Composer of the Week

An informative and accessible guide to composers' lives and their music.

Radio 3,23 episodes

Episodes

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Elisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre (1665-1729)
Music Runs in the Family
A young Elisabeth Jacquet makes an impression on the Sun King.
28 Apr 2025,59 mins
Elisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre (1665-1729)
Dancing King and Keyboard Queen
Jacquet joins the court in Versailles and the circle of the most powerful woman in France.
29 Apr 2025,59 mins
Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)
Merelli’s La Scala
Donald Macleod explores Verdi’s relationship with Milan’s famous opera house – La Scala.
08 Nov 2022,59 mins
Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)
Success
Donald Macleod sees Verdi thriving as he enjoys operatic success at La Scala, Milan.
09 Nov 2022,59 mins
Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)
Addio
Things go badly wrong between Verdi and Milan. Presented by Donald Macleod.
10 Nov 2022,59 mins
Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)
Verdi the outsider, Verdi the legend
Verdi returns to Milan in a late blaze of glory. Presented by Donald Macleod.
11 Nov 2022,59 mins
Mozart's Last Years
1787 - Highs and Lows
Donald Macleod follows Mozart through 1787, a year of extremes, from glory to grief.
14 Apr 2025,59 mins
Mozart's Last Years
1788 - Empty Pockets
Donald Macleod joins Mozart as he tries to charm his way out of serious financial trouble.
15 Apr 2025,59 mins
Mozart's Last Years
1789 - Travels and Tribulations
Donald Macleod follows Mozart on an eventful PR exercise, hitching a ride with a prince.
16 Apr 2025,59 mins
Mozart's Last Years
1790 - Royally Rejected
Donald Macleod journeys through Mozart’s frustrating and fruitless penultimate year.
17 Apr 2025,59 mins
Mozart's Last Years
1791 - The Final Bars
Donald Macleod tells the story of the months leading up to Mozart’s swansong, his Requiem.
18 Apr 2025,59 mins
Carl Nielsen (1865-1931)
Choleric
Donald Macleod explores the Danish composer through his temperaments, starting with anger.
07 Apr 2025,59 mins
Carl Nielsen (1865-1931)
Phlegmatic
Donald Macleod chills with a passionate composer, who had a very composed temperament.
08 Apr 2025,59 mins
Carl Nielsen (1865-1931)
Melancholic
Lots of love and a bit of sorrow... Nielsen meets his soulmate, and sheds a few tears.
09 Apr 2025,59 mins
Carl Nielsen (1865-1931)
Sanguine
Whatever the personal plot twists, Carl Nielsen was always full of life, as was his music.
10 Apr 2025,59 mins
Carl Nielsen (1865-1931)
Inextinguishable
Join the party! Sixty candles for a now acclaimed and yet unstoppable composer.
11 Apr 2025,59 mins
Mel Bonis (1858-1937)
The turning point
Donald Macleod surveys the life of nineteenth century French composer Mel Bonis
23 Jan 2023,59 mins
Mel Bonis (1858-1937)
The learning years
Donald Macleod explores Mel Bonis's years of training at the Paris Conservatoire
24 Jan 2023,59 mins
Mel Bonis (1858-1937)
An Affair of the Heart
Donald Macleod recounts how Mel Bonis came to find her musical training at an abrupt end
25 Jan 2023,59 mins
Mel Bonis (1858-1937)
Heartache in war-time
Donald Macleod considers why the Great War was especially difficult for Mel Bonis
26 Jan 2023,59 mins
Mel Bonis (1858-1937)
Reflections on a life
Donald Macloed explores Mel Bonis's preoccupations, musical and otherwise, in later life
27 Jan 2023,59 mins
Mary Lou Williams (1910-1981)
Mary Lou Williams
Donald Macleod charts the extraordinary life of jazz composer & pianist Mary Lou Williams
22 Nov 2019,67 mins
CPE Bach (1714-1788)
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
Donald Macleod tells the story of the loss and later rediscovery of CPE Bach’s music
28 Jun 2019,64 mins