Harry in America
Donald Macleod speaks to Sir Harrison Birtwistle about his friendship with Morton Feldman and the inspiration behind one of the great orchestral works of the 20th century.
This week Donald Macleod meets Sir Harrison Birtwistle, described as 鈥渢he most forceful and uncompromisingly original composer of his generation鈥�. We hear his major compositions, broadly in chronological order, and reveal the preoccupations and processes behind a singular music imagination.
In this episode, Donald Macleod explores Birtwistle鈥檚 time in America, after an invitation to teach there by his great friend Morton Feldman. We hear about his collaboration with the electronic music pioneer Peter Zinovieff on the tape piece Chronometer, and about how Breughel鈥檚 engraving The Triumph of Time foreshadows the structure of Birtwistle鈥檚 massive orchestral work of the same name.
Dinah and Nick鈥檚 Love Song
Helen Tunstall, harp
John Harle, saxophone
Simon Haram, saxophone
David Roach, saxophone
Trio
Lisa Batiashvili, violin
Adrian Brendel, cello
Till Fellner, piano
Chronometer
Peter Zinovieff, tape
The Triumph of Time
Philharmonia Orchestra
Elgar Howarth, cond.
Producer: Iain Chambers
Last on
Music Played
-
![]()
Harrison Birtwistle
Dinah and Nick Love Song
Performer: Helen Tunstall. Performer: John Harle. Performer: Simon Haram. Performer: David Roach.- Unicorn-Kanchana DKPCD9160.
- Unicorn-Kanchana DKPCD9160.
- 22.
-
![]()
Harrison Birtwistle
Trio
Performer: Lisa Batiashvili. Performer: Adrian Brendel. Performer: Till Fellner.- ECM 4765050.
- ECM 4765050.
- 4.
-
![]()
Harrison Birtwistle
Chronometer (extract)
Performer: Peter Zinovieff. Performer: Harrison Birtwistle.- Space Age Recordings 鈥�- ORBIT.
- Space Age Recordings 鈥�- ORBIT.
- 1.
-
![]()
Harrison Birtwistle
The Triumph of Time (extract)
Orchestra: Philharmonia Orchestra. Conductor: Elgar Howarth.- COLLINS CLASSICS 13872.
- COLLINS CLASSICS 13872.
- 5.
Broadcast
- Tue 29 Oct 2019 12:00大象传媒 Radio 3
Vaughan Williams Today
Programmes, concerts and features celebrating Vaughan Williams's 150th anniversary.
Beethoven Unleashed 鈥� the box set
The complete set of Radio 3 Beethoven Unleashed podcasts, with Donald Macleod.
What was really wrong with Beethoven?
Georgia Mann and neurosurgeon Henry Marsh examine the composer's numerous health problems
Composers A to Z
Visit the extensive audio archive of Radio 3 programmes about Composers and their works.
Who knew? Five eye-opening stories from Composer of the Week
The production team reflects on 5 of Donald Macleod鈥檚 best stories from the last 20 years
Five reasons why we love Parry's Jerusalem
What is the strange power of Jerusalem which makes strong men weep?
A man out of time 鈥� why Parry's music and ideas were at odds with his image...
The composer of Jerusalem was very far from the conservative figure his image suggests.
Composer Help Page
Find resources and contacts for composers from within the classical music industry.