大象传媒

Presented by Martin Handley.

Mark Elder conducts the Halle Orchestra in symphonies by Haydn and Mendelssohn - composers whose birth and death overlapped by just a few months in 1809 - and a cantata by Berlioz.

Berlioz's account of Cleopatra's final hours was one of his infamous public failures - written as a competition entry for the Prix de Rome, his third of four attempts to gain recognition from the musical establishment.

Haydn's Symphony No 48, with its pomp and splendour, was a fitting piece to be performed in Esterhazy on the occasion of a visit from the Empress Maria Theresia, while Mendelssohn's Third Symphony, evoking the spirit of Scottish folk melodies, was inspired by the composer's visit to Scotland.

Sarah Connolly (mezzo-soprano)
Halle Orchestra
Mark Elder (conductor)

Haydn: Symphony No 48 in C (Maria Theresia)
Berlioz: La mort de Cleopatre
Mendelssohn: Symphony No 3 in A minor (Scottish)

Followed by a look at the composers who prefigured Henry Purcell, one of 大象传媒 Radio 3's Composers of the Year.

Byrd: John come kiss me now for keyboard
Sophie Yates (Virginals)
Recorded: 12th November 1992 by the 大象传媒

Lawes: Consort suite 'for the violls' a 6 no. 1 in G minor
Fretwork
Recorded: 23rd April 1992 by the 大象传媒

Byrd: Callino Casturame for keyboard
Sophie Yates (Virginals)
Recorded: 12th November 1992

Jenkins: Fantasia for 6 viols and organ in A minor
Fretwork
Recorded: 23rd April 1992 by the 大象传媒

Jenkins: Fantasia for 6 viols and organ in G minor
Fretwork
Recorded: 23rd April 1992 by the 大象传媒

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