Composer of the Week Podcast

Donald Macleod explores the development of Nigerian art music through the lives and work of some of its most influential composers. Joined by Alexander Douglas, he traces the emergence of a musical tradition shaped by European missionary education, church music and indigenous cultural practices, beginning with Fela Sowande’s pioneering synthesis of Yoruba and Western traditions. From Sowande's early years in Lagos and London to the work of later figures including Ayo Bankole, Akin Euba, Samuel Akpabot and Nkeiru Okoye, the podcast follows a continuing conversation about identity, heritage and musical innovation. Along the way, we hear how generations of composers drew on local traditions while creating new forms of concert music, and how their legacy continues to evolve today.
Fela Sowande: High Life
Joshua Uzoigwe: Talking Drums
Fela Sowande: Go Down Moses
Josiah Ransome-Kuti: Obángíjì Iwo Lo to Sìn
Fela Sowande: African Suite
Fela Sowande: 2 Preludes on Yoruba Sacred Folk Melodies – No. 1 K’A Mura
Fela Sowande: Yoruba Lament
Fela Sowande: Night and Day
Fela Sowande: Sunset
Fela Sowande: Obangiji
Ayo Bankole: Egun Variations in G major
Ayo Bankole: Variations for Little Ayo
Ayo Bankole: Nigerian Suite
Ayo Bankole: Three Yoruba Songs
Ayo Bankole: Ya Orule
Ayo Bankole: Piano Sonata No. 2 in C major “The Passion”
Akin Euba: Three Yoruba Songs Without Words
Akin Euba: Scenes from Traditional Life
Akin Euba: Six Yoruba Folk Songs
Akin Euba: Study in African Jazz 3
Akin Euba: Igba Kerin
Akin Euba: Igba Kinni
Akin Euba: Wakar Duru
Joshua Uzoigwe: Nigerian Dance No. 1
Samuel Akpabot: Scenes from Nigeria – Pastorale
Samuel Akpabot: Three Nigerian Dances
Nkeiru Okoye: African Sketches
Nkeiru Okoye: Breaking Bread
Nkeiru Okoye: Songs of Harriet Tubman – I Am Harriet Tubman, Free Woman
Presented by Donald Macleod with Alexander Douglas
Produced by Ellie Ajao for BBC Audio Wales
For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Fela Sowande and the Art Music of Nigeria https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002y62n.
And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z.

Donald Macleod explores the life and music of Leonard Bernstein – conductor, composer, educator and one of the most recognisable figures in American cultural life. From his student years at Harvard and the influential friendships that helped launch his career, to his breakthrough as a young conductor and his success on Broadway, Bernstein combined a rare range of talents with a gift for public communication. His story encompasses symphonies and musicals, Hollywood and television, artistic triumphs and professional setbacks. Alongside his achievements ran a complex personal life, shaped by his marriage to Felicia Montealegre, his struggles with identity, and an enduring commitment to political and charitable causes. Through his music, we follow a figure who helped define American music in the twentieth century.
Music featured includes:
West Side Story – America
Divertimento
Anniversaries – I. For Aaron Copland
Serenade after Plato’s Symposium – IV. Agathon
Clarinet Sonata – 2nd movement
Symphony No. 2 "The Age of Anxiety" – Epilogue
On the Town – New York, New York
Symphony No. 1 "Jeremiah"
Three Dance Episodes from On the Town
Fancy Free – Finale
Slava! A Political Overture
Trouble in Tahiti – Prelude
Wonderful Town – Overture; Ballet at the Village Vortex; Wrong Note Rag
Symphonic Suite from On the Waterfront
Prelude, Fugue and Riffs
Facsimile – 1st movement
West Side Story – Overture
Mass – Pax: Communion
Candide Overture
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Suite
Songfest
Four Anniversaries – I. For Felicia Montealegre
A Quiet Place – Postlude
West Side Story – Tonight
Concerto for Orchestra – 3rd and 4th movements
Chichester Psalms
Arias and Barcarolles – Nachtspiel (Postlude)
Presented by Donald Macleod
Produced by Sam Phillips for BBC Audio Wales and West
For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002y04k.
And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z.

