Delibes (1836–1891) 1:06 Music featured: Coppélia Slovak RSO; Mogrelia 8.553356–57

43 Georges Bizet (1838–1875) 2:05 Music featured: Overture from Carmen Soloists; Slovak Radio Symphony Chorus and Orchestra; Rahbari 8.550727

44 Russia, the national voice and the ‘Mighty Handful’ 2:14

45 Alexander Borodin (1833–1887) 1:27 Music featured: In the Steppes of Central Asia Slovak PO; Nazareth 8.550051

46 Modest Mussorgsky (1839–1881) 4:32 Music featured: Pictures at an Exhibition Jeno´´ Jandó, piano 8.550044 Pictures at an Exhibition (orchestrated Ravel) Slovak PO; Nazareth 8.550051 Night on the Bare Mountain Slovak PO; Nazareth 8.550051

16 47 Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov (1844–1908) 3:50 Music featured: The Flight of the Bumble-Bee (arr. B. Traubas) from The Tale of Tsar Saltan Vytautas Sondeckis, cello; Lithuanian CO; Geringas 8.554381 (Romantic Music for Cello and Orchestra) Sheherazade Philharmonia Orchestra; Batiz 8.550726

48 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840–1893) 3:56 Music featured: The Sleeping Beauty Slovak RSO; Lenárd 8.553271 Swan Lake Slovak PO; Halász 8.553271 The Nutcracker Slovak PO; Halász 8.553271 Symphony No. 6 in B minor ‘Pathétique’ Polish NRSO; Wit 8.550782 49 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky continued 3:35 Music featured: Piano Concerto No. 1 Bernd Glemser, piano; Polish NRSO; Wit 8.550819 1812 Overture NSO of Ukraine; Kuchar 8.555923

17 50 Antonín Dvorˇák (1841–1904) 3:09 Music featured: Slavonic Dance, Op. 46 No. 8 Slovak PO; Kosˇler 8.550143 Symphony No. 9 ‘From the New World’ Slovak PO; Gunzenhauser 8.550271

51 Norway – Edvard Grieg (1843–1907) 2:50 Music featured: Piano Concerto in A minor Jeno´´ Jandó, piano; Budapest SO; Ligeti 8.550118 In the Hall of the Mountain King from Peer Gynt CSFR State PO (Kosice); Gunzenhauser 8.551108

52 England – Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900) 3:18 Music featured: Overture to HMS Pinafore Royal Ballet Sinfonia; Penny 8.554165 ‘Now give three cheers’ from HMS Pinafore Soloists; D’Oyly Carte Opera Orchestra; Godfrey 8.110175

53 France – Jules Massenet (1842–1912) 2:51 Music featured: Meditation from Thaïs János Selmeczi, violin; Camerata Transylvanica; Selmeczi 8.554682

18 THE LATE ROMANTICS, IMPRESSIONISTS AND OTHERS

54 Gabriel Fauré (1845–1924) 2:19 Music featured: Pie Jesu from Requiem, Op. 48 Oxford Schola Cantorum; Oxford Camerata, Summerly 8.550765 Pavane, Op. 50 Slovak RSO; Clark 8.550088

55 Claude Debussy (1862–1918) 2:38 Music featured: La Mer Belgian RTPO; Rahbari 8.550262 Golliwog’s Cake Walk from Children’s Corner Idil Biret, piano 8.550885

56 Spain – Isaac Albéniz (1860–1909) 1:50 Music featured: El Puerto from Iberia Guillermo González, piano 8.554311

57 Industrial progress 0:45

19 58 England – Edward Elgar (1857–1934) 5:27 Music featured: Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 English Northern Philharmonia; Daniel 8.553981 Cello Concerto Maria Kliegel, cello; RPO; Halász 8.550503 Nimrod from Enigma Variations English Northern Philharmonia; Daniel 8.553981

59 Italy – Giacomo Puccini (1858–1924) 4:11 Music featured: O soave fanciulla from La Bohème Luba Organasova, soprano; Jonathan Welch, tenor; Slovak RSO; Humburg 8.660003–04 Nessun dorma from Turandot Thomas Harper, tenor; Slovak RSO; Halász 8.550497

