Braving the Stave

Upbeats goes to the dark side in a Halloween special

In this second Upbeats episode, JJ and Haz ask what makes scary music scary, listen to diabolical instruments and marvel at the many versions of 'Night on a Bare Mountain.' And there's even a creepy viola joke!

Accompanying Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0IujonLl2lB7bfPzz71U0Z?si=De9jrT05R0iO9A0dE1ekwQ

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Upbeats 

Classical musings with JJ and Haz (Jonathan James and Angharad Smith).

In this pilot episode, Jonathan James and Angharad Smith get to know each other, try unsuccessfully to avoid viola jokes and, with some trepidation, scale the modernist mountain that is Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. 

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Jonathan is joined by conductor Jessica Cottis to discuss the ambitious vision of nature and humanity coming together in Mahler's third symphony, bringing this series of podcasts to a very grand close. Jessica, it turns out, is a real lover of nature and of butterflies in particular. For her this is one of the finest symphonies ever written.

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Jonathan James and photographer Molly Hollman chat about the deeply inspiring and romantic worlds of moonlight and sunrise in this week's podcast, comparing how they are treated in visual art and music and dipping into works by Field, Chopin, Debussy and Nielsen as they go.

Molly Hollman website: mollyhollman.myportfolio.com

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Music and the Sea

For a composer, the sea is an obvious source of inspiration. The waves, the calm, the depths and the surface, all of these invite a musical response. Jonathan James takes to the coast to see how composers from Telemann to Britten represent the ocean in all its colours and complexity. This week he's accompanied by Sarah Jane Brown, a painter with a deep connection to the sea and its musicality.

Sarah Jane Brown website: https://sjbfineart.com/

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Music and Storms

Composers have always enjoyed whipping up a storm. Baroque theatre was the perfect crucible, and as the orchestra grew larger and mightier through the centuries, so the storms got more and more ferocious. Jonathan James ventures in the eye of various musical storms and compares them to the actual thing, in conversation with Sound Artist, Jay Richardson.

Jay Richardson Album: https://jaymrichardson.bandcamp.com/album/in-the-concrete-silence
Proceeds from the album will be going to:  https://www.lensational.org

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Music and Birdsong

In a lighthearted exploration to kick off the series of podcasts examining the connections between music and nature, Jonathan James captures the dawn chorus in his local park before reflecting on four ways composers have captured birdsong in their music, with reflections from Tony Whitehead, Communications Manager from the RSPB.

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In conversation with Tony Whitehead

Tony has been with the RSPB for 31 years and is also a sound technician and curator of concerts that encourage people to listen differently. The perfect conversation partner, in other words, to explore how to listen to birds and appreciate their musicality, including the all-important question: do blackbirds improvise?

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Fauré's Élégie gives us one of his most memorable, singable melodies. But it offers so much more. Jonathan James explores why this short work packs such an emotional punch, using the version cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason was due to play this summer in the hall.

This podcast is related to the concert that would have taken place on the 6 June 2020 at St David's Hall, Cardiff with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.

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A message to all patrons and staff at St David's Hall from Nicola Benedetti about her cancelled performance with the Aurora Orchestra due to the COVID19 pandemic. Nicola speaks about why she loves the Mendelssohn violin concerto that she would have performed at St David's Hall (Cardiff) on 18th May 2020.

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