The Simple Truth
How hard is it to achieve meaningful musical simplicity? Why, like some movements in the visual arts, has musical simplicity flourished in the 20th and 21st centuries?
Isaac Newton's 'Truth is ever to be found in simplicity...' has often been echoed in music by many of the great composers down the ages. But during the 20th and 21st centuries, akin to movements in the visual arts, some composers have pared down their music to a few seemingly basic elements. But how difficult is it to achieve meaningful musical simplicity and what's the difference between that and mind-numbingly banal simple-is-as-simple-does?
With the help of composer Howard Skempton and Tate Modern curator Emma Lewis, Tom Service discovers the hard and often complex truths about simplicity.
David Papp (producer)
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Music Played
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Howard Skempton
Well, well Cornelius for piano [1982]
Performer: John Tilbury.- sony.
- 66842.
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Joe Raposo
Sing
Music Arranger: Carpenters. Performer: Carpenters.- A&M.
- 541 002-2.
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Ludwig van Beethoven
33 Variations on a waltz by Diabelli in C major Op.120 for piano
Performer: Igor Levit.- Sony.
- 88875140152.
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Cadgwith Fishermen's Chorus
TRADITIONAL: What shall we do with a drunken sailor?
- (Recording Rights Owner).
- GBAJX9440510.
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Howard Skempton
Chorale for piano [1976]
Performer: John Tilbury.- sony.
- 66842.
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Ludwig van Beethoven
Symphony no. 9 in D minor Op.125 (Choral)
Conductor: Claudio Abbado. Performer: Berliner Philharmoniker. Performer: Eric Ericsons Kammarkör.- DG.
- 4714912.
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Nils Frahm
Tristana
Performer: Nils Frahm.- Erased Tapes.
- Erased-Tapes.
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Arvo Pärt
Spiegel im Spiegel for violin and piano
Performer: Alexei Grynyuk. Performer: Nicola Benedetti.- DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON.
- Dg-4763399.
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Howard Skempton
Rise up, my love for chorus
Conductor: Paul Hillier. Performer: Ars Nova Copenhagen.- CANTALOUPE.
- CA21127.
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Philip Glass
Concerto no. 1 for violin and orchestra
Conductor: Christoph von Dohnányi. Performer: Gidon Kremer. Performer: Vienna Philharmonic.- DG.
- 4370912.
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Howard Skempton
Campanella 3 for piano [1982]
Performer: John Tilbury.- sony.
- 66842.
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Howard Skempton
Piano Piece 1969
Performer: John Tilbury.- SONY.
- SK-66482.
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Ludovico Einaudi
The Dark Bank of Clouds
Performer: Ludovico Einaudi.- decca.
- 3735296.
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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Requiem in D minor K.626, compl. Sussmayr
Conductor: René Jacobs. Performer: Freiburg Baroque Orchestra.- Harmonia Mundi.
- HMM902291.
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Anton Webern
Symphony Op.21
Conductor: Giuseppe Sinopoli. Performer: Dresden State Opera Orchestra.- apex.
- 2564683993.
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Leos Janáček
Sinfonietta
Conductor: Charles Mackerras. Performer: Vienna Philharmonic.- DECCA.
- 4482552.
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Laurence Crane
10, 000 Green Bottles
Performer: Ives Ensemble.- Nimbus.
- NI6337.
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Franz Schubert
Quintet in C major D.956 for 2 violins, viola and 2 cellos
Performer: Ralph Kirshbaum. Performer: Takács Quartet.- Hyperion.
- CDA67864.
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Ludwig van Beethoven
Quartet in C sharp minor Op.131 for strings
Performer: Belcea Quartet.- ZigZag.
- ZZT315.
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Aaron Copland
Appalachian spring - ballet vers. for orchestra [1945]
Conductor: Michael Tilson Thomas. Performer: San Francisco S O.- RCA.
- 9026635112.
Broadcasts
- Sun 13 Oct 2019 17:00±«Óătv Radio 3
- Fri 18 Oct 2019 16:30±«Óătv Radio 3
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An odyssey through the musical universe, presented by Tom Service
