1000 years of music, from a composer’s perspective
Tim The Composer tells the stories behind Western notated music, one work per episode: who wrote it, why, and how it works. Presented by the composer Tim Benjamin. No musical knowledge required.
Episodes
- 8. SilenceEpisode 8 of Tim The Composer's podcast, with host Tim Benjamin, is the second of two episodes featuring music by Tchaikovsky. After presenting the 1812 Overture last time, in this episode, Tim explores Tchaikovsky's Sixth Symphony and the composer's life from the time of the 1812 Overture up to his death, just a few days after the first performance of this symphony. By contrast to the 1812 Overture (which the composer didn't like), Tchaikovsky felt that the Sixth Symphony was his greatest achievement. Some mystery surrounds Tchaikovsky's death, and by the second performance of the Sixth Symphony, just a fortnight after he died, audiences felt they were hearing a premonition, and a requiem. Spotify Playlist for Episode 8: Silence
- 7. CannonsEpisode 7 of Tim The Composer's podcast, with host Tim Benjamin, is the first of two episodes featuring contrasting music by Tchaikovsky. In this episode, Tim explores in detail Tchaikovsky's famous 1812 Overture, which depicts almost cinematically the Russian defeat of Napoleon, with many performances featuring real cannons. However, despite this being one of Tchaikovsky's most popular works with audiences and an impressive feat of musical craftsmanship, the composer himself did not like it; by contrast, in the second of this pair of episodes, we will explore what he felt was his greatest and most deeply-felt achievement: his Sixth Symphony. Spotify Playlist for Episode 7: Cannons
- 6. FortyEpisode 6 of Tim The Composer's podcast explores Thomas Tallis's forty-part motet "Spem in alium" and its turbulent Tudor context. Tim tells the story of Tallis's life as a secret Catholic through the reigns of four monarchs, how and why "Spem in alium" came to be, the mysterious numbers and symbolism within it, why it may be a piece of cunning subversiveness in dangerous times, and how Tallis created a magnificent, magical, and enduring masterpiece from deceptively simple ingredients. Spotify Playlist for Episode 6: Forty
- 5: FarewellEpisode 5 of Tim The Composer's podcast tells the story of Haydn's Symphony No. 45, the "Farewell". Tim explores how a group of homesick musicians, stranded at a remote Hungarian palace by their fabulously wealthy employer Prince Nikolaus Esterházy, turned to their Kapellmeister for help. Haydn's response was a symphony in an impossible key, ending with musicians walking off stage one by one, extinguishing their candles as they went. It worked: the court departed the next day. Spotify Playlist for Episode 5: Farewell
- 4: OrfeoEpisode 4 of Tim The Composer's podcast is all about Monteverdi's opera, Orfeo, one of the very earliest of all operas. Tim discovers the fascinating story behind the opera's creation, exploring how and why Monteverdi and his collaborator Striggio ended up picking on this story in particular and creating this new artform, and the background in the Duchy of Mantua and the influence of the remarkable House of Gonzaga. Spotify Playlist for Episode 4: Orfeo
- 3. UtIn Episode 3 of Tim the Composer's Podcast, Tim goes back to the earliest origins of reliably written music, and talks about Guido d'Arezzo, his life, and his solutions to the problem of writing down music such that it can be reconstructed precisely years, decades, or centuries later. Tim also discovers a number of surprising and entertaining connections between Guido d'Arezzo and the musical film "The Sound of Music"! Spotify Playlist for Episode 3: Ut
- 2. TemperedIn Episode 2 of Tim the Composer's Podcast, Tim looks at J.S. Bach's "Well-Tempered Clavier". He explains what both "well-tempered" and "clavier" mean precisely, and then explores the music itself in the dramatic context of Bach’s life at around the time of the music’s composition. Spotify Playlist for Episode 2: Tempered
- 1. FirstIn this first episode of Tim the Composer’s Podcast, Tim explores Beethoven’s First Symphony. The story starts as Beethoven leaves home in Bonn for a new life in Vienna and his friends give him a send-off, and ends 8 years later with the first performance there of his first symphony - a revolutionary moment in music! Spotify Playlist for Episode 1: First
- 0. IntroIn Episode 0 of Tim The Composer's Podcast, Tim introduces the podcast and explains what it's all about, including why he doesn’t call it "classical" music!