60 Austria – Gustav Mahler (1860–1911) 1:58 Music featured: Symphony No. 2, ‘Resurrection’ Polish NRSO; Wit 8.550523–24

61 France – Paul Dukas (1865–1935) 1:25 Music featured: The Sorcerer’s Apprentice Slovak RSO; Jean 8.554463

20 62 Erik Satie (1866–1925) 1:52 Music featured: Gymnopédie No. 1 Klára Körmendi, piano 8.550305

63 Maurice Ravel (1875–1937) 2:35 Music featured: Piano Concerto for the Left Hand François-Joël Thiollier, piano; Polish NRSO; Wit 8.550753 Boléro RPO; Leaper 8.550501

64 Richard Strauss (1864–1949) 2:06 Music featured: Also sprach Zarathustra Slovak PO; Kosˇler 8.550182

65 Finland – Jean Sibelius (1865–1957) 2:08 Music featured: Finlandia Iceland SO; Sakari 8.554265

66 England – Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872–1958) 3:09 Music featured: Fantasia on Greensleeves New Zealand SO; Judd 8.555867 The Lark Ascending English Northern Philharmonia; Lloyd-Jones 8.553955 21 67 Gustav Holst (1874–1934) 2:07 Music featured: Jupiter from The Planets RSNO; Lloyd-Jones 8.555776

68 Russia – Sergei Rachmaninov (1873–1943) 3:39 Music featured: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini Bernd Glemser, piano; Polish NRSO; Wit 8.550809 Piano Concerto No. 2 Bernd Glemser, piano; Polish NRSO; Wit 8.550810

NEW DIRECTIONS IN THE 20TH CENTURY 69 Arnold Schoenberg (1874–1951) 2:10 Music featured: Verklärte Nacht (arranged for string orchestra) Ulster Orchestra; Yuasa 8.554371 Piano Piece, Op. 11 No. 3 Peter Hill, piano 8.553870

70 Russia – Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971) 3:24 Music featured: The Sacrifice from The Rite of Spring BRT Philharmonic, Brussels; Rahbari 8.550472 The Firebird Belgian RTPO; Rahbari 8.554060

22 71 Sergei Prokofiev (1891–1953) 6:09 Music featured: Dance of the Knights from Romeo and Juliet NSO of Ukraine; Mogrelia 8.553184–85 Troika from Lieutenant Kijé Richard Hayman and his Orchestra 8.555029 Symphony No. 1 ‘Classical’ NSO of Ukraine; Kuchar 8.553053 Peter and the Wolf Dame Edna Everage, narrator; Melbourne SO; Lanchbery 8.554170

72 Hungary – Béla Bartók (1881–1945) 2:35 Music featured: Concerto for Orchestra Belgian RTPO; Rahbari 8.550261

73 Zoltán Kodály (1882–1967) 1:12 Music featured: Suite from Háry János Hungarian SSO; Antál 8.550142

74 Austria – Anton Webern (1883–1945) 2:31 Music featured: Passacaglia Ulster Orchestra; Yuasa 8.554841 Symphony Ulster Orchestra; Yuasa 8.554841

23 75 Carl Orff (1895–1982) 1:37 Music featured: O Fortuna from Carmina Burana Soloists; Slovak RSO and Chorus; Gunzenhauser 8.550196

76 Joaquín Rodrigo (1901–1999) 1:08 Music featured: Concierto de Aranjuez Norbert Kraft, guitar; Northern CO; Ward 8.554832

77 USA – Charles Ives (1874–1954) 2:46 Music featured: Country Band March Northern Sinfonia; Sinclair 8.559087

78 Roy Harris (1898–1979) 1:13 Music featured: Symphony No. 7 NSO Ukraine; Kuchar 8.559050 79 George Gershwin (1898–1937) 4:46 Music featured: An American in Paris New Zealand SO; Judd 8.559107 Rhapsody in Blue Kathryn Selby, piano; Slovak PO; Hayman 8.550295 Piano Concerto Kathryn Selby, piano; Slovak PO; Hayman 8.550295

24 80 Aaron Copland (1900–1990) 2:46 Music featured: Hoe Down from Rodeo Slovak RSO; Gunzenhauser 8.550282 Fanfare for the Common Man Slovak RSO; Gunzenhauser 8.550282

81 Samuel Barber (1910–1981) 1:46 Music featured: Adagio for strings RSNO; Alsop 8.559088

AFTER THE SECOND WORLD WAR

82 Leonard Bernstein (1918–1990) 2:03 Music featured: Suite from West Side Story (Prologue) Soloists; Nashville SO; Schermerhorn 8.559126

