Written by Darren Henley Darren Henley THE STORY OF

CONTENTS Track List 2 Classical Music – from the notes on the page, through history, to performance today 30 Biographies: Darren Henley and Aled Jones 34 Aled Jones Feature 35 Historical Timeline 40 Acknowledgements and Credits 53 Other titles available from Naxos AudioBooks 55

2 1 The Story of Classical Music 2:14

THE MEDIEVAL PERIOD (600–1490) 2 The Year 600 – Music in Churches 2:06 Music featured: Anonymous Gregorian chant from the Proper of the Mass: Introitus – Adorate Deum Nova Schola Gregoriana; Turco 8.550711

3 (1098–1179) 2:31 Music featured: O ignis spiritus Oxford Camerata; Summerly 8.550998

THE RENAISSANCE PERIOD (1490–1600) 4 Medieval to Renaissance 2:37 Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525/6–1594) Music featured: Missa Papae Marcelli Oxford Camerata; Summerly 8.550573 5 The Birth of Opera 3:45 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

3 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 3:04 Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632–1687) Music featured: Entrée from Ballet des plaisirs Aradia Baroque Ensemble; Mallon 8.554003

7 London 2:10 (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

4 8 2:05 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 6:51 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 ; 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

5 11 George Frideric Handel (1685–1759) 8:03 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) 2:16 Music featured: Adagio in G minor Pavel Bogacz, violin; Capella Istropolitana; Edlinger 8.553221

13 Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741) 4:30 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

6 THE CLASSICAL PERIOD (1750–1830) 14 The Classical Period – An Explanation 1:56 15 Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714–1788) 1:24 Music featured: Sinfonia No. 4 in G major Salzburg Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra; Lee 8.553289

16 Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714–1787) 1:33 Music featured: Dance of the Blessed Spirits from Orfeo ed Euridice Drottningholm Court Theatre Orchestra; Ostman 8.660064

17 Franz Joseph Haydn (1732–1809) 6:21 Music featured: Symphony No. 94 ‘The Surprise’ Capella Istropolitana; Wordsworth 8.553222 Symphony No. 45 ‘Farewell’ Capella Istropolitana; Wordsworth 8.553222 Symphony No. 101 ‘The Clock’ Capella Istropolitana; Wordsworth 8.553222

18 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) 5:21

7 19 Mozart’s great works 5:33 Music featured: Eine kleine Nachtmusik, K. 525 Capella Istropolitana; Sobotka 8.550026 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 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 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

8

20 Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) 4:22

21 Beethoven’s great works 4:58 Music featured: Symphony No. 5 Nicolaus Esterházy Sinfonia; Drahos 8.553476

Piano Sonata in C sharp minor ‘Moonlight’ Jeno´´ Jandó, piano 8.550294 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 2:22

23 The composer as a star 1:28

9 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) 2:04 Music featured: Overture to William Tell Zagreb Festival Overture; Michael Halász 8.556683

26 Carl Maria von Weber (1786–1826) 2:04 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

10 28 Hector Berlioz (1803–1869) 4:13 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) 4:58 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) 5:51 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

11 31 (1811–1886) 2:02 Music featured: Hungarian Rhapsody No. 8 Jeno´´ Jandó, piano 8.554480

32 (1810–1856) 1:35 Music featured: Piano Concerto in A minor Jeno´´ Jandó, piano; Budapest SO; Ligeti 8.550018

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

34 Johannes Brahms (1833–1897) 4:32 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

12 35 Max Bruch (1838–1920) 2:39 Music featured: Violin Concerto No. 1 Takako Nishizaki, violin; Slovak PO; Gunzenhauser 8.550195 36 Anton Bruckner (1824–1896) 1:37 Music featured: Symphony No. 4 ‘Romantic’ Royal Scottish NO; Titner 8.554128 37 Richard Wagner (1813–1883) 3:48 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) 4:13 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