Donald Macleod explores a rich and varied body of music gathered under a single name: Anonymous. Bringing together works whose creators were never recorded, later forgotten or deliberately obscured, the podcast traces how music can circulate and endure without a clear author. With contributions from Professor Lisa Colton and Professor Fay Hield, there is a focus on how anonymous works have been preserved, collected and sometimes reshaped over time, from medieval polyphony and early modern song to folk traditions passed down through generations. Along the way, questions emerge about authorship, ownership and how we listen to music when its origins are uncertain or shared.
Music featured includes:
Romance Anonimo (arr. Yepes) from Jeux interdits
Horn Concerto in E flat major
Three Medieval Dances: A que as cousas coitadas; Il Trotto; La Quarte Estampie Royal
Shallow Brown
Dances from Le Concert Royal de la Nuit (1653)
Three Modinhas from 18th Century Portugal
Neapolitan Songs: Barcarola napoletana; La favola dell'uccello grifone
La Messe de Tournai: Gloria; Credo
The Cruel Mother
The Bull Ring
Vaughan Williams: English Folk Song Suite
Three Dances (arr. Praetorius)
Attrib. Beethoven: Waltz in B flat major ‘Gertrude’s Dream Waltz’
Attrib. L. Mozart: Cassation in G major ‘Toy Symphony’
Mrs Philarmonica: Sonata Sesta in G major
Attrib. Mozart: Divertimento in E flat major, K.196e
Attrib. Brahms: Piano Trio in A major, Op. post.
El Cant de la Sibilla
The Banks of the Nile
Green Gravel
In Te Domine speravi
Three Medieval Dances
Sumer is icumen in
Agincourt Carol
O sponsa Dei electa
Three Worcester Fragments
Lovely on the Water
The Bloody Gardener
Old England Grown New
Three Cantigas de Santa María

Kate Molleson explores the life and music of Claudio Monteverdi, following his path from early experiments in Cremona to a career that would reshape European music. Trained in the traditions of Renaissance polyphony, Monteverdi gradually pushed against its limits, developing a more direct and expressive musical language. His years at the Mantuan court brought both opportunity and pressure, as he wrote increasingly bold madrigals and helped to establish opera as a new art form. After a period of upheaval, he rebuilt his career in Venice, adapting his music to new spaces, audiences and expectations as public opera emerged. Across sacred works, madrigals and stage pieces, Monteverdi’s writing reflects a composer responding closely to the demands of his time.
Featuring excerpts from:
Scherzi musicali a tre voci: Damigella tutta bella
Sacrae cantiunculae
Canzonette a tre voci (Nos. 1–3)
Sinfonia for two violins and viola da brazzo
Vattene pur, crudel
L’Orfeo
Madrigali amorosi
Cruda Amarilli
Io mi son giovinetta
Vespers of 1610
Cor mio, non mori?
L’Orfeo, Act 5
Lætaniæ della Beata Vergine
Il sesto libro de madrigali
Pianto della Madonna
Zefiro torna e di soave accenti
Selva morale e spirituale
Beatus vir
Chiome d’oro, bel tesoro
Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda
Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria
L’incoronazione di Poppea: Pur ti miro
Presented by Kate Molleson
Produced by Ellie Ajao for BBC Audio Wales
For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002x7t6.
And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z (the same every week)

This week Kate Molleson explores the life and work of a cultural icon: trumpeter, composer and bandleader Miles Davis, who was born 100 years ago this week and remains one of the most innovative and influential figures in 20th-century music. Kate is joined throughout the week by the leading American jazz critic Nate Chinen. Together, they'll survey his vast recorded output, which spans five decades, prioritising his own compositions but also appreciating the art of improvisation as spontaneous composition.