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Harpsichordist and Conductor Laurence Cummings with music that defies expectations

Harpsichordist and conductor Laurence Cummings reveals familiar and unfamiliar works in a new light, from a surprising impromptu by Schubert to a wonderfully wonky scherzo.

Harpsichordist and conductor Laurence Cummings records his edition of Inside Music from beneath the stage at Garsington Opera, while the set for that evening鈥檚 performance is being assembled above him.

Laurence鈥檚 selection of music includes pieces with repetitive yet entrancing bass lines, a scherzo which doesn鈥檛 quite do what you think it will, and a forgotten arrangement unearthed in the British Library.

There鈥檚 also a piece for organ which has so many notes that it requires the player to press one with their nose, and an attempt to persuade a boatman to let you cross the river to the underworld using various musical styles鈥

A Tandem Production for 大象传媒 Radio 3

Photo credit: Robert Workman

1 hour, 56 minutes

Music Played

  • George Frideric Handel

    The many rend the skies (Alexander's Feast)

    Choir: The Sixteen. Orchestra: Symphony of Harmony and Invention. Conductor: Harry Christophers.
    • CORO.
  • Franz Schubert

    4 Impromptus, Op. 90, D. 899 (No. 1 in C minor)

    Performer: Mitsuko Uchida.
    • PHILIPS.
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Symphony No. 41, 'Jupiter' (III. Menuetto)

    Orchestra: Academy of Ancient Music. Conductor: Christopher Hogwood.
    • DECCA.
  • Claudio Monteverdi

    Possente spirito (L'Orfeo)

    Singer: Anthony Rolfe Johnson. Orchestra: English Baroque Soloists. Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner.
    • DG ARCHIV.
  • Thomas Tallis

    Videte miraculum

    Choir: Taverner Consort & Choir. Conductor: Andrew Parrott.
    • ERATO.
  • Igor Stravinsky

    Mass (I. Kyrie)

    Choir: Collegium Vocale Gent. Orchestra: Antwerp Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Philippe Herreweghe.
    • PENTATONE.
  • Olivier Messiaen

    Transports de joie d'une 芒me devant la gloire du Christ qui est la sienne (L'Ascension)

    Performer: Olivier Latry.
    • DG.
  • Francesco Corbetta

    Chaconne in C

    Performer: William Carter.
    • LINN.
  • Johannes Brahms

    Horn Trio in E flat major, Op. 40 (II. Scherzo)

    Performer: Teunis van der Zwart. Performer: Isabelle Faust. Performer: Alexander Melnikov.
    • HARMONIA MUNDI.
  • Richard Strauss

    Morgen! (4 Lieder, Op. 27, No. 4)

    Singer: Jessye Norman. Orchestra: Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. Conductor: Kurt Masur.
    • PHILIPS.
  • Marc鈥怉ntoine Charpentier

    Act茅on (Overture & Pr猫miere Sc猫ne)

    Singer: Dominique Visse. Orchestra: Les Arts Florissants. Director: William Christie.
    • HARMONIA MUNDI.
  • Ralph Vaughan Williams

    Symphony No. 5 in D major (II. Scherzo)

    Orchestra: London Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Bernard Haitink.
    • WARNER CLASSICS.
  • Joseph Haydn

    Perch茅, se tanti siete (Scena di Berenice)

    Singer: Sandrine Piau. Orchestra: Il Giardino Armonico. Director: Giovanni Antonini.
    • ALPHA.
  • George Frideric Handel

    Un momento di contento (Alcina)

    Performer: Rachel Brown. Performer: Laurence Cummings. Music Arranger: John Walsh.
    • SOMM.
  • William Henry Harris

    Faire is the heaven

    Choir: Tenebrae. Conductor: Nigel Short.
    • SIGNUM.

Broadcast

  • Sat 16 Jul 2022 13:00

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