David Walliams takes a ride through the magical career of legendary film composer John Williams, from Star Wars to Harry Potter – with a little help from a ghost. Each episode is also accompanied by a playlist in Apple Music – you can find those here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/curator/classic-fm/1211395150

Music from:

John Williams: Star Wars, Main Title – London Symphony Orchestra/Gavin Greenaway (Decca/Classic FM)

John Williams: Raiders of the Lost Ark, Raiders March – London Symphony Orchestra/Gavin Greenaway (Decca/Classic FM)

John Williams: Jaws, The Shark Theme – London Symphony Orchestra/Gavin Greenaway (Decca/Classic FM)

John Williams: Jurassic Park, Theme – London Symphony Orchestra/Gavin Greenaway (Decca/Classic FM)

John Williams: Superman, Superman March – London Symphony Orchestra/Gavin Greenaway (Decca/Classic FM)

John Williams: Saving Private Ryan, Hymn to the Fallen – London Symphony Orchestra/Gavin Greenaway (Decca/Classic FM)

John Williams: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Hedwig’s Theme – London Symphony Orchestra/Gavin Greenaway (Decca/Classic FM)

Tchaikovsky: Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy from The Nutcracker – Bergen Philharmonic/Neeme Järvi (Chandos)

From a helicopter quartet to a vegetable orchestra, prepare to have your idea of what an ‘instrument’ can be blown wide open. David Walliams explores some of the most fantastical, needlessly complex and sometimes tasty musical instruments that human beings have ever created. Each episode is also accompanied by a playlist in Apple Music – you can find those here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/curator/classic-fm/1211395150

Viola Organista performed by S?awomir Zubrzycki

The Vegetable Orchestra

John Cage: Variations I – Langham Research Centre

Leroy Anderson: The Typewriter – Richard Hayman Orchestra/Richard Hayman

Verdi: ‘Anvil Chorus’ from Il trovatore – Orchestra e coro del teatro alla scala/Riccardo Muti

Mahler: Symphony No.6 – Minnestora Orchestra/Osmo Vänskä (BIS)

Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture – Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra/Vasily Petrenko (Classic FM)

Ligeti: Poème Symphonique for 100 Metronomes – Françoise Terrioux (Sony)

Leopold Mozart: Cassation in G ‘Toy Symphony’

Rautavaara: Cantus Arcticus – Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra/Leif Segerstam

Tchaikovsky: Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy on glass harmonica – William Zeitler

It’s time to delve into the tale of Clara Schumann, the phenomenally gifted composer who was, in many ways, The Greatest Schumann. Each episode is also accompanied by a playlist in Apple Music – you can find those here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/curator/classic-fm/1211395150

Clara Schumann: Three Romances – Jennifer Pike and Tom Poster (Chandos)

Beethoven: Für Elise – Ji Liu (Classic FM)

Robert Schumann: Piano Quartet in E flat – Alexander Melnikov/Jerusalem Quarete (Harmonia Mundi)

Brahms: Piano Sonata in F minor – Stephen Hough (Hyperion)

Chopin: Nocture Op.9, No.2 – Ji Liu (Classic FM)

Brahms: Variations on a Theme by Haydn – Georg Solti/Murray Perahia

Clara Schumann: Scherzo in D minor, Op.10 – Konstanze Eickhorst

You’ve heard his music, now it’s time to hear his story. David dives into the life of one of history’s greatest – and grumpiest – composers. Each episode is also accompanied by a playlist in Apple Music – you can find those here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/curator/classic-fm/1211395150

Beethoven: Symphony No.5 – Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique/John Eliot Gardiner (SDG)

Beethoven: Symphony No.7 – Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique/John Eliot Gardiner (SDG)

Walter Murphy: A Fifth of Beethoven

Beethoven: Rage Over a Lost Penny – Ronald Brautigam (BIS)

Beethoven: Symphony No.3 – Dresden Philharmonic/Michael Sanderling (Sony)

Beethoven: Für Elise – Ji Liu (Classic FM)

Beethoven: Symphony No.9 (BIS)

Beethoven: Piano Sonata No.14 ‘Moonlight’ – Ji Liu (Classic FM)

They broke the mould and changed the face of music. Meet the marvellous mavericks and devilish divas who took the musical world by storm. And don’t be surprised if a number of old friends turn up to join the party… Each episode is also accompanied by a playlist in Apple Music – you can find those here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/curator/classic-fm/1211395150

Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody No.13 – Arcadi Volodos (Sony)

Rimsky-Korsakov: Flight of the Bumblebee – Royal Scottish National Orchestra//Neeme Järvi

excerpts from Mozart: Don Giovanni – MusicAeterna/Teodor Currentzis (Sony)

Mozart: ‘Voi che sapete’ from Don Giovanni – Adelina Patti (Nimbus)

Paganini: 24 Caprices – Augustin Hadelich (Warner Classics)

Paganini: Violin Concerto – Itzhak Perlman/Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Lawrence Foster

Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody No.2 – Arcadi Volodos (Sony)

Bizet : ‘L’amour est un oiseau rebelle’ from Carmen – Maria Callas, Orchestra de l’Opéra National de Paris

Ballet: You may think it’s all tutus and tippy toes, but there’s a world of wild, daring and downright bizarre stories behind this dainty dance. Join David Walliams as he journeys around the globe to give us a peek into the highly competitive, and fantastically strange world of ballet.