83 England – William Walton (1902–1983) 2:47 Music featured: Spitfire Prelude and Fugue from The First of the Few English Northern Philharmonia; Daniel 8.553869

25 84 Russia – Dmitri Shostakovich (1906–1975) 4:23 Music featured: Romance from The Gadfly NSO of Ukraine; Kuchar 8.553299 Tahiti Trot Russian SSO; Yablonsky 8.555949 Piano Concerto No. 2 Michael Houstoun, piano; New Zealand SO; Lyndon-Gee 8.553126

85 England – Benjamin Britten (1913–1976) 1:57 Music featured: Theme from The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra Slovak RSO; Lenárd 8.550499

86 France – Francis Poulenc (1899–1963) 3:00 Music featured: Gloria Ile de France Vittoria Regional Choir; Orchestre de la Cité; Piquemal 8.553176 The Story of Babar, the Little Elephant Melbourne SO; Lanchbery 8.554170 COMPOSERS OF THE AVANT-GARDE

87 France and USA – Edgard Varèse (1883–1965) 2:21 Music featured: Déserts Polish NRSO; Lyndon-Gee 8.554820

26 88 USA – John Cage (1912–1992) 1:52 Music featured: Piano Sonata V Boris Berman, piano 8.554345

MINIMALISM

89 England – John Tavener (b. 1944) 1:25 Music featured: Song for Athene St. John’s College Choir, Cambridge; Robinson 8.555256

90 USA – Philip Glass (b. 1937) 1:55 Music featured: Violin Concerto Adele Anthony, violin; Ulster Orchestra; Yuasa 8.554568

FILM MUSIC 91 Hans Zimmer (b. 1957) 1:32 Music featured: Suite from Gladiator The City of Prague PO; Nic Rain; Bateman The Fantasy Album, Silva Screen Records FILM 360CD With kind permission from Silva Screen

27 92 Howard Shore (b. 1946) 1:16 Music featured: The Fellowship from The Lord of the Rings The City of Prague PO; Nic Raine; Bateman The Fantasy Album, Silva Screen Records FILM 360CD With kind permission from Silva Screen 93 John Williams (b. 1932) 1:42 Music featured: Hedwig’s Theme from Harry Potter The City of Prague PO; Nic Raine; Bateman The Fantasy Album, Silva Screen Records FILM 360CD With kind permission from Silva Screen 94 Epilogue 1:11 Music featured: Maurice Ravel Boléro RPO, Leaper 8.550501

