Extreme Classical!
What are the most extreme pieces of classical music ever written? And is today's shock-of-the-new tomorrow's old hat?
What are the most extreme pieces of classical music ever written? And is today's shock-of-the-new tomorrow's old-hat?
Tom Service looks some of the longest, the most apocalyptic, the weirdest and the most expensive music ever written - what were the composers up to, exactly? And where do we go from here?
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Music Played
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John Cage
ASLSP for piano or organ
Performer: Gery Verkade.- MODE.
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Alexander Scriabin
Mysterium
Performer: Ostankino Radio Chorus. Performer: Russian State Symphony Orchestra. Performer: Igor Golovchin.- Triton.
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Richard Strauss
4 Letzte Lieder for voice and orchestra (AV.150), no.3; Beim Schlafengehen
Performer: Jessye Norman. Performer: Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. Performer: Kurt Masur.- Philips.
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Karlheinz Stockhausen
Helikopter-Streichquartett
Performer: Arditti Quartet.- Montaigne.
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Johann Sebastian Bach
The Art of Fugue
Performer: Rachel Podger. Performer: Brecon Baroque.- Channel Classics.
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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Symphony no. 40 (K.550) in G minor, 4th movement; Allegro assai
Performer: English Baroque Soloists. Performer: Sir John Eliot Gardiner.- Philips.
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Johannes Brahms
Piano Concerto No. 1 In D Minor, Op.15
Performer: Paul Lewis. Performer: Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Performer: Daniel Harding.- Harmonia Mundi.
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Ludwig van Beethoven
Symphony no. 3 (Op.55) in E flat major "Eroica", 1st movement; Allegro con brio
Performer: Berliner Philharmoniker. Performer: Claudio Abbado.- DG.
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Richard Wagner
Tristan und Isolde - Prelude
Performer: Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Performer: Daniel Barenboim.- Teldec.
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Anton Bruckner
Symphony no.7 in E major (3rd mvt)
Orchestra: Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. Conductor: Andris Nelsons.- DG.
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Hector Berlioz
Symphonie fantastique, Op.14 - 5th movement: Songe d'une nuit du Sabbat
Performer: Anima Eterna. Performer: Jos van Immerseel.- Zig Zag Territories.
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Giuseppe Verdi
Nabucco - Va, pensiero, sull'ali (Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves)
Performer: Santa Cecilia Chorus and Orchestra. Performer: Carlo Rizzi.- Teldec.
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Arnold Schoenberg
5 Orchestral Pieces, Op.16
Performer: London Symphony Orchestra. Performer: Robert Craft.- Koch International Classics.
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Igor Stravinsky
The Rite of Spring: - Sacrificial dance (The Chosen One)
Performer: Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra. Performer: Gustavo Dudamel.- DG.
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Dobrinka Tabakova
Concerto for cello and orchestra - 3rd movement: Radiant
Performer: Kristina Blaumane. Performer: Lietuvos kamerinis orkestras. Performer: Maxim Rysanov.- ECM.
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Franz Liszt
Etudes d'execution transcendante for piano, S.139 - No.5 in B flat: Feux-follets
Performer: Nikolai Lugansky.- Naïve.
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Brian Ferneyhough
Trittico per G.S.
Performer: Stefano Scodanibbio.- Montaigne.
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Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji
Opus Clavicembalisticum
Performer: Fantasia. Performer: John Ogdon.- Altarus.
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John Luther Adams
Inuksuit
Performer: Various Artists.- Cantaloupe.
Broadcast
- Sun 2 Dec 2018 17:00BBC Radio 3
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The Listening Service
An odyssey through the musical universe, presented by Tom Service