13 Dies irae from Requiem Soloists; Hungarian State Opera Chorus and Orchestra; Morandi 8.550944–45 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 4:18 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) 4:42 Music featured: The Carnival of the Animals Soloists; Slovak RSO; Lenárd 8.550335

14 42 Léo Delibes (1836–1891) 1:04 Music featured: Coppélia Slovak RSO; Mogrelia 8.553356–57 43 Georges Bizet (1838–1875) 2:01 Music featured: Overture from Carmen Soloists; Slovak Radio Symphony Chorus and Orchestra; Rahbari 8.550727 44 Russia, the national voice and the ‘Mighty Handful’ 2:10 45 Alexander Borodin (1833–1887) 1:25 Music featured: In the Steppes of Central Asia Slovak PO; Nazareth 8.550051 46 Modest Mussorgsky (1839–1881) 4:28 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

15 47 Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov (1844–1908) 3:47 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 (1840–1893) 5:16 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

16 49 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky continued 3:33 Music featured: Piano Concerto No. 1 Bernd Glemser, piano; Polish NRSO; Wit 8.550819 1812 Overture NSO of Ukraine; Kuchar 8.555923

50 Antonín Dvorˇák (1841–1904) 2:58 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) 2:54 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

17 52 England – Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900) 3:29 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) 2:45 Music featured: Meditation from Thaïs János Selmeczi, violin; Camerata Transylvanica; Selmeczi 8.554682

THE LATE ROMANTICS, IMPRESSIONISTS AND OTHERS 54 Gabriel Fauré (1845–1924) 2:17 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) 2:42 Music featured: La Mer Belgian RTPO; Rahbari 8.550262 Golliwog’s Cake Walk from Children’s Corner Idil Biret, piano 8.550885

18

56 Spain – Isaac Albéniz (1860–1909) 2:04 Music featured: El Puerto from Iberia Guillermo González, piano 8.554311 57 Industrial progress 0:45 58 England ­– Edward Elgar (1857–1934) 5:25 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) 4:09 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) 1:53 Music featured: Symphony No. 2, ‘Resurrection’ Polish NRSO; Wit 8.550523–24

19 61 France – Paul Dukas (1865–1935) 1:26 Music featured: The Sorcerer’s Apprentice Slovak RSO; Jean 8.554463

62 Erik Satie (1866–1925) 1:54 Music featured: Gymnopédie No. 1 Klára Körmendi, piano 8.550305

63 Maurice Ravel (1875–1937) 2:26 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) 2:02 Music featured: Also sprach Zarathustra Slovak PO; Kosˇler 8.550182 65 Finland – Jean Sibelius (1865–1957) 2:05 Music featured: Finlandia Iceland SO; Sakari 8.554265

20 66 England – Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872–1958) 3:06 Music featured: Fantasia on Greensleeves New Zealand SO; Judd 8.555867 The Lark Ascending English Northern Philharmonia; Lloyd-Jones 8.553955

67 Gustav Holst (1874–1934) 2:05 Music featured: Jupiter from The Planets RSNO; Lloyd-Jones 8.555776

68 Russia – Sergei Rachmaninov (1873–1943) 3:33 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) 2:05 Music featured: Verklärte Nacht (arranged for string orchestra) Ulster Orchestra; Yuasa 8.554371 Piano Pieces, Op. 11 No. 3 Peter Hill, piano 8.553870

21 70 Russia – Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971) 3:23 Music featured: The Sacrifice from The Rite of Spring BRT Philharmonic, Brussels; Rahbari 8.550472 The Firebird Belgian RTPO; Rahbari 8.554060 71 (1891–1953) 6:04 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) 2:30 Music featured: Concerto for Orchestra Belgian RTPO; Rahbari 8.550261 73 Zoltán Kodály (1882–1967) 1:10 Music featured: Suite from Háry János Hungarian SSO; Antál 8.550142

