Saturday Classics

Northumbrian piper and fiddler Kathryn Tickell chooses some of her favourite classical pieces inspired by folk music, including works by Schubert, Debussy, Holst, Vaughan Williams, Rachmaninoff, Villa-Lobos, Ligeti, and Judith Weir.

American broadcaster Katie Puckrik indulges in a little 'classical cross-pollination' as she presents familiar music in unfamiliar settings. Her choices include the first movement of Bach's concerto for two violins in D minor played by Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli, and the Hallelujah Chorus performed by the folk trio The Roches. There is music which contains American folk themes (Aaron Copland's Billy the Kid and the Hawthorne movement from Charles Ives' Piano Sonata No.2) and music played on the 'wrong' instruments (the first movement of Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No.3 performed on the Moog synthesizer and the Largo from the Winter movement of Vivaldi's the Four Seasons on a church organ).

Actor Krister Henriksson, known to many as rumpled Swedish detective Kurt Wallander, presents a personal selection of music.

In Henning Mankell's novels and subsequent television films Wallander's musical tastes are very much operatic: his dog is even named after the legendary tenor Jussi Björling. Krister, who played the role for over a decade after a long and acclaimed stage career, presents a more varied selection today including works by Sibelius, Nielsen and Arvo Pärt, and performances by some of his favourite Swedish artists including jazz pianist Jan Johansson, singer Monica Zetterlund, and ABBA's own Benny Andersson. Krister also reflects on his home town of Stockholm, his early performances in Peer Gynt, and his experience of working with Ingmar Bergman.

First broadcast in December 2015 as part of Radio 3's Northern Lights season.