Total time: 4:34:22

28

Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra conducted by Marin Alsop

CLASSICAL MUSIC from the notes on the page, through history, to performance today What is classical music? It is the music that the speed, whether it’s loud or soft… even has lasted through the centuries. If it has silence can be notated: you just write lots lasted, it suggests that it is the best music, of rests instead of notes! or at least the best music that was written Notation made it possible for the music down. of great composers to survive: the music of Music does survive in another way: the Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang oral tradition, where tunes are handed Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van down personally from musician to Beethoven lives on today because of musician, taught by listening and copying. notation. Of course, it is not just the paper This is used for folk music, which can and the notes that made sure their music survive very accurately, as well as be survived: it had to be good! Everyone refreshed by every generation. However, it knew, when Mozart was alive, that his generally works only for music that music was especially good – well, almost involves just one or two parts. After that, it everyone. When his opera The Magic Flute gets too complicated to remember. When was first performed, the Emperor of you have a piece involving about ten or Austria actually said to him: ‘Too many more parts, the only way to make it last is notes, Mr Mozart!’ Not the nicest thing to to write it down. That is why musical say to a composer immediately after a first notation became so important. performance! And he was wrong. The As we learn on this recording, notation Magic Flute turned out to be a hit opera began in the eighth century for music sung for 200 years. in churches. It has developed a lot since Everyone knew too that Beethoven was then to include different instruments, the most important composer of his time. different keys, and to show more Of course, he really needed notation accurately things like the length of notes, because his deafness stopped him from 31 enjoying the music in the way we do – by head. just listening to it. He could look at the Schubert died just one year after notes on the page and hear the music in Beethoven, in 1828. His friends carried on his head. playing some of his music, but most of it And Bach? Well, Bach was so busy was beginning to be forgotten. Then one writing music and playing the organ that day, Robert Schumann was browsing he didn’t have much time to think about through a library in Vienna, looking at old the future of his music; but other people manuscripts that were there, and he came came to know how valuable he was. across Symphony No. 9 by Franz Schubert. Mozart studied his music, then It was in Schubert’s own handwriting. He Mendelssohn studied his music, and, later, started to look at it (he could hear the Bruckner did too. So did many others. sounds clearly in his head because he was Once again, it was all thanks to musical a pianist and composer himself). He notation: all that scribbling done in Bach’s realised that there, sitting in a library box, time became like gold dust. silent and forgotten, was a masterpiece. It Notation was important also for was exciting and full of bright tunes and Schubert. Poor Schubert! Music poured rhythms that stick inside your head. He out of him – he had melodies in his head was so excited he got a copy made and all the time, and he wrote it down as fast sent it straight off to Felix Mendelssohn, as he could, anywhere, on anything. In telling him that this was such a remarkable one day alone, he wrote eight songs. But symphony it should be played. So only a few friends realised at the time Mendelssohn agreed and arranged a what a unique and talented composer he performance. He did this for some of was. He heard performed a lot of the Bach’s pieces, too, which were being songs that he wrote and much of the neglected. chamber music, but his symphonies were So in this way, music that is preserved never performed professionally for him – in silence on a page for years, sometimes though that didn’t stop him writing nine! for generations or centuries, comes alive He simply had to compose: he had to put again. It is not usually possible to play it down on paper the sounds he heard in his exactly as the composer wished, because 32 every performance of a work is slightly New composers of today are adding to different. It depends on the players: some classical music all the time. Some of this violinists, for example, play without much will be forgotten in ten years’ time or even vibrato while others play with more; some sooner. Some will not even be noticed by play slightly faster or more smoothly, while most people until well after the composer others play more slowly or in a more is dead – but then, gradually, it will come bouncy way. This is what performance is back to the concert hall, like a forgotten about: making the music come alive here friend coming out of the mist. and now. And this is the miracle of There is so much wonderful music to classical music – that hundreds of years discover from all the centuries, it is difficult after it was written, it still can sound as to know where to start. Hopefully, this fresh and lively as if it was written introduction will give you some pointers. yesterday. You might hear a composer or a style and Fashion does not really come into think you like that best: you can then listen classical music. Some music is very and discover more. You could even play fashionable for a time, but then is the music yourself: by playing the cello, or forgotten: it is important only for the perhaps the clarinet or the piano, you are people of a particular century or year, or right in the middle of the musical moment. Classical music, on the other experience. hand, is music that has lasted through the Marin Alsop knows what it is like to be centuries, and has been loved and played in the centre of music-making when she by many different generations of people. conducts her orchestras. On her music These people have worn different kinds of stand is the full score – so she can see clothes, behaved in different ways – but what everyone is playing. The orchestral still enjoyed the same classical works. musicians have only their own musical line Bach, Mozart and Beethoven (and others) on their music stands, but she has the lot. have survived to the 21st century, so it is It is her job to direct a musical likely they will go on to the 22nd, 23rd, performance. She makes sure the 24th centuries and beyond… with the help musicians play perfectly together; she sets of musical notation. the tempo and she gets the balance she 33 wants between the different sections (so, for example, the brass are not too loud for the strings). It is the conductor who creates the character of the work. Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, for example, can sound quite different in character when conducted by different people – one conductor can take it faster and make it brighter, while another can make it grander and bigger. She travels all around the world conducting different orchestras, speaking to them in English or German or French or Italian. She also makes CDs for Naxos of music by very varied composers – from the symphonies of Johannes Brahms to the symphonies of the American composer Roy Harris. And when she relaxes, she plays the violin. She takes her violin with her on her travels, so that when she has some free time she can do her practice – because even she needs to practise to keep up her playing! So for Marin Alsop, music is very much in the centre of her life.

