Episode 9: Weird Instruments

02/13/19 • 19 min

David Walliams' Marvellous Musical Podcast

From a helicopter quartet to a vegetable orchestra, prepare to have your idea of what an ‘instrument’ can be blown wide open. David Walliams explores some of the most fantastical, needlessly complex and sometimes tasty musical instruments that human beings have ever created. Each episode is also accompanied by a playlist in Apple Music – you can find those here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/curator/classic-fm/1211395150 Viola Organista performed by S?awomir Zubrzycki The Vegetable Orchestra John Cage: Variations I – Langham Research Centre Leroy Anderson: The Typewriter – Richard Hayman Orchestra/Richard Hayman Verdi: ‘Anvil Chorus’ from Il trovatore – Orchestra e coro del teatro alla scala/Riccardo Muti Mahler: Symphony No.6 – Minnestora Orchestra/Osmo Vänskä (BIS) Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture – Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra/Vasily Petrenko (Classic FM) Ligeti: Poème Symphonique for 100 Metronomes – Françoise Terrioux (Sony) Leopold Mozart: Cassation in G ‘Toy Symphony’ Rautavaara: Cantus Arcticus – Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra/Leif Segerstam Tchaikovsky: Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy on glass harmonica – William Zeitler

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Episode 8: The Greatest Schumann

It’s time to delve into the tale of Clara Schumann, the phenomenally gifted composer who was, in many ways, The Greatest Schumann. Each episode is also accompanied by a playlist in Apple Music – you can find those here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/curator/classic-fm/1211395150 Clara Schumann: Three Romances – Jennifer Pike and Tom Poster (Chandos) Beethoven: Für Elise – Ji Liu (Classic FM) Robert Schumann: Piano Quartet in E flat – Alexander Melnikov/Jerusalem Quarete (Harmonia Mundi) Brahms: Piano Sonata in F minor – Stephen Hough (Hyperion) Chopin: Nocture Op.9, No.2 – Ji Liu (Classic FM) Brahms: Variations on a Theme by Haydn – Georg Solti/Murray Perahia Clara Schumann: Scherzo in D minor, Op.10 – Konstanze Eickhorst

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Episode 10: John Williams and the Chamber of Star Wars

David Walliams takes a ride through the magical career of legendary film composer John Williams, from Star Wars to Harry Potter – with a little help from a ghost. Each episode is also accompanied by a playlist in Apple Music – you can find those here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/curator/classic-fm/1211395150 Music from: John Williams: Star Wars, Main Title – London Symphony Orchestra/Gavin Greenaway (Decca/Classic FM) John Williams: Raiders of the Lost Ark, Raiders March – London Symphony Orchestra/Gavin Greenaway (Decca/Classic FM) John Williams: Jaws, The Shark Theme – London Symphony Orchestra/Gavin Greenaway (Decca/Classic FM) John Williams: Jurassic Park, Theme – London Symphony Orchestra/Gavin Greenaway (Decca/Classic FM) John Williams: Superman, Superman March – London Symphony Orchestra/Gavin Greenaway (Decca/Classic FM) John Williams: Saving Private Ryan, Hymn to the Fallen – London Symphony Orchestra/Gavin Greenaway (Decca/Classic FM) John Williams: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Hedwig’s Theme – London Symphony Orchestra/Gavin Greenaway (Decca/Classic FM) Tchaikovsky: Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy from The Nutcracker – Bergen Philharmonic/Neeme Järvi (Chandos)