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The Unheard Musician

Music MattersArranging the Air

Martin Handley begins a four-part series which aims to demystify the role of the conductor. Today, he asks the most often asked question… what does a conductor actually do?

“Arranging the Air” - that’s how Bernard Haitink described the role of the conductor to Martin Handley – about as ephemeral as it gets!

In this four-part series, Martin aims to demystify, explain, and enter a world of musical magic with the help of some of today’s great protagonists: Jakub Hrusa, Dalia Stasevska, Mark Wigglesworth, Sofi Jeannin, Harry Christophers, Sian Edwards, Trevor Pinnock, and the 99-year old (and still working) Herbert Blomstedt. There’ll also be archive material from the late, great Bernard Haitink.

In this first episode, Martin will ask the existential question that’s often on people’s lips… what does a conductor actually do? Are they really necessary, and how did the role evolve? He also explores the methods of different conductors, from dictators to collaborators – the carrot and the stick, if you will… and indeed whether you actually need a stick at all!

Including top recordings of music by Felix Mendelssohn, Jean-Baptiste Lully, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Giuseppe Verdi, Wilhelm Stenhammar, Betty Jackson King Claude Debussy and Gustav Mahler.

To listen to this programme using most smart speakers, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Music Matters".

25 days left to listen

59 minutes

Last on

Sun 6 Sep 202615:00
BBC Radio 3

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The Apprentice ConductorArranging the Air

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Music Played

  • Felix Mendelssohn

    A Midsummer Night's Dream, Incidental Music, Op. 61 (Scherzo)

    Orchestra: Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Conductor: Bernard Haitink.
    • Mendelssohn: The Symphonies Vol.2; Violin Concerto; A Midsummer Night's Dream.
    • Decca Music Group Ltd..

  • Jean‐Baptiste Lully

    Te Deum (1st mvt)

    Choir: Les Pages & Les Chantres du Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles. Ensemble: Les Épopées. Conductor: Stéphane Fuget.
    • Lully: Te Deum.
    • Château de Versailles Spectacles.
    • 1.

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Symphony No. 31 in D major, K. 297 "Paris" (3rd mvt: Allegro)

    Orchestra: The English Concert. Conductor: Trevor Pinnock.
    • Mozart: The Symphonies.
    • Archiv Produktion.

  • Giuseppe Verdi

    Requiem (Dies Irae) (excerpt)

    Orchestra: NBC Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Arturo Toscanini.
    • REGIS.

  • Wilhelm Stenhammar

    Serenade for orchestra in F, Op.31 (1st mvt: Overture)

    Orchestra: Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Herbert Blomstedt.
    • BIS.

  • Betty Jackson King

    Psalm 57

    Choir: BBC Singers. Conductor: Sofi Jeannin.

  • Claude Debussy

    Jeux de vagues [La Mer]

    Orchestra: Berlin Philharmonic. Conductor: Sir Simon Rattle.
    • "Pavane" - Classical Wonders.
    • Warner Classics.
    • 32.

  • Gustav Mahler

    Symphony No. 1 in D major (2nd mvt)

    Orchestra: Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Conductor: Bernard Haitink.
    • Bernard Haitink: Icon.
    • Decca (UMO).

Broadcast

  • Sun 6 Sep 202615:00
    BBC Radio 3

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Podcast

  • Music Matters

    The stories that matter, the people that matter, the music that matters