22 74 Austria – Anton Webern (1883–1945) 2:25 Music featured: Passacaglia Ulster Orchestra; Yuasa 8.554841 Symphony Ulster Orchestra; Yuasa 8.554841 75 Carl Orff (1895–1982) 1:36 Music featured: O Fortuna from Carmina Burana Soloists; Slovak RSO and Chorus; Gunzenhauser 8.550196 76 Joaquín Rodrigo (1901–1999) 1:06 Music featured: Concierto de Aranjuez Norbert Kraft, guitar; Northern CO; Ward 8.554832 77 USA – George Gershwin (1898–1937) 5:06 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

23 78 Aaron Copland (1900–1990) 2:54 Music featured: Hoe Down from Rodeo Slovak RSO; Gunzenhauser 8.550282 Fanfare for the Common Man Slovak RSO; Gunzenhauser 8.550282

79 Samuel Barber (1910–1981) 1:43 Music featured: Adagio for strings RSNO; Alsop 8.559088

AFTER THE SECOND WORLD WAR 80 Leonard Bernstein (1918–1990) 1:56 Music featured: Suite from West Side Story (Prologue) Soloists; Nashville SO; Schermerhorn 8.559126

81 England – William Walton (1902–1983) 2:39 Music featured: Spitfire Prelude and Fugue from The First of the Few English Northern Philharmonia; Daniel 8.553869

24 82 Russia – Dmitri Shostakovich (1906–1975) 4:17 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 83 England – Benjamin Britten (1913–1976) 1:56 Music featured: Theme from The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra Slovak RSO; Lenárd 8.550499 84 France – Francis Poulenc (1899–1963) 2:59 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 85 France and USA – Edgard Varèse (1883–1965) 2:19 Music featured: Déserts Polish NRSO; Lyndon-Gee 8.554820

25 86 USA – John Cage (1912–1992) 1:52 Music featured: Piano Sonata V Boris Berman, piano 8.554345

MINIMALISM 87 England – John Tavener (b. 1944) 1:54 Music featured: Song for Athene St. John’s College Choir, Cambridge; Robinson 8.555256

88 USA – Philip Glass (b. 1937) 1:51 Music featured: Violin Concerto Anthony, violin; Ulster Orchestra; Yuasa 8.554568

FILM MUSIC 89 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

26 90 Howard Shore (b. 1946) 1:17 Music featured: The Fellowship from 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 91 John Williams (b. 1932) 1:43 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 92 Epilogue 1:12 Music featured: Maurice Ravel Boléro RPO, Leaper 8.550501