Each episode is also accompanied by a playlist in Apple Music – you can find those here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/curator/classic-fm/1211395150

Music from:

Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker – Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra/Neeme Järvi (Chandos)

Saint-Saëns: The Swan from Carnival of the Animals – Ji Liu (Classic FM)

Lully: Alcidiane, Ritournelle et air de Mademoiselle Hilaire – La Risonanca/Fabio Bonizzoni (Glossa)

Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake – Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra/Neeme Järvi (Chandos)

Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring – MusicAeterna/Teodor Currentzis (Sony)

Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet – Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra/Andrew Litton (BIS)

We journey back a hundred years to explore the life of Ethel Smyth: composer, suffragette and all-round legend. Also, there are pirates.

Each episode is also accompanied by a playlist in Apple Music – you can find those here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/curator/classic-fm/1211395150

Music from:

Ethel Smyth: Concerto for Violin – BBC Philharmonic Orchestra/Odaline de la Martinez (Chandos)

Ethel Smyth: Mass in D – Orchestra of the Plymouth Music Series/Philip Brunelle (EMI)

Ethel Smyth: The Wreckers – Scottish National Orchestra/Sir Alexander Gibson (Warner)

Ethel Smyth: March of the Women – Orchestra of the Plymouth Music Series/Philip Brunelle (EMI)

Ethel Smyth: The Boatswain’s Mate, Overture – BBC National Orchestra of Wales/Rumon Gamba (Chandos)

Ethel Smyth: String Quartet in E minor – Mannheim String Quartet (CPO)

This instrument may seem pretty black and white, but there’s more to the piano than meets the eye. Join David Walliams as he travels inside the piano, discovers its most famous players and explores the unlikely ways it changed music forever.

Each episode is also accompanied by a playlist in Apple Music – you can find those here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/curator/classic-fm/1211395150

Music from:

Beethoven: Für Elise – Ronald Brautigam (BIS);

Mozart: Piano Sonata No.11 ‘Alla turca’ – Fazil Say (Warner);

J. S. Bach: Concerto in G major, BWV 973 – Richard Egarr (Harmonia Mundi);

Chopin: Nocturne in E flat major – Ji Liu (Classic FM);

Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5 ‘Emperor’ – Leif Ove Andsnes (Sony);

Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody No.2 – Georges Cziffra (Warner);

Beethoven: Piano Sonata No.23 ‘Appassionata’ – Lang Lang (Sony)

Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No.2 – Leif Ove Andsnes (Warner);

Chopin: Piano Sonata No.3 – Martha Argerich (Warner);

Round Midnight – Thelonious Monk (Sony/ATV);

Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue – André Previn, London Symphony Orchestra (Warner)

Things are Getting Better (Echobass)

Beethoven: Piano Sonata No.23 ‘Appassionata’ – Lang Lang (Sony)

Each episode is also accompanied by a playlist in Apple Music – you can find those here - https://itunes.apple.com/gb/curator/classic-fm/1211395150

Franz Liszt was music’s first true rock star, baby. Join David Walliams as he enrols in Liszt’s school of cool, and discovers what it really means to rock, old school.

Each episode is also accompanied by a playlist in Apple Music – you can find those here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/curator/classic-fm/1211395150

Music from:

Liszt: La Campanella – Ji Liu (Classic FM);

Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody No.2 – Georges Cziffra (Warner);

Liszt: Liebesträum – Ji Liu (Classic FM);

Liszt: Mephisto Waltz No.1 – Leif Ove Andsnes (Warner);

Liszt: Transcendental Studies – Yevgeny Sudbin (BIS);

Liszt: Totentanz – Louis Lortie, Residentie Orchestra The Hague/George Pehlivanian (Chandos);

Liszt: Un sospiro – Leslie Howard (Hyperion)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: You might well have heard of Mozart – but did you know he had a really rude sense of humour? Or that he owned a pet starling? In the first episode, David meets one of the most famous composers of all time… and has a bit of a run in with a music professor.

Each episode is also accompanied by a playlist in Apple Music – you can find those here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/curator/classic-fm/1211395150

Music from:

Mozart: The Magic Flute – Bayerischen Staatsoper/Wolfgang Sawallisch (Warner);

Mozart: The Marriage of Figaro – Collegium Vocale Gent, Concerto Köln/René Jacobs (Harmonia Mundi);

Mozart: Symphony No.41 ‘Jupiter’ – Academy of St. Martin in the Fields/Neville Marriner (Warner);

Mozart: Piano Concerto No.21 – Murray Perahia, English Chamber Orchestra (Sony);

Mozart: Clarinet Concerto – Martin Fröst, Amsterdam Sinfonietta/Peter Oundjian (BIS);

Mozart: Eine kleine nachtmusik – Camerata Nordica/Terje Tønnesen (BIS);

Mozart: Piano Sonata No.11 ‘Alla turca’ – Fazil Say (Warner);

Wagner: Wedding March from Lohengrin – Bayreuth Festival/Andris Nelsons (Opus Arte);

Mozart: La finta semplice – Jeremy Ovenden, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment/Jonathan Cohen (Signum Classics);

Mozart: Don Giovanni – MusicAeterna/Teodor Currentzis (Sony);

Allegri: Miserere – Tenebrae/Nigel Short (Signum);

Mozart: Requiem – Freiburger Barockorchester, RIAS Kammerchor/René Jacobs (Harmonia Mundi)