Nicolas Soames

34 Marin Alsop is one of the leading American conductors, criss- crossing continents to perform with orchestras in the US, Europe and Asia. Born in New York, the daughter of two professional musicians, she went to the Juilliard School as a violinist. But she soon took up conducting, forming her own orchestra and arranging concerts. She won the Stokowski competition and the Koussevitzky Prize at Tanglewood, where she was a pupil of Leonard Bernstein, Seiji Ozawa and Gustav Meier. She has conducted many of the key orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestra. She has had a long association with the Colorado Symphony, first as musical director and then as music director laureate. In 2002 she became principal conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, though she also conducts other UK orchestras, including the London Philharmonic Orchestra (with whom she is recording a Brahms symphony cycle). She has recorded a well-regarded cycle of Barber’s orchestral works for Naxos, as well as Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms. Music by Adams, Glass, Weill and Bartók follows, as well as the Brahms symphony cycle. In 2003, she won both the Gramophone Artist of the Year award and the Royal Philharmonic Society’s conducting award. Marin enjoys introducing all her concerts and talking about music – she features regularly as a speaker on radio in the UK and US, but this is her first audiobook.

35 Darren Henley is the Managing Editor of Classic FM. His radio programmes have been honoured by the Sony Radio Academy Awards, the New York International Radio Festival and the United Nations. Darren writes regularly for the Classic FM Magazine, for which he is editorial consultant. He was previously a journalist for ITN and Invicta Radio in Kent. He is the co-author of all three titles in the best-selling Classic FM Pocket Book series, published by Boosey & Hawkes.

B flat clarinet

36 TIMELINE – MEDIEVAL/RENAISSANCE PERIODS 600 800 1000 1020 1040 1060 1080 1100 1120 1140 1160 1180 1200 1500 1510 1520 1530 1540 1550 1560 1570 1580 1590

Hildegard of Bingen (German) 1098–1179 Pérotin (French) Giovanni Pierluigi de Palestrina (Italian) 1525/6–1594 1160–1220 Guillaume de Machaut (French) 1300–1377 John Dunstable (English) 1390–1453 William Byrd (English) 1543–1623 Guillaume Dufay (French) 1398–1474 Thomas Tallis (English) c.1505–1585 Johannes Ockeghem (Franco-Flemish) 1410–1497 Josquin Desprez (Franco-Flemish) 1440–1521 Alexander Agricola Claudio Monteverdi (Franco-Netherlandish) (Italian) 1567–1643 1446–1506 Jacob Obrecht (Netherlandish) 1450–1505

800 1517 1545–1563 1585 Martin Luther nails his condemnation of Charlemagne 1054 The Council of Trent War between England becomes Holy Rome to the church door in Wittenburg Eastern Orthodox 1549 and Spain over trade Roman Church breaks with 1520 and religious Emperor First English Rome Luther publicly burns the Papal Bill prayer book issued differences 597 1095 excommunicating him; The First Crusade 1558 Pope Gregory, 1066 1149 Spread of Protestantism throughout Europe Elizabeth I who gave his Second Crusade 1534 c.1020 Norman invasion succeeds Mary 1599 name to of England ends in failure Henry VIII proclaims himself Gregorian Guido of Arezzo devises head of the Church of England Rejects authority The Globe musical notation of Rome Theatre built Chant, sends 1075 1170 Dissolution of the Monastries begins 1553 St Augustine to Turks take Jerusalem Thomas in Southwark, 1529 Mary, a Catholic, becomes London convert the and other Holy places à Becket Ottomans driven back Queen of England English murdered from gates of Vienna Persecution of Protestants follows

37 38 TIMELINE – BAROQUE/CLASSICAL PERIODS 1600 1610 1620 1630 1640 1650 1660 1670 1680 1690 1700 1710 1720 1730 1740 1750 1760 1770 1780 1790 1800 1810 1820

Jean-Baptiste Lully (French) 1632–1687

Christoph Willibald Gluck (German) 1714–1787

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (German) 1714–1788

William Byrd d.1623 Arcangelo Corelli (Italian) 1653–1713

Johann Pachelbel (German) 1653–1706 Franz Joseph Haydn (Austrian) 1732–1809

Henry Purcell (English) 1659–1695

Tomaso Albinoni (1671–1750) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Austrian) 1756–1791 Antonio Vivaldi (Italian) 1678–1741 Claudio Monteverdi d.1643 Johann Sebastian Bach (German) 1685–1750 Antonio Salieri (Italian) 1750–1825

George Frideric Handel (German) 1685–1759 Ludwig van Beethoven (German) 1770–1827

