Composing yourself


Opportunities to hear a leading contemporary composer discussing the composition process are rare. Hearing the composer discussing a new concerto with the soloist it was written for are even rarer. So my latest Britten Sinfonia pre-concert podcast brings something a little special - James MacMillan (above) and oboeist Nicholas Daniel giving the inside track on the composer's new oboe concerto. They also give their views on whether classical music should be amplified and the links between spirituality and music: the latter subject is particularly topical in view of James' controversial comments about the musical tastes of those orchestrating the recent Papal visit to Scotland. The 30 minute discussion takes a few minutes to load, but I think you will find it worth the wait to listen.

Other Britten Sinfonia podcasts hosted by me include:

* Pierre-Laurent Aimard and Tamara Stefanovich talk about Elliott Carter's music - listen here.

* Composer Eriks Esenvalds talks about culture, education and religion in Latvia, both under the Soviets and since independence - listen here.

* Britten Sinfonia co-leader Tom Gould talks about violins, seasons and what it takes to get a Canadian audience on their feet - listen here.

Also on Facebook and Twitter. Any copyrighted material on these pages is included as "fair use", for the purpose of study, review or critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s). Report broken links, missing images and errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk

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