Total time: 4:28:45

27 Marin Alsop conducting the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra

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 things like the length of notes, the speed, has lasted through the centuries. If it has whether it’s loud or soft… even silence lasted, it suggests that it is the best music, can be notated: you just write lots of rests or at least the best music that was written instead of notes! down. Notation made it possible for the music Music does survive in another way: the of great composers to survive: the music of oral tradition, where tunes are handed Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus down personally from musician to musician, Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven lives on taught by listening and copying. This is today because of notation. Of course, it used for folk music, which can survive very is not just the paper and the notes that accurately, as well as be refreshed by every made sure their music survived: it had to generation. However, it generally works be good! Everyone knew, when Mozart only for music that involves just one or two was alive, that his music was especially parts. After that, it gets too complicated good – well, almost everyone. When his to remember. When you have a piece opera The Magic Flute was first performed, involving about ten or more parts, the only the Emperor of Austria actually said to way to make it last is to write it down. him: ‘Too many notes, Mr Mozart!’ Not That is why musical notation became so the nicest thing to say to a composer important. immediately after a first performance! And As we learn on this recording, notation he was wrong. The Magic Flute turned out began in the eighth century for music to be a hit opera for 200 years. sung in churches. It has developed a lot Everyone knew too that Beethoven since then to include different instruments, was the most important composer of his different keys, and to show more accurately time. Of course, he really needed notation 31 because his deafness stopped him from compose: he had to put down on paper enjoying the music in the way we do – by the sounds he heard in his 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 his head. on playing some of his music, but most And Bach? Well, Bach was so busy of it was beginning to be forgotten. Then writing music and playing the organ one day, Robert Schumann was browsing that he didn’t have much time to think through a library in Vienna, looking at about the future of his music; but other old manuscripts that were there, and he people came to know how valuable he came across Symphony No. 9 by Franz was. Mozart studied his music, then Schubert. It was in Schubert’s own Mendelssohn studied his music, and, later, handwriting. He started to look at it (he Bruckner did too. So did many others. could hear the sounds clearly in his head Once again, it was all thanks to musical because he was a pianist and composer notation: all that scribbling done in Bach’s himself). He realised that there, sitting in time became like gold dust. a library box, silent and forgotten, was Notation was important also for a masterpiece. It was exciting and full of Schubert. Poor Schubert! Music poured bright tunes and rhythms that stick inside out of him – he had melodies in his head your head. He was so excited he got a all the time – and he wrote it down as fast copy made and sent it straight off to Felix as he could, anywhere, on anything. In one Mendelssohn, telling him that this was day alone, he wrote eight songs. But only such a remarkable symphony it should a few friends realised at the time what a be played. So Mendelssohn agreed and unique and talented composer he was. He arranged a performance. He did this for heard performed a lot of the songs that some of Bach’s pieces, too, which were he wrote and much of the chamber music, being neglected. but his symphonies were never performed So in this way, music that is preserved professionally for him – though that didn’t in silence on a page for years, sometimes stop him writing nine! He simply had to for generations or centuries, comes alive 32 again. It is not usually possible to play it 24th centuries and beyond… with the help exactly as the composer wished, because of musical notation. 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 classical There is so much wonderful music to music – that hundreds of years after it was discover from all the centuries, it is difficult written, it still can sound as fresh and lively to know where to start. Hopefully, this as if it was written yesterday. introduction will give you some pointers. Fashion does not really come into You might hear a composer or a style classical music. Some music is very and think you like that best: you can then fashionable for a time, but then is listen and discover more. You could even forgotten: it is important only for the play the music yourself: by playing the people of a particular century or year, or cello, or perhaps the clarinet or the piano, moment. Classical music, on the other you are right in the middle of the musical hand, is music that has lasted through the experience. centuries, and has been loved and played Aled Jones himself knew what it was by many different generations of people. like to be in the centre of music-making These people have worn different kinds when he was a young boy. As a chorister, of clothes, behaved in different ways – he sang every morning, rehearsing and but still enjoyed the same classical works. then performing. He had to get up early, Bach, Mozart and Beethoven (and others) but the musical standard was high and have survived to the 21st century, so it is it was fun. He was fortunate enough to likely they will go on to the 22nd, 23rd, have a particularly beautiful voice and 33 to be a born performer: he really loved big concerts and important moments. That is why he had such an extraordinary career as a young musician, selling millions of records and singing to audiences all over the world. He even sang with the famous conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein! Now, as an adult, Aled is equally active. He is still a singer (though his voice is much lower now – somewhere between baritone and tenor) and he travels the world, performing. He is a radio and television presenter too: he introduces classical music to hundreds of thousands on the British radio station Classic FM, and introduces musical programmes on television. For him, playing, introducing and listening is all part of an active musical life. He knows that classical music is a journey that goes on for as long as you listen and play.

Nicolas Soames

34 Aled Jones is a popular radio presenter, introducing all kinds of music. On television, he is one of the main presenters of BBC One’s Songs of Praise and also hosts the BBC One Wales arts programme On Show. As a boy soprano, he sold more than six million records worldwide. In 2002, he returned to performing, this time as a baritone. His new albums Aled and Higher have each sold more than 300,000 copies.

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.

