Symphony Question Time

Episodes

First
Broadcast
Comments
20111109Sue Perkins and Tom Service unravel everything you ever wanted to know about the symphony...but were too afraid to ask...

Why are symphonies considered the pinnacle of classical music? Who wrote the first one? Is there really a 'Curse Of The Ninth'? And can you be a truly great composer without writing a symphony?

Comedienne Sue Perkins joins Tom Service for the first in a six-part celebration of the most famous - and perhaps scariest - form in classical music.

They're here to blow away the myths and unpick the mysteries surrounding this most venerable form - with a host of musical excerpts from Haydn to Hovhaness, Mozart to Mahler, Beethoven to Berio.

Over the six episodes they'll be looking at questions like how the symphony first originated; whether a symphony should be about logic and form, or be a encapsulation of the whole world; and why people get so darn annoyed when you clap between the movements...

In today's episode, Sue and Tom examine the thorny issue of to clap or not to clap before a symphony's finished; explore at the roots of the symphony - the idea of a 'sounding together'; and get to grips with the titans of the classical symphonic tradition, Haydn and Mozart .

They'll also be asking you to send in your own questions for their perusal later in the series. You can submit your queries about anything symphonic by email to r3symphonyqt@bbc.co.uk; alternatively, you can pose your questions on the BBC Radio 3's Facebook page (www.facebook.com/bbcradio3), or via Twitter at @BBCRadio3 (hashtag #R3SymphonyQT).

Sue Perkins and Tom Service try to discover the roots of the symphony.

Revealing everything listeners ever wanted to know about the symphony

20111117Comedienne Sue Perkins joins Tom Service to unravel everything you ever wanted to know about the most famous form in classical music.

Today, the pair explore your questions, ideas and observation about Ludwig van Beethoven: a composer who transformed and revolutionised the very idea of what a symphony should be...and who left a fearsome legacy for his contemporaries to try and match...

You can join the online conversation via Twitter - tweet with the hashtag #r3symphonyqt, or visit the Radio 3 Facebook page - www.facebook.com/bbcradio3

And remember, you can download the entire series as a podcast - visit www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/symphony.

Sue Perkins and Tom Service explore Beethoven's colossal symphonic legacy.

Revealing everything listeners ever wanted to know about the symphony

20111118Comedienne Sue Perkins joins Tom Service to unravel everything you ever wanted to know about the most famous form in classical music. In the third programme of the series, the pair look at symphonies with a story to tell...

How can a symphony tell a story? Today's episode explores the rise of the 'programme symphony' in the mid-19th century in the hands of Berlioz, Liszt and Richard Strauss, as a host of composers, from Berlioz to Schumann to Liszt, sought to make their music tell fantastic tales of life, death, sex and the underworld...

But away from these symphonies' explicit texts, in the works of Tchaikovsky and Mahler, a new type of 'extra-musical' symphony developed: musical works with hidden subtexts that hinted at the composers' inner world. These would come to a peak in the works of two of the greatest 20th century symphonists: Dmitri Shostakovich and Alfred Schnittke.

Don't forget, you can join the online conversation via Twitter - tweet with the hashtag #r3symphonyqt, or visit the Radio 3 Facebook page - www.facebook.com/radio3

And remember, you can download the entire Symphony Question Time series as a podcast - visit www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/symphony.

Sue Perkins and Tom Service explore programme symphonies - plus Mahler and Schnittke.

Revealing everything listeners ever wanted to know about the symphony

20111121Sue Perkins and Tom Service unravel everything you ever wanted to know about the symphony, but were too afraid to ask...

Today, the pair explore your questions about symphonic nationalism - looking at how the symphony grew to articulate a dream of nationhood across Europe (and America) in the 19th century. They also examine the changing reputation of the great Finnish symphonist, Jean Sibelius, and present some of their favourite symphonic beginnings and endings...

Don't forget, you can join in the conversation on Twitter by tweeting with the hashtag #r3symphonyqt, or visit the Radio 3 Facebook page: www.facebook.com/bbcradio3

You can also download the whole series as podcasts - visit http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/symphony.

Sue Perkins and Tom Service explore symphonic nationalism and famous symphonic beginnings.

Revealing everything listeners ever wanted to know about the symphony

20111125Sue Perkins and Tom Service unravel everything you ever wanted to know about the symphony, but were too afraid to ask...

What relevance do symphonies have today? In Episode 5 of the series, the pair ask if the social and cultural ideas that gave birth to the symphony are still relevant today - and who's still composing symphonies at the dawn of the 21st century. Can you be considered a truly great composer if - like Chopin, Verdi and Delius - you haven't written one?

Don't forget, you can join in the conversation on Twitter by tweeting with the hashtag #r3symphonyqt, or visit the Radio 3 Facebook page: www.facebook.com/bbcradio3

You can also download the whole series as podcasts - visit http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/symphony.

Sue Perkins and Tom Service on the relevance of the symphony in the 21st century.

Revealing everything listeners ever wanted to know about the symphony

20111130Sue Perkins and Tom Service unravel everything you ever wanted to know about the symphony, but were too afraid to ask.To end the series, the pair discuss and play extraordinary long-lost extracts of Sibelius's Eighth Symphony, and present your feedback on the thorny question of applause between movements...as well as answering a mixed bag of questions sent in over the course of the series.

Remember you can send in your feedback about anything covered in the series by email to r3symphonyqt@bbc.co.uk; alternatively, you can post your thoughts on the BBC Radio 3's Facebook page (www.facebook.com/bbcradio3), or via Twitter at @BBCRadio3 (hashtag #R3SymphonyQT).

Long-lost fragments of Sibelius's Eighth, and feedback about the question of applause.

Revealing everything listeners ever wanted to know about the symphony