:00:00. > :00:00.Tonight, the revolution WILL be televised with Beethoven's
:00:00. > :00:10.Tavener's Requiem Fragments will leave you broken,
:00:11. > :00:14.and there is beautiful tragedy to be had with Mahler.
:00:15. > :00:42.It is the bitter sweet symphony that can only be Proms Extra.
:00:43. > :00:45.Hello and welcome to Proms Extra, the show that recalls some
:00:46. > :00:48.of the highlights of the Proms coverage from the Royal Albert Hall
:00:49. > :00:53.Tonight in the studio, I'll be joined by three classical
:00:54. > :00:56.stalwarts, there's Chord of the Week and we spend the day with two very
:00:57. > :01:03.In a week that saw the sky lit up by a super moon and a meteor
:01:04. > :01:06.shower, not wanting to be left out, the Proms joined in and showed that
:01:07. > :02:01.in the celestial Royal Albert Hall there was no shortage of stars.
:02:02. > :02:04.Just some of the highlights from the past week in the Royal Albert Hall.
:02:05. > :02:09.Now who's in our studio in the Royal College of Music tonight?
:02:10. > :02:12.First up we have a soprano who has sung for audiences
:02:13. > :02:15.all over the world and the muse of one of tonight's featured composers,
:02:16. > :02:36.Next to join Proms Extra is one of the UK's finest composers,
:02:37. > :02:39.celebrating his 80th birthday at the Proms this season.
:02:40. > :02:42.Back in the ?60s he was known as the enfant terrible.
:02:43. > :02:47.We hope nothing's changed since then.
:02:48. > :02:52.Our final guest used to be a music teacher, then gave it up
:02:53. > :02:56.Music education's loss is the operatic world's gain.
:02:57. > :02:59.He's performing at the Last Night of the Proms and is closing
:03:00. > :03:24.May I call Umax? You're celebrating your birthday this year, so much of
:03:25. > :03:26.your music has already been heard. Do you still like listening to
:03:27. > :03:31.music? your music has already been heard.
:03:32. > :03:36.Do you still like It was a very strange experience. In the first of
:03:37. > :03:41.these bronze they did a piece I wrote in 1962 and it was like seeing
:03:42. > :03:47.a ghost of yourself at a very young age. - Proms. Quite frightening. I
:03:48. > :03:52.thought although I would have liked to have taken a big red pencil and
:03:53. > :04:00.done it better, I thought I was quite student! A birthday party to
:04:01. > :04:04.come as well on your 80th. Yes, September the 8th, the Scottish
:04:05. > :04:12.chamber August are doing a late-night Prom for my birthday and
:04:13. > :04:18.they are finishing with a wedding. Patricia, you have been a feature of
:04:19. > :04:23.many problems, but your debut was at the Last Night Of The Proms in 1983.
:04:24. > :04:30.What do you remember of that occasion? I felt very, very
:04:31. > :04:36.privileged to be singing a piece by fon Williams. It suited my voice
:04:37. > :04:45.perfectly. It was a treat. - fon Williams. How is the preparation
:04:46. > :04:49.going? I'm intrigued you didn't say you were terrified, where you
:04:50. > :04:57.terrified? Once I get on stage I really enjoy it. One is always
:04:58. > :05:02.terrified before. Going out to conduct at the Albert Hall, through
:05:03. > :05:09.that archway, it is so frightening and you see all those things. As
:05:10. > :05:14.soon as you turn your back and look at the orchestra, you forget about
:05:15. > :05:20.everything except the music. It takes over. Even though I hope you
:05:21. > :05:23.won't be turning your back, you will be concentrating on the music as
:05:24. > :05:30.well. And you have another problem before that. The Butterworth, I'm
:05:31. > :05:35.singing is a Shropshire Lad songs. It's an orchestration because I've
:05:36. > :05:39.sung them many times with piano, but this is the chance to do it with a
:05:40. > :05:41.different colour. We are looking forward to that very much.
:05:42. > :05:43.Well, three weeks ago on Proms Extra, we discussed
:05:44. > :05:46.Tonight, it's all about his third, the Eroica.
:05:47. > :05:48.Shown on BBC4 last night, the Eroica was dedicated to
:05:49. > :05:50.Napoleon Bonaparte, whom Beethoven held in the highest regard
:05:51. > :05:54.That dedication got scribbled out once Beethoven found out that
:05:55. > :05:55.Napoleon had declared him self Emperor.
:05:56. > :05:58.And the moral of this story is, never compose for a revolutionary,
:05:59. > :06:01.until you've seen them nail their colours to the mast.