35 Aled Jones – A Voice in Action

As a boy soprano Aled Jones was used to knowing you’ve gone to number one in the recording and releasing albums. They were classical charts, and into the pop charts, is all part of the job of being a child star, just a terrific thrill.’ notching up six million sales in a remarkable ‘I’m so proud of that album. There’s eight-year career. In those days he took it been an amazing reaction; it’s not just the for granted his albums would go into the sales, but the letters I’ve had. Like people Top 5. saying they’ve lost loved ones and this When it came to releasing his first album has helped them get through it. It’s album as an adult he felt differently. had a deeper meaning for people and that He was nervous about how it would be is so humbling.’ received. The emotional commitment was still there in the singing, but now he was involved in the entire creative process from choosing songs to the design of the CD booklet. Within days of Aled the album being released in September 2002 apprehension was replaced by elation. Aled went straight to number one in the classical charts where it stayed for four weeks, and entered the pop Top 20. ‘I’m not massively ambitious. I don’t want to conquer the world. I just wanted the album to be liked by people. When you’ve been quite successful as a youngster,’ says Aled Jones modestly, ‘and you come back and release an album, you’re waiting for everyone to knock it. And the relief of 36 Aled has had sales in excess of of life as the demand for his presence has 300,000. Its success has transformed Aled’s exploded internationally. In 2002 he gave professional life. All the years of uncertainty two public concerts. In 2003 there was a after his voice broke at the age of 16 14-date autumn tour with orchestra in the instantly disappeared. At the age of 32 UK and in Australia, as well as performing he is confident of his artistic direction in at open-air concerts and festivals. the knowledge that singing will truly be More fundamental than the weight loss his lifelong career. His new album Higher has been the change in Aled’s warm and continues in the same stylistic vein as its distinctive voice. His high baritone has got predecessor, mixing classical with a few, higher, edging its way towards a tenor. just two, pop tunes – You Raise Me Up by ‘My voice is changing timbre, it has Secret Garden, and San Damiano (Heart And Soul), a hit in 1984 for Sal Solo. The rest is a collection of traditional songs, classical and sacred, guided on their way to the heart by Aled’s pure, heartfelt and unpretentious interpretations. ‘There are so many people the industry describes as “crossover”,’ says Aled. ‘I don’t understand what that is because I’m singing the sort of music I did as a boy, in exactly the same way I did as a boy, but as a boy they called me a classical artist. I’m in this for the long term, it’s definitely not a flash in the pan thing.’ There are no gimmicks, just a newly svelte Aled. He’s lost a stone and a half in the past year, not with the help of a trainer or diets, simply because of his new fast pace 37 gained about four notes in pitch. On the He also presents a Sunday morning first day of recording the album, after show on Classic FM. Recent figures have singing a few tracks my producer Robert shown the station bringing in 500,000 Prizeman, who worked with me on my first listeners between the age of 15 and 24. album, said there was a real difference. It ‘I’m getting loads of letters and emails from was much more confident and rounded.’ young people saying that they’ve bought As a boy Aled was an instinctive singer, the album and they really like it.’ picking up a piece of music and being There’s also a recorded Sunday morning able to interpret it almost immediately. show for BBC Radio Wales, and he presents But when he started out again last year the arts programme On Show for BBC he hard to work at it. ‘It was a hard slog. One Wales. Through all his work, whether I had to really think about how I’d phrase singing or presenting, the same philosophy a piece, whereas now that’s come back to applies. ‘I hate this attitude that classical me, I can just do it. And it’s so exciting for music or the arts have to be highbrow. I me because then it means I can put the want everything I do to be accessible to emotion into a song.’ everyone. It has to be entertainment.’ Aled wants to keep stretching the Despite the crescendo of success, boundaries of his ability. He plans to take the qualities that endeared Aled to the singing lessons, for the first time since his nation and beyond are still there: his comeback. ‘I think it would be interesting unfailing politeness, generosity of spirit and to push it a little bit to see where it would sensitivity. His life has changed dramatically go.’ not just professionally. He and his wife Insanely busy, he is combining his Claire now have a baby daughter Emilia, singing career with an established career born in February 2002. as a TV and radio presenter. It was his ‘When the last album was launched appearance on Songs of Praise that brought I was doing a concert in St. David’s Hall him to the attention of Universal Classics in Cardiff – you know, small venue, no and that job continues with Aled presenting pressure,’ he jokes. ‘Songs of Praise were Songs of Praise on a regular basis. filming. I was absolutely nervous. I had to 38 go on stage, present it and sing. And dad came in with Emilia on a papoose, and she just saw me and grinned, and I thought to myself, God why am I worried about doing this. This is what’s real.’ It’s a new Aled, and the world has had to shift its perception of who he is. The man himself feels privileged to be on this incredible journey. ‘I’m having the time of my life. I feel really fortunate I’ve been given the opportunity to have a chance and for it to go well. I’m on cloud nine.’