Domenico Scarlatti (Italian) 1685–1757

1618 1642 1660 1701 c.1730 1776 1807 Start of 30 Years War English Civil War Restoration of the Britain, Holland and Austria The first pianos are American Declaration of Independence Slave trade form alliance to prevent Last attempt by monarchy manufacturered in Saxony; and war with England abolished in Britain Catholics to stamp out the 1649 1680 France becoming strongest Canaletto begins his 1789 Charles I executed Reformation 1665 The Dodo power in Europe paintings of Venice’s Grand George Washington becomes England becomes Canal 1756–1763 The Great becomes extinct 1707 The Seven Years War first American president; 1603 1620 a republic Plague of London Act of Union 1720 French Revolution begins Pilgrim 1683 South Sea Queen 1654 between 1773 1794 Elizabeth I Fathers The Ottoman Turks Scotland and Bubble Louis XIV, 1666 reach the gates of financial crisis The Boston Execution of Robespierre ends 1815 dies sail to The Great Fire England 1740–1748 Tea Party Reign of Terror in France America the Sun King, Vienna again ruins thousands Wellington crowned of London The War of defeats c.1644 1681 1713 Austrian 1803 Napoleon at 1605 Antonio Stradivari, William Penn establishes Pennsylvania War between the Alliance succession Napoleonic Gunpowder Plot the Battle of violin maker, born as a refuge for persecuted Quakers and France ends Wars begin Waterloo

39 40

TIMELINE – ROMANTIC PERIOD 1780 1790 1800 1810 1820 1830 1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 Carl Maria von Weber (German) 1786–1826 Richard Wagner (German) 1813–1883 Gioacchino Rossini (Italian) 1792–1868 Arnold Schoenberg 1874–1951 Franz Liszt (Hungarian) 1811–1886 Franz Schubert (Austrian) 1797–1828 Modest Mussorgsky (Russian) 1839–1881 Fryderyk Chopin (Polish) 1810–1849 Gustav Mahler (Austrian) 1860–1911 Gaetano Donizetti (Italian) 1797–1848 Giacomo Puccini (Italian) 1858–1924 Georges Bizet (French) 1838–1875 Hector Berlioz (French) 1803–1869 Gabriel Fauré (French) 1845–1924 Felix Mendelssohn (German) 1809–1847 Anton Bruckner (Austrian) 1824–1896 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian) 1840–1893 Giuseppe Verdi (Italian) 1813–1901 Antonín Dvo˘rák (Czech) 1841–1904 Robert Schumann (German) 1810–1856 Johannes Brahms (German) 1833–1897 Isaac Albéniz 1860–1909 Edvard Grieg (Norwegian) 1843–1907 Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov (Russian) 1844–1908 Camille Saint-Saëns (French) 1835–1921 Alexander Borodin (Russian) 1833–1887 1900 Freud writes his 1836 1864 Davy Crockett 1839 1893 Interpretation of Louis Pasteur invents Henry Ford builds Dreams killed at the First Opium pasteurisation War 1872 his first car Alamo 1854-6 Spanish Civil War 1831 Crimean War 1861 1876 1896 Pushkin completes American Civil War 1869 Alexander Bell invents First modern Olympics Eugene Onegin Suez the telephone held in Athens 1859 1866 Canal 1904 1837 1847 Darwin publishes Nobel opens 1877 War between Victoria becomes California The Origin of Species invents Tomas Edison patents Russia and Japan Queen in Britain Gold Rush dynamite the phonograph

41 42 THE 20TH CENTURY – I 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 Edward Elgar (English) 1857–1934 Ralph Vaughan Williams (English) 1872–1958 Gustav Holst (English – of Swedish descent) 1874–1934 Sergei Prokofiev (Russian) 1891–1953 Sergei Rachmaninov (Russian) 1873–1943 Dmitri Shostakovich (Russian) 1906–1975 Béla Bartók (Hungarian) 1881–1945 Aaron Copland (American) 1900–1990 Samuel Barber (American) 1910–1981