:06:02. > :06:04.Conducted by Proms Extra family member Sir Mark Elder with the
:06:05. > :06:51.Beethoven's 3rd symphony, Eroica, and that was
:06:52. > :07:02.the 118th performance of the piece in 120 years of the Proms.
:07:03. > :07:10.Max, you conducted one of those previous performances. It's a
:07:11. > :07:15.wonderful piece to conduct. You must respect that score absolutely, but
:07:16. > :07:27.remember how original it is. For instance, that very first tune. The
:07:28. > :07:32.Diva flat, or C Sharp, intervenes in the line and opens up such
:07:33. > :07:37.possibilities of exploration through the development, right through to
:07:38. > :07:43.the end of the first movement. It makes you very aware that you have
:07:44. > :07:48.to make people understand how revolutionary and how utterly
:07:49. > :07:54.brilliant that the flat was in that very first tune. Do you feel
:07:55. > :07:59.sometimes it's music that requires you to listen in a way that
:08:00. > :08:05.classical music beforehand had been allowed to wash over? Yes, with
:08:06. > :08:08.Beethoven there is no washing over. Until then music had often been
:08:09. > :08:13.background music. Something to entertain gently, but this was such
:08:14. > :08:18.a statement. It made a statement which we've not got over yet!
:08:19. > :08:24.Tricia, do you feel that sense of revolution when you hear it?
:08:25. > :08:28.Absolutely. The orchestra is so grand and awful and there are so
:08:29. > :08:33.many different emotions coming through the music, but I also love
:08:34. > :08:39.the fact he is strident, but also at times very tender and delicate.
:08:40. > :08:46.Beautiful. What do you think it shows us about Beethoven the man?
:08:47. > :08:50.You can get a huge amount of the man in his music. His reluctance to
:08:51. > :08:55.compromise comes over hugely, particularly in this symphony, over
:08:56. > :09:00.and above the two previous. The idea that he seems to be seizing the
:09:01. > :09:04.lapels of his audience and just shaking them and saying listening.
:09:05. > :09:11.You get the feeling at the end of this he might not be the most
:09:12. > :09:15.wonderful dinner guest! Extremely sure of his own opinions and
:09:16. > :09:19.abilities. There is a sense this was the first piece of music as
:09:20. > :09:23.political statement, or is that the importance we put on it now with
:09:24. > :09:27.hindsight? It's difficult with hindsight because you mentioned so
:09:28. > :09:31.many performances at the Proms alone. For all of us to imagine what
:09:32. > :09:36.it must have been like to hear that for the first time, I have in my
:09:37. > :09:41.mind classical symphony performances for the first time where it was very
:09:42. > :09:47.polite. The count or countess who would have paid for the evening,
:09:48. > :09:51.nobody would want to unsettle them. There's a feeling from Beethoven
:09:52. > :09:56.that this is his own piece, it reflects himself, and it reflects
:09:57. > :10:01.something common to humanity. He would much rather have upset the
:10:02. > :10:06.dinner table for the count, this is what it is to be human. That's the
:10:07. > :10:14.impression I get from the music. What kind of human was he? I'm sure
:10:15. > :10:20.he was a difficult man, but genius often has those extremes. Creative
:10:21. > :10:26.people do, don't they? We all said, looking at Max! I'm not a genius,
:10:27. > :10:42.but I am creative and I think I am difficult. Now the Sea Pictures. I
:10:43. > :10:50.haven't had an opportunity to sing it with an orchestra. How did you
:10:51. > :10:54.choose to do these? The project came to me as a recording project, along
:10:55. > :11:00.with other orchestral songs for baritone. In singing them down and
:11:01. > :11:05.octaves in my range, so the keys remain the same, nothing has changed
:11:06. > :11:11.apart from the vocal part, nobody in the room, least of all me, felt
:11:12. > :11:16.there was a mismatch. The poems are not gender specific. Two by women,
:11:17. > :11:21.three by men. The first one speaks about the relationship between
:11:22. > :11:27.mother and child, but the sea is speaking, it doesn't necessarily
:11:28. > :11:32.need to be a woman. I feel really happy in the same way I would urge
:11:33. > :11:36.all the mezzo sopranos currently throwing their shoes at the
:11:37. > :11:41.television to take those words for so long associated with men and ask
:11:42. > :11:46.why. It seems to be happening more and more in the 21st-century that we
:11:47. > :11:51.are crossing the boundaries. My first singing teacher was a German
:11:52. > :11:57.and he would have been horrified if I had wanted to sing a man song. Now
:11:58. > :12:02.one becomes the performer and one can be male or female and draw
:12:03. > :12:05.something out of oneself. Let's have a listen to some of the Sea Pictures
:12:06. > :12:33.performed by Alice Coote. That was Alice Coote performing
:12:34. > :12:48.Elgar's Sea Pictures. You've been inspired so much by the
:12:49. > :12:59.sea come how do you feel a gold car represented the ocean? - Elgar. He
:13:00. > :13:03.did very well. In his wonderful portrait of the sea, which she wrote
:13:04. > :13:14.on the south coast of England, not in France, he puts the arithmetic,
:13:15. > :13:18.the mathematics, of wave shape in the Fibonacci series, which is a
:13:19. > :13:23.purely arithmetical thing and he weaves that through his piece. Elgar
:13:24. > :13:29.I don't think would have ever thought about. I know that living
:13:30. > :13:35.with the sea, as I do all the time, I go to my door and there is the
:13:36. > :13:41.sea, when you're that close, it's a part of the fabric not only of your
:13:42. > :13:45.life, it inspires you even when you hear it through the open window in
:13:46. > :13:54.the middle of the night, but it almost becomes a part of your body.