39 B flat clarinet

40 TIMELINE – MEDIEVAL/RENAISSANCE PERIODS 600 800 1000 1020 1040 1060 1080 1100 1120 1140 1160 1180

Hildegard of Bingen (German) 1098–1179

800 Charlemagne becomes 1054 Holy Roman Eastern Orthodox Emperor Church breaks with Rome 1095 597 The First Crusade Pope Gregory, 1066 1149 who gave Norman invasion Second Crusade his name to c.1020 of England ends in failure Gregorian Guido of Arezzo devises Chant, sends musical notation St Augustine 1075 1170 to convert the Turks take Jerusalem Thomas and other Holy places à Becket English murdered

41 TIMELINE – MEDIEVAL/RENAISSANCE PERIODS 1180 1200 1500 1510 1520 1530 1540 1550 1560 1570 1580 1590

Pérotin (French) Giovanni Pierluigi de Palestrina (Italian) 1525/6–1594 1160–1220 (French) 1300–1377 John Dunstable (English) 1390–1453 (English) 1543–1623 Guillaume Dufay (French) 1398–1474 (English) c.1505–1585 (Franco-Flemish) 1410–1497 Josquin Desprez (Franco-Flemish) 1440–1521 Claudio Monteverdi Alexander Agricola (Italian) 1567–1643 (Franco-Netherlandish) 1446–1506 (Netherlandish) 1450–1505 1517 Martin Luther nails his condemnation of 1545–1563 1585 The Council of Trent War between England Rome to the church door in Wittenburg and Spain over trade 1549 1520 and religious First English differences Luther publicly burns the Papal Bill prayer book issued excommunicating him; Spread of Protestantism throughout Europe 1558 Elizabeth I 1534 succeeds Mary Henry VIII proclaims himself Rejects authority 1599 head of the Church of England of Rome The Globe Dissolution of the Monastries begins Theatre built 1553 in Southwark, 1529 Mary, a Catholic, becomes London Ottomans driven back Queen of England from gates of Vienna Persecution of Protestants follows

42 TIMELINE – BAROQUE/CLASSICAL PERIODS 1600 1610 1620 1630 1640 1650 1660 1670 1680 1690 1700 1710

Jean-Baptiste Lully (French) 1632–1687

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

Johann Pachelbel (German) 1653–1706

Henry Purcell (English) 1659–1695

Tomaso Albinoni (1671–1750)

Antonio Vivaldi (Italian) 1678–1741 Claudio Monteverdi d.1643 Johann Sebastian Bach (German) 1685–1750

George Frideric Handel (German) 1685–1759

Domenico Scarlatti (Italian) 1685–1757

1618 1642 1660 1701 Start of 30 Years War English Civil War Restoration of the Britain, Holland and Austria Last attempt by monarchy form alliance to prevent France becoming strongest Catholics to stamp out 1649 1680 the Reformation Charles I executed power in Europe 1665 The Dodo England becomes becomes extinct a republic The Great 1707 1603 1620 Plague of London Act of Union Queen Pilgrim 1683 between Fathers 1654 The Ottoman Turks Elizabeth I 1666 Scotland and dies sail to Louis XIV, reach the gates of England America the Sun King, The Great Fire Vienna again crowned of London c.1644 1681 1713 1605 Antonio Stradivari, William Penn establishes Pennsylvania War between the Alliance Gunpowder Plot violin maker, born as a refuge for persecuted Quakers and France ends

