All Episodes 2013

Performances by the London Sinfonietta and composer Timothy Andres of works by Arnold Schoenberg, Anton Webern and Charles Ives recorded in 2012 for BBC Four's The Sound and the Fury: A Century of Music documentary series. Performances include Arnold Schoenberg's 'String Quartet No 2' and '3 Piano Pieces' Opus 11 2nd Movement played by the London Sinfonietta with pianist John Constable. Anton Webern's 'Six Bagatelles' is performed by members of the Aurora Orchestra and Charles Ives's 'Concord Sonata' is played by Timothy Andres.

Performances by the London Sinfonietta and cellist Oliver Coates of works by Oliver Messiaen, Gyorg Ligeti, Iannis Xenakis and Harrison Birtwistle recorded in 2012 for BBC Four’s The Sound and the Fury: A Century of Music. Performances include the 1st and 5th Movements of Oliver Messiaen’s ‘Quartet for the End of Time’, the 1st Movement of Gyorg Ligeti’s ‘Chamber Concerto’, Oliver Coates performing Iannis Xenakis’s ‘Kottos’ plus ‘Antistrophe’ and ‘Strasimon’ from Harrison Birtwistle’s ‘Trageodea’.

Performances of works by John Cage, Morton Feldman, Steve Reich, Meredith Monk, Arvo Part and George Benjamin by the London Sinfonietta, the Guildhall School of Musicians, So Percussion, pianist Vicky Chow and Meredith Monk recorded in 2012 for BBC Four’s The Sound and the Fury: A Century of Music. Vicky Chow plays Book One of ‘Music of Changes’ by John Cage as well as Morton Feldman’s ‘Piano Piece (for Philip Guston)’. Steve Reich’s ‘Drumming’ is performed by So Percussion whilst Meredith Monk performs her own ‘Gotham Lullaby’. Arvo Part’s ‘Spiegel im Spiegel’ is played by the Guildhall School of Musicians, and George Benjamin’s ‘At First Light’ is played by the London Sinfonietta, who also perform John Cage’s seminal 4’33”.

The first episode looks at the shift in the language and sound of music from the beautiful melodies and harmonies of the giants of classical music such as Mozart, Haydn and Brahms into the fragmented, abstract, discordant sound of the most radical composers of the new century - Schoenberg, Webern, Stravinsky and beyond. It examines how this new music, which can perplex and upset even the most contemporary of audiences, was a response to the huge upheaval in the world at the start of the 20th century - with its developments in technology, science, modern art and the tumult of the First World War.

The second episode looks at how the freewheeling modernism that had shocked, scandalised and titillated audiences in the first two decades of the 20th century comes under state control. Initially, many practitioners thought the totalitarian regimes would be good for music and the arts. What followed in Germany was a ban on music written by Jews, African-Americans and communists, while in the Soviet Union there was a prohibition on music the workers were unable to hum. In the USA, many composers voluntarily embraced music for the masses. After the cataclysm of the 1940s, a new generation of 20-something composers - Boulez, Stockhausen, Xenakis, Nono, Ligeti - turned their back on what they saw as the discredited music of the past and decided to try and reinvent it from scratch. Or, at least, from serialism, which became, as the 1950s wore on, as much of a straitjacket as the strictures of totalitarianism had been before.

The series concludes with the focus shifting to the United States in the post-war years of the 1950s and beyond. Beginning with arguably the most notorious work of 20th century classical music, John Cage's 'silent' composition 4'33", it looks at how a series of maverick Americans re-invented the sound of classical music into a more simple form, bringing back harmonies and rhythms that made it increasingly popular with audiences across the world. It also examines how this music found its way into a spiritual realm, with the strain of pared-down religious composition that came to be known as 'holy minimalism'. From the Maverick concert hall in Woodstock, New York to an Orthodox cathedral in Estonia to a car park in Peckham, south London, the story is told by a stellar line-up of contributors including Philip Glass, Steve Reich, John Adams, Arvo Pärt and John Tavener.