:13:55. > :14:00.I think Elgar is describing sea related emotions and feelings, but
:14:01. > :14:08.not from that enormous close-up where there total identification or
:14:09. > :14:12.almost total identification. I hope I'm not saying something naughty
:14:13. > :14:17.about Elgar when I say that, it's not a criticism, it's a statement of
:14:18. > :14:19.his relationship, which is descriptive and he obviously
:14:20. > :14:25.thoroughly enjoyed it and it meant a lot to him.
:14:26. > :14:29.And if you enjoyed that Prom, you can watch it on the BBC iPlayer.
:14:30. > :14:33.Still to come tonight, we have a performance by our guest,
:14:34. > :14:36.Roderick Williams, and we look at concerts featuring the works of
:14:37. > :14:39.Now, it was Sir Benjamin Britten who said,
:14:40. > :14:42.?The old idea of a composer suddenly having a terrific idea and sitting
:14:43. > :14:48.That was Britten's opinion of a composer, but back in the ?60s,
:14:49. > :14:51.for a certain young hotshot, as a composer it wasn't the ideas that
:14:52. > :15:11.kept him awake, but something else. What does keep me awake at night is
:15:12. > :15:16.the method of expression. The technique of composition. This is
:15:17. > :15:20.the composer's first concern. So wonderful seeing that piece of
:15:21. > :15:25.footage of you in the '60s. Max, do you stay awake at night thinking
:15:26. > :15:32.ever method and structure? Oh, yes, all the time. It's absolutely
:15:33. > :15:39.fundamental that you question and research your technique. I think a
:15:40. > :15:44.performer understands that. I think, with a composer it is no different.
:15:45. > :15:48.You're always reinventing yourself through your technique. I think you
:15:49. > :15:51.take it for granted that you've got something to say, otherwise you have
:15:52. > :15:59.no business being a composer, but you always try to refine and
:16:00. > :16:07.improve. And, I still work regular office hours at that desk. It's a
:16:08. > :16:29.lifetime's habit. The opinions there of Max and Tendai Biti. Proms Extra
:16:30. > :16:38.spent time with two composers. I'm a composer and I live in Brixton. My
:16:39. > :16:46.music is very direct and immediate. It tends to be fast, colourful and
:16:47. > :16:51.rhythmic. There is quite a sparse clarity to my music. I don't like to
:16:52. > :16:54.stuff too much into a score. I like the feeling that anyone listening
:16:55. > :16:58.can hear everything that is happening at once. That means
:16:59. > :17:16.possibly not having too many instruments playing at the same
:17:17. > :17:20.time. When I sit down, I think I can get going on this new piece. Is
:17:21. > :17:26.probably to write a very small bit of melody. It might just be three
:17:27. > :17:31.notes. If I have the three notes on paper I feel pleased. I feel at
:17:32. > :17:36.least I get started. I put them down randomly. There must be a reason for
:17:37. > :17:39.them being there. I'm thinking of the melody that will lead me from
:17:40. > :17:43.the beginning to the end. The process of composing is like having
:17:44. > :17:47.stuck in your head, it won't leave. You become obsessed by certain
:17:48. > :17:53.things. Possibly for several months while you try to relate these little
:17:54. > :17:57.bits of tune to each other. While some people would find that not good
:17:58. > :18:01.to have an ear worm you can't get rid of. I like the feeling there is
:18:02. > :18:06.a trace of melody in my head going round and round. That is the
:18:07. > :18:10.beginning of a piece often. When I start music it tends to not start as
:18:11. > :18:14.music. The it tends to start as words. I have notebooks which I take
:18:15. > :18:19.around with me all the time. I write stuff down. I might sketch rhythmic
:18:20. > :18:24.things. Rhythm is an important part of the music I write. That might go
:18:25. > :18:29.on for a week or so. I go to the keyboard and start working things