43 TIMELINE – BAROQUE/CLASSICAL PERIODS 1710 1720 1730 1740 1750 1760 1770 1780 1790 1800 1810 1820

Christoph Willibald Gluck (German) 1714–1787

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (German) 1714–1788

Arcangelo Corelli (Italian) 1653–1713

Franz Joseph Haydn (Austrian) 1732–1809

Tomaso Albinoni (1671–1750) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Austrian) 1756–1791 Antonio Vivaldi (Italian) 1678–1741

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

1701 c.1730 1776 1807 Britain, Holland and Austria The first pianos are American Declaration of Independence Slave trade form alliance to prevent manufacturered in Saxony; and war with England abolished in Britain France becoming strongest Canaletto begins his power in Europe 1789 paintings of Venice’s Grand George Washington becomes Canal 1756–1763 first American president; 1707 The Seven Years War Act of Union 1720 French Revolution begins between South Sea Bubble 1773 1794 Scotland and The Boston Execution of Robespierre ends England financial crisis 1815 ruins thousands 1740–1748 Tea Party Reign of Terror in France Wellington The War of defeats 1713 Austrian 1803 Napoleon at War between the Alliance succession Napoleonic the Battle of and France ends Wars begin Waterloo

44 TIMELINE – ROMANTIC PERIOD 1780 1790 1800 1810 1820 1830 1840 Carl Maria von Weber (German) 1786–1826 Richard Wagner (German) 1813–1883 Gioacchino Rossini (Italian) 1792–1868 Franz Liszt (Hungarian) 1811–1886 Franz Schubert (Austrian) 1797–1828 Modest Mussorgsky (Russian) 1839–1881 Fryderyk Chopin (Polish) 1810–1849 Gaetano Donizetti (Italian) 1797–1848 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 Dvorák˘ (Czech) 1841–1904 Robert Schumann (German) 1810–1856 Johannes Brahms (German) 1833–1897

Edvard Grieg (Norwegian) 1843–1907 Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov (Russian) 1844–1908 Camille Saint-Saëns (French) 1835–1921 Alexander Borodin (Russian) 1833–1887 1836 Davy Crockett 1839 killed at the First Opium Alamo War 1831 Pushkin completes Eugene Onegin 1837 1847 Victoria becomes California Queen in Britain Gold Rush

45 TIMELINE – ROMANTIC PERIOD 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 Richard Wagner (German) 1813–1883 Gioacchino Rossini (Italian) 1792–1868 Arnold Schoenberg 1874–1951 Franz Liszt (Hungarian) 1811–1886 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 Dvorák˘ (Czech) 1841–1904 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 1864 1893 Interpretation of Louis Pasteur invents Henry Ford builds Dreams pasteurisation 1872 his first car 1854-6 Spanish Civil War Crimean War 1861 1876 1896 American Civil War 1869 Alexander Bell invents First modern Olympics Suez the telephone held in Athens 1859 1866 Canal 1904 1847 Darwin publishes Nobel opens 1877 War between California The Origin of Species invents Tomas Edison patents Russia and Japan Gold Rush dynamite the phonograph 46 THE 20TH CENTURY – I 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 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) 1914 Panama Canal opened 1924 1936-39 Stalin succeeds Spanish Civil Lenin 1929 1950–53 1914-18 War Korean War 1912-13 First World War The Wall Street Crash Balkan wars 1917 1926 1933 1939-1945 Bolsheviks seize General Strike Hitler becomes Second World War power in Russia in Britain German Chancellor

