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The Musical Recycling Plant

Many composers re-use music from their earlier works in their later ones. But why? And what do these 'recycled' versions sounds like? Tom Service explores this 'green' phenomenon.

For centuries, composers have re-used music from their earlier works in their new ones. But why? Were they simply pressed for time, or might there be another reason? And what do these 'recycled' versions sounds like? Does music become diluted and weaker with each reincarnation, or could the opposite be true? Together with expert musical recycler Saul Eisenberg of The Junk Orchestra, Tom Service explores this 'green' musical practice.

Dom Wells (producer)

Available now

29 minutes

Last on

Fri 22 Mar 2024 16:30
±«Óătv Radio 3

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Music Played

  • Gustav Mahler

    Symphony no. 2 in C minor (Resurrection) for soprano, alto, chorus and orchestra

    Performer: Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: John Barbirolli.
    • EMI.
    • 575100 2.

  • The Junk Orchestra & Saul Eisenberg & Friends

    Tank & Trumpet

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Mass in B minor BWV.232

    Performer: Monteverdi Choir. Performer: English Baroque Soloists. Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner.
    • ARCHIVE.
    • 415 514-2.

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Mass in B minor BWV.232

    Performer: Monteverdi Choir. Performer: English Baroque Soloists. Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner.
    • ARCHIVE.
    • 415 514-2.

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Cantata no. 12 BWV.12 (Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen)

    Performer: Japan Bach Collegium. Conductor: Masaaki Suzuki.
    • BIS.
    • CD 791.

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Mass in B minor BWV.232

    Performer: Monteverdi Choir. Performer: English Baroque Soloists. Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner.
    • ARCHIVE.
    • 415 514-2.

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Mass in B minor BWV.232

    Performer: Monteverdi Choir. Performer: English Baroque Soloists. Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner.
    • ARCHIVE.
    • 415 514-2.

  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Die Geschopfe des Prometheus - ballet music Op.43

    Performer: Freiburg Baroque Orchestra. Conductor: Gottfried von der Goltz.
    • HARMONIA MUNDI.
    • HMM 90244647.

  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Symphony no. 3 in E flat major Op.55 (Eroica)

    Performer: Les Siùcles. Conductor: François‐Xavier Roth.
    • HARMONIA MUNDI.
    • HMM 902421.

  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    15 Variations and a fugue on a theme from Prometheus in E flat major Op.35 (Eroica) for piano

    Performer: Ronald Brautigam.
    • BIS.
    • 2403.

  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Symphony no. 3 in E flat major Op.55 (Eroica)

    Performer: Les Siùcles. Conductor: François‐Xavier Roth.
    • HARMONIA MUNDI.
    • HMM 902421.

  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Symphony no. 7 in A major Op.92

    Performer: Orchestre RĂ©volutionnaire et Romantique. Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner.
    • ARCHIV.
    • E4470632.

  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Symphony no. 5 in C minor Op.67

    • ALIA VOX.
    • AVSA 9937.

  • Steve Reich

    Electric counterpoint for 13 guitars [1 live & 12 on tape]

    Performer: Pat Metheny.
    • Nonesuch.
    • 7559791762.

  • The Junk Orchestra & Saul Eisenberg & Friends

    Tank & Trumpet

  • The Junk Orchestra & Saul Eisenberg & Friends

    Jazz under the Overground

  • Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber

    Missa salisburgensis for 53 voices [formerly attrib. Benevoli, possibly by Hofer]

    Performer: Gabrieli Consort. Performer: Gabrieli Players. Performer: Musica Antiqua Köln. Conductor: Paul McCreesh. Conductor: Reinhard Goebel.
    • ARCHIV.
    • 471 632-2.

  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Symphony no.3 in E flat major Op.55 'Eroica' (3rd mvt)

    Orchestra: Nizhny Novgorod Soloists Chamber Orchestra. Conductor: Maxim Emelyanychev.
    • APARTE.

  • James MacMillan

    The Tryst - song, arr. Whistlebinkies for folk ensemble

    Performer: James Macmillan. Performer: The Whistlebinkies.
    • GREENTRAX.
    • CDTRAX-159.

  • James MacMillan

    James MacMillan: St Anne's Mass: Sanctus (excerpt)

    Performer: Cappella Nova. Performer: Alan Tavener.
    • LINN.
    • CKD 633.

  • James McMillan

    Tuireadh (Lament for the dead) for clarinet and string orchestra or quartet

    Performer: Lars Wouters van den Oudenweijer. Orchestra: Radio Kamer Filharmonie. Conductor: James McMillan.
    • CHALLENGE.
    • CC-72638.

  • James MacMillan

    The Gallant weaver for unaccompanied chorus

    Performer: Gabrieli Consort. Performer: Paul McCreesh.
    • SIGNUM CLASSICS.
    • SIGCD 490.

  • James MacMillan

    James MacMillan: Lassie wad ye loe me?

    Performer: Elysian Singers. Conductor: Sam Laughton.
    • SIGNUM CLASSICS.
    • SIGCD-575.

  • James MacMillan

    St John passion for baritone, choir and orchestra

    Performer: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Colin Davis.
    • LSO LIVE.
    • LSO-0671.

  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Symphony no. 7 in A major Op.92

    Performer: Orchestre RĂ©volutionnaire et Romantique. Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner.
    • ARCHIV.
    • E4470632.

Broadcasts

  • Sun 8 May 2022 17:00
    ±«Óătv Radio 3
  • Fri 13 May 2022 16:30
    ±«Óătv Radio 3
  • Sun 17 Mar 2024 17:00
    ±«Óătv Radio 3
  • Fri 22 Mar 2024 16:30
    ±«Óătv Radio 3

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