:18:30. > :18:35.out. My first Proms commission was almost a year after the riots that
:18:36. > :18:40.happened in 2012. I was in Brixton when that was going on. We heard
:18:41. > :18:43.lots of fire engines and police helicopters, it just felt like the
:18:44. > :18:47.whole country just went mad for two-days. It was scary that it could
:18:48. > :18:52.turn that quickly. I was really just trying to explore the idea of how
:18:53. > :19:02.something can just explode like that. There can be a line of
:19:03. > :19:06.thinking that composers who live detached from society. Away from
:19:07. > :19:09.normality. I like to live in the middle of a large city. I try to
:19:10. > :19:21.meet as many different people as possible. I actively dislike the
:19:22. > :19:25.idea of these rareified composers. I don't need silence to work. I need
:19:26. > :19:30.quiet, but sounds outside don't bother me. I live right next to a
:19:31. > :19:33.train line. They are going by seven or eight times an hour. We see a lot
:19:34. > :19:38.of the police helicopter around here. I don't mind that too much. It
:19:39. > :19:43.hasn't got a pitch to my way of listening. What bothers me around
:19:44. > :19:47.here is ice-cream trucks. They - there is something very insidious
:19:48. > :19:53.about ice-cream trucks. The worse thing in the whole world for me is
:19:54. > :19:58.the ice-cream van. It's always outside this house. It has the most
:19:59. > :20:03.out of tune sound ever. It tries to play a tune. They keep their tunes
:20:04. > :20:09.on for 30 seconds at a time. I have to stop for a long time after that
:20:10. > :20:15.has been by. Noises don't bother me. Ice-cream trucks, they do bother me!
:20:16. > :20:20.Do we have a shared loathing of ice-cream trucks on this sofa?
:20:21. > :20:25.Definitely. Is that the sort of thing would distract you, Max? Of
:20:26. > :20:30.course. The where I live now there are no ice-cream vans. I'm glad
:20:31. > :20:39.about that. When I was 14, I think, I wrote to the Swinton and
:20:40. > :20:43.Pendlebury Journal, near Manchester where I lived, complaining about the
:20:44. > :20:48.noise of ice-cream vans which even then I couldn't stand. As a
:20:49. > :20:56.14-year-old that shows dedication to your art. Yes. We have just heard
:20:57. > :21:02.from Judith Weir, what the role entails, you gave up that position a
:21:03. > :21:06.year or so ago? I stopped being MQM a short time ago and handed over to
:21:07. > :21:11.Judith. I'm pleased she has taken on the role. She will be absolutely
:21:12. > :21:17.marvellous. I remember when I first went in to see the Queen after I had
:21:18. > :21:21.accepted the job, I asked her, well, what would you like me to make of
:21:22. > :21:26.this? She said - you can make of it what you like. ! Philip and I want
:21:27. > :21:33.to learn. We shall do everything we can to help. I thought that was
:21:34. > :21:39.marvellous. What I did, all those 10 years, it seems like yesterday I
:21:40. > :21:51.started, but what I did was write one or two big pieces like big piece
:21:52. > :21:57.for chorus orchestra and brass band and trumpeters and choruses for the
:21:58. > :22:02.cathedrals and chapels royal, and whatever else, to mark the
:22:03. > :22:06.anniversary of the end of World War II. The outbreak of peace. I
:22:07. > :22:14.invented the Queen's Medal for Music, which has gone to great
:22:15. > :22:17.conductors, great singers. Went to Judith Weir the composer one year. I
:22:18. > :22:21.think that is very important. It has raised the profile of serious music
:22:22. > :22:29.of all kinds a little bit. I'm pleased with that. I wrote them a
:22:30. > :22:34.Christmas Carol for the Chapel Royal. Will Judith Weir continue
:22:35. > :22:38.with that? She will continue with the themes and innovate other things
:22:39. > :22:44.that I hadn't thought of and will do extremely well. I look forward fo
:22:45. > :22:49.her results of her work. Rod you suppose as well Mostly vocal music.