Benjamin Britten (English) 1913–1976 Claude Debussy (French) 1862–1918 Richard Strauss (German) 1864–1949 Carl Nielsen (Danish) 1865–1931 Jean Sibelius (Finnish) 1865–1957 Joaquín Rodrigo (Spanish) 1901–1999 Manuel de Falla (Spanish) 1876–1946 Charles Ives (American) 1874–1954 John Adams (b. 1947) Philip Glass (b. 1937) 1969 New 1914 1924 1936-39 1963 1983 1991 Panama Canal opened John F. Kennedy Neil Armstrong millenium Stalin succeeds Spanish Civil 1950–53 First CD players go on sale Persian Gulf assassinated becomes the first War 2001 1914-18 Lenin 1929 War Korean War man on the moon 1989 1912-13 First World War 1980 9/11 – World Balkan wars The Wall Street Crash John Lennon Fall of the Berlin Trade Centre 1926 1939-1945 1956 1967 Wall 1994 1917 1933 Second World War shot in New York Bolsheviks seize General Strike Hitler becomes Suez Canal The Beatles release End of Apartheid Sergeant Pepper attacked and power in Russia in Britain German Chancellor seized by Egypt in South Africa destroyed

43 44

THE 20TH CENTURY – II 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 Arnold Schoenberg (Austrian) 1874–1951 Alban Berg (Austrian) 1885–1935 Anton Webern (Austrian) 1883–1945 Maurice Ravel (French) 1875–1937 Igor Stravinsky (Russian) 1882–1971 Olivier Messiaen (French) 1908–1992 Leosˇ Janácˇek (Czech) 1854–1928 Henryk Górecki (Polish) 1933– Bohuslav Martinu° (Czech) 1890–1959 Francis Poulenc (French) 1899–1963 Darius Milhaud (French) 1892–1974 Edgard Varèse (French-American) 1883–1965 George Gershwin (American) 1898–1937 Roy Harris (American) 1898–1979 John Cage (American) 1912–1992 John Williams (b. 1932) Hans Zimmer (b. 1957) Steve Reich (American) (b. 1936) György Ligeti (Hungarian) (b. 1923) Karlheinz Stockhausen (German) (b. 1928) Toru Takemitsu (Japanese) 1930–1997 Luciano Berio (Italian) 1925–2003 Pierre Boulez (French) (b. 1925) Witold Lutosl/awski (Polish) 1913–1994 Arvo Pärt (Estonian) (b. 1935)

45 46

Violin

47 Alto saxophone

48

Trumpet

49 Cello

50 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

With particular thanks to: Genevieve Helsby for her imaginative work in writing and editing the interactive material online Sarah Butcher for editing the words and music together in such a skilful manner Silva Screen for permission to use tracks from The Fantasy Album (FILMXCD360) Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra for permission to use photographs of the orchestral sections in action John Myatt Woodwind and Brass, instrument specialists (57 Nightingale Road, Hitchin, Hertfordshire – www.myatt.co.uk), for use of woodwind and brass instrument pictures Hill & Co. (5 High Street, Welwyn, Hertfordshire) for violin and viola pictures

51 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. UNAUTHORISED PUBLIC PERFORMANCE,

Produced by Nicolas Soames s Recorded at Room with a View BROADCASTING AND COPYING OF THESE COMPACT DISCS PROHIBITED. Edited by Sarah Butcher p 2004 NAXOS AudioBooks Ltd. © 2004 NAXOS AudioBooks Ltd. hour 2 Made in Germany. ⁄ 1 otal time 4 T logue online at online talogue ur ca iew o V The lives and music of the great composers of music of the great The lives and classical music unfold in this entertaining account, unfold in this entertaining classical music and musical personality introduced by the conductor music grew Marin Alsop. In 1200 years, classical medieval monks through the from the chanting of and the grand operas of symphonies of Beethoven orchestral sound-world of the Wagner to the huge www.naxosaudiobooks.com Marin Alsop

Read by MUSIC THE STORY OF CLASSICAL OF STORY THE Darren Henley Darren 978-962-634-314-2 CD ISBN: and enter the password given on page 3 of this booklet. and enter the password given on page 3 of pictures, articles, sheet music, quizzes and more, visit n-ab.com/socm pictures, articles, sheet music, quizzes and wealth of biographical and instrumental information online: to find and instrumental information online: to wealth of biographical This all-encompassing introduction to classical music also includes a introduction to classical music also includes This all-encompassing illustrated with some of his, or her, most famous music. most famous music. of his, or her, one illustrated with some style, Marin Alsop paints vivid portraits of over 90 composers, each vivid portraits of over 90 composers, style, Marin Alsop paints 21st century, with its electronics and its film music. In her easy-going with its electronics 21st century, Marin Alsop