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William Orbit

Record producer William Orbit, who has worked with Madonna and Blur, tells Michael Berkeley about his favourite music, including Mozart, Bellini, Britten and Stravinsky.

Michael Berkeley's guest is the extraordinarily versatile musician, composer, multi-instrumentalist and record producer William Orbit, whose celebrated remixes carry his signature electronic sounds and techniques, making him much sought after by major artists. He produced Madonna's album Ray of Light, and numbers Blur, All Saints, Sugababes, Katie Melua and Finley Quaye among other clients. In the past few years he has also released several albums of his own, and in 2007 he composed his first suite for symphony orchestra. He works as part of the art collective Luxor, with the ballet dancer Anna-Mi Fredriksson and the artist Pauline Amos.

His eclectic personal musical choices include an early 16th-century motet by the French composer Jean Mouton, an aria from the 1735 opera 'Polifemo' by the Italian composer Nicolo Porpora, and another from Bellini's opera 'La sonnambula', sung by Maria Callas; part of Mozart's Clarinet Quintet, played by David Shifrin and the Emerson Quartet; the opening movement of Stravinsky's Symphony in Three Movements, and the last part of the music Benjamin Britten wrote in the 1930s for the GPO film 'Night Mail'. There's also an example of William Orbit's own work: his arrangement of the 'Aquarium' movement from Saint-Saens' 'Carnival of the Animals'.

1 hour

Last on

Sun 25 Jul 2010 12:00

Music Played

  • William Orbit

    Aquarium

    Performer: William Orbit

    • Universal 4782546.
  • Igor Stravinsky

    1st Mvt from 'Symphony in Three Movements'

    Performers: London Symphony Orchestra/Sir Eugene Goossens

    • PHILIPS 4223032.
  • Nicola Porpora

    Alto Giove from Polifemo Act III

    Performers: Les Talens Lyriques/Christophe Rousset (Dir & Harpsichord)

    • TRAVELLING K1005.
  • Vincenzo Bellini

    'Ah ! non credea mirarti' from La sonnambula Act II

    Performers: Maria Callas Orchestra of the Teatro alla Scala, Milan/Antonino Votto

    • EMI CDC5564112.
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    2nd mvt from Clarinet Quintet in A Major K581

    Performers: David Shifrin (clarinet), Emerson String Quartet

    • DG 4596412.
  • Imogen Heap

    Hide and Seek

    Performer: Imogen Heap

    • MEGACD001.
  • Jean Mouton

    Nesciens Mater

    Performers: The Sixteen/Harry Christophers

    • HYPERION CDA66263.
  • Benjamin Britten

    End Sequence from 'Night Mail'

    Performers: The Nash Ensemble/Lionel Friend, with Nigel Hawthorne (narrator)

    • HYPERION CDA66845.

Broadcast

  • Sun 25 Jul 2010 12:00

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