47 THE 20TH CENTURY – I 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

Ralph Vaughan Williams (English) 1872–1958

Sergei Prokofiev (Russian) 1891–1953

Dmitri Shostakovich (Russian) 1906–1975

Aaron Copland (American) 1900–1990 Samuel Barber (American) 1910–1981

Benjamin Britten (English) 1913–1976

Jean Sibelius (Finnish) 1865–1957 Joaquín Rodrigo (Spanish) 1901–1999

Charles Ives (American) 1874–1954 John Adams (b. 1947) Philip Glass (b. 1937) 1963 1969 New Neil Armstrong 1983 1991 millenium John F. Kennedy First CD players go on sale Persian Gulf 1950–53 assassinated becomes the first Korean War man on the moon War 2001 1980 1989 9/11 – World Fall of the Berlin 1967 John Lennon Trade Centre 1956 shot Wall 1994 in New York Suez Canal The Beatles release End of Apartheid attacked and seized by Egypt Sergeant Pepper in South Africa destroyed 48 THE 20TH CENTURY – II 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 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 John Cage (American) 1912–1992 John Williams (b. 1932)

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 Lutos/awskil (Polish) 1913–1994 Arvo Pärt (Estonian) (b. 1935)

49 THE 20TH CENTURY – II 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 Arnold Schoenberg (Austrian) 1874–1951

Igor Stravinsky (Russian) 1882–1971 Olivier Messiaen (French) 1908–1992

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

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 Lutos/awskil (Polish) 1913–1994 Arvo Pärt (Estonian) (b. 1935)

50 Violin

51 Alto saxophone

52 Cello

53 Acknowledgements and Credits

With particular thanks to: The Classic FM team – Darren Henley, Kate Juxon and Roger Lewis Genevieve Helsby for her imaginative work in writing and editing the CD-ROM 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

Produced by Nicolas Soames Recorded by Ross Burman at RNIB Studios, London Edited by Sarah Butcher Cover designed by Steve Caplin

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. UNAUTHORISED PUBLIC PERFORMANCE, BROADCASTING AND COPYING OF THESE COMPACT DISCS PROHIBITED.

54 Pictures by kind permission of Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra Also available from Naxos AudioBooks’ Junior Classics section

Tales from the Greek Legends Great Explorers (Ferrie) ISBN 9789626340196 (Angus) ISBN 9789626342916 Read by Benjamin Soames Read by Sam Dastor, Frances Jeater, Trevor Nichols and Kerry Shale

Famous People In History, Vol. 1 Famous People In History, Vol. 2 (Soames) ISBN 9789626341728 (Soames) ISBN 9789626341971 Read by Trevor Nichols and Katinka Wolf Read by Daniel Philpott, Laura Brattan and Garrick Hagon 56 For a complete catalogue and details of how to order other Naxos AudioBooks titles please contact:

In the UK: Naxos AudioBooks, Select Music & Video Distribution, 3 Wells Place, Redhill, Surrey RH1 3SL. Tel: 01737 645600.

In the USA: Naxos of America Inc., 1810 Columbia Ave., Suite 28, Franklin, TN37064. Tel: +1 615 771 9393

In Australia: Select Audio/Visual Distribution Pty. Ltd., PO Box 691, Brookvale, NSW 2100. Tel: +61 299481811

order online at www.naxosaudiobooks.com

57 Aled Jones Darren Henley THE STORY OF CLASSICAL MUSIC Read by Aled Jones

The lives and music of the great composers of classical music unfold in this entertaining account, introduced by singer and presenter Aled Jones. In 1200 years, classical music grew from the chanting p 2004 Naxos of medieval monks through the symphonies of AudioBooks Ltd. © 2010 Naxos Aled Jones Beethoven and the grand operas of Wagner to the AudioBooks Ltd. Made in the Germany. huge orchestral sound-world of the 21st century, with its electronics and its film music. In his easy-going style, Aled Jones paints vivid Total time portraits of over 80 composers, each one illustrated with some of 4:28:45 his, or her, most famous music. JUNIOR CLASSIC This all-encompassing introduction to classical music also includes NA0003D a wealth of biographical and instrumental information on the CD-ROM element: put CD 4 into the computer and up will come CD ISBN: pictures, articles, sheet music, quizzes and more, which will inform 978-962-634-321-2 and fascinate the whole family.

View our catalogue online at www.naxosaudiobooks.com