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Musical Signatures

What gives away a composer's personal style? How can we spot their musical signatures?

What gives away a composer's personal style? How can we spot their musical signatures? And having done so, could they be convincingly copied?

Tom looks for clues in the potentially similar music of Mozart and Haydn, and in the English styles of Vaughan Williams and Elgar, and speaks to art historian and discoverer of lost masterpieces, Dr Bendor Grosvenor.

Available now

30 minutes

Last on

Fri 12 Feb 2021 16:30

Music Played

  • ABBA

    Knowing Me, Knowing You

    • Universal.
    • 9819297.
  • Joseph Haydn

    Trumpet Concerto in E flat major H.7e.1

    Performer: Alison Balsom. Performer: The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen.
    • EMI.
    • 216213 0.
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Horn Concerto no. 4 in E flat major K.495

    Conductor: Neville Marriner. Performer: David Pyatt. Performer: Academy of St Martin in the Fields.
    • ERATO.
    • 0630 17074 2.
  • Ralph Vaughan Williams

    Prelude on an old carol tune

    Conductor: Paul Daniel. Performer: Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.
    • Albion.
    • ALBCD016.
  • Edward Elgar

    Serenade in E minor Op.20

    Conductor: Edward Gardner. Performer: ±«Óătv Symphony Orchestra.
    • Chandos.
    • CHSA 5197.
  • Johannes Brahms

    Rhapsody for piano Op.79 No. 2 in G Minor

    Performer: Murray Perahia.
    • Sony.
    • 88697727252.
  • Sergey Rachmaninov

    Prelude for piano Op.23 No.5 in G minor

    Performer: Boris Giltburg.
    • Naxos.
    • 8.574025.
  • Benjamin Britten

    Young Apollo Op.16

    Conductor: Ilan Volkov. Performer: ±«Óătv Scottish Symphony Orchestra.
    • Hyperion.
    • CDA67625.
  • Dudley Moore

    Little Miss Britten

    Performer: Dudley Moore.
    • EMI.
    • 8 36089 2.
  • John Field

    Nocturne no.18 in E major H.13K (Le Midi) for piano (Rondo)

    Performer: John O’Conor.
    • TELARC.
    • CD80199.
  • Francis Poulenc

    Musiques de soie: Valse

    Performer: Alexandre Tharaud.
    • Warner.
    • 9029517998.
  • Avid Professional Karaoke

    Knowing Me, Knowing You

    • Avid Records.
    • AVC706.
  • David Cope

    Concerto (after Rachmaninov) - III. Allegro rubato

    Conductor: Jon Marshall. Performer: John Mark Harris. Performer: Orchestra Nova.
    • Centaur.
    • CRC2888.
  • Sergey Rachmaninov

    Piano Concerto no. 2 in C minor; Ist Movt.

    Conductor: Yannick NĂ©zet‐SĂ©guin. Performer: Daniil Trifonov. Performer: The Philadelphia Orchestra.
    • DG.
    • 4835335.
  • Collective Cadenza

    opus 7 An Abridged History of Western Music in 16 Genres

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Concerto in the Italian style BWV.971; 3rd mvt.

    Performer: Trevor Pinnock.
    • DG.
    • 413 591-2.
  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Cantata no. 105 BWV.105 (Herr, gehe nicht ins Gericht)

    Conductor: Philippe Herreweghe. Performer: Collegium Vocale Gent.
    • Phi.
    • LPH006.
  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Piano Sonata no. 8 in C minor Op.13 (Pathetique)

    Performer: LlĆ·r Williams.
    • Signum.
    • SIGCD527.
  • Anton Bruckner

    Mass no. 2 in E minor; Kyrie

    Conductor: Gijs Leenaars. Performer: Berlin Radio Choir.
    • Pentatone.
    • PTC5186774.
  • Anton Bruckner

    Symphony no. 4 in E flat major (Romantic); Ist movt.

    Conductor: Andris Nelsons. Performer: Gewandhausorchester Leipzig.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.
    • DG 479 7577.
  • Jeanne Louise Dumont Farrenc

    Nonet in E flat major Op.38; 3rd movt.

    Performer: Consortium Classicum.
    • Divox.
    • CDX29205.
  • Joseph Haydn

    Symphony no. 95 in C minor; Ist mvt.

    Conductor: Colin Davis. Performer: Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.
    • PHILIPS.
    • 4426112-2.
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Piano Concerto no. 24 in C minor K.491; Ist mvt.

    Performer: Daniel Barenboim. Performer: English Chamber Orchestra.
    • EMI.
    • 387895-2.
  • Alessandro Piccinini

    Canzone for 3 lutes

    Performer: Jakob Lindberg. Performer: Nigel North. Performer: Paul O’Dette.
    • BIS.
    • CD341.
  • Jinky Wells

    The Maid of the Mill

    • Topic Records.
    • TSCD655.
  • Ralph Vaughan Williams

    Pastoral symphony (Symphony no.3); Ist movt.

    Conductor: Adrian Boult. Performer: London Philharmonic Orchestra.
    • Warner Classics.
    • 5099908748454.
  • Edward Elgar

    Variations on an original theme ('Enigma') Op.36; Variation 9 Nimrod

    Conductor: Adrian Boult. Performer: London Symphony Orchestra.
    • Warner.
    • 094638903222.
  • Delia Derbyshire

    Planetarium

    Performer: Delia Derbyshire.
    • Trunk Records.
    • JBH 017CD.

Broadcasts

  • Sun 7 Feb 2021 17:00
  • Fri 12 Feb 2021 16:30

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