:22:50. > :22:54.Not exclusively. It's for me I would count it much more as a hobby.
:22:55. > :22:57.Something I can do when on tour with my singing in a hotel room or
:22:58. > :23:03.airport waiting to change another flight. I can do some work then in
:23:04. > :23:11.those quiet moments. So we can see that Judith and Gavin there, you
:23:12. > :23:16.mentioned you have 9.00am to 5.00pm regime, you work at home. I'm on the
:23:17. > :23:21.move. Some knit, I like to write if I can. Max, you are a prolific
:23:22. > :23:28.composer. You keep office hours. What is a typical day like for you,
:23:29. > :23:35.the composer? I would get up at home. I will take the dog for a
:23:36. > :23:42.walk,, except the dog just died after 12 years. That is very sad. I
:23:43. > :23:50.shall take a walk, whatever the weather. In storm weather it is just
:23:51. > :23:55.so inspiring and vital. You are up in the Auckneys. Yes. The beach
:23:56. > :24:03.changes all the time. Never the same twice. That gives you lots of... I
:24:04. > :24:06.think it's a lovely old fashioned world "inspiration" and courage to
:24:07. > :24:15.go into the house, have a coffee and face your desk. I like to be at the
:24:16. > :24:22.desk at 9.30am and work through for a break of something light for
:24:23. > :24:28.lunch. Then through to 6. 30pm. It might sound ridiculous. I'm by
:24:29. > :24:36.myself, set out the table, put water, two wine glasses and in have
:24:37. > :24:42.a meal. I don't have a television. I will read, listen to music, play the
:24:43. > :24:45.piano. I will polish furniture or Cooper or something and relax in
:24:46. > :24:51.that way. That, basically, is my day. Of course, at the moment I'm
:24:52. > :24:55.not at home. I'm away I think for three weeks. The I'm having a
:24:56. > :25:00.wonderful time being 80 all over the place! Birthday celebrations and
:25:01. > :25:05.getting thoroughly spoilt! Do you think being a composer is easier
:25:06. > :25:11.these days, has it changed much from when you started in the 6 of 0's? I
:25:12. > :25:15.think it has. Composers have a hard time of these days because, for a
:25:16. > :25:22.start, there are so many of them. When I was very young, there were
:25:23. > :25:27.very few of us. And, the number of composers here at the Royal College,
:25:28. > :25:33.and at the Royal Academy across town is enormous in comparison. They are
:25:34. > :25:35.all in competition with each other. Then publishers were actively
:25:36. > :25:40.looking for young composers to publish. These days they are
:25:41. > :25:43.overwhelmed. They are not publishing much anyway because a lot of them
:25:44. > :25:47.are run by accountants, not people looking to the future, they are
:25:48. > :25:53.looking to the next five minutes worth of profit. I think they really
:25:54. > :25:56.have a fight. We talked a little bit about the competition between
:25:57. > :26:00.composers and how many young composers there are. The do you feel
:26:01. > :26:05.the audiences are clamouring for new classical music. What is your sense,
:26:06. > :26:09.Roderick? That is a tough one. I have spoken to audience members who
:26:10. > :26:13.love the things they know. So I think often - I've had that
:26:14. > :26:17.experience, certainly from a performer's eye view on the stage,
:26:18. > :26:22.singing a new work. You look into the eyes of the audience. When the
:26:23. > :26:27.first chord goes down you see a look on their faces. I have spoken to
:26:28. > :26:32.other audience members who are excited by the prospect of hearing
:26:33. > :26:37.something new. I don't know. I find it very difficult to speak for them
:26:38. > :26:41.as a whole. I find the younger generation are really into modern
:26:42. > :26:45.music. They understand it immediately. I think for older
:26:46. > :26:50.people it can be challenging. My mother used to come to England every
:26:51. > :26:53.year. I would take her to all the performances I did. Sometimes she
:26:54. > :26:58.would say - that didn't make any sense. It was just too long. She was
:26:59. > :27:02.listening fortunes. It isn't always the case. Do you allow yourself,
:27:03. > :27:07.Max, to be swayed by that sense the audience may not appreciate or
:27:08. > :27:11.understand what you have written? I think that... That has happened a
:27:12. > :27:18.lot in my life. Audiences have found what I have done very difficult. In
:27:19. > :27:22.1969 a third of them walk out. It made the BBC News. There was a
:27:23. > :27:26.scandal at the Albert Hall last nightment when you are young it is
:27:27. > :27:30.something you have to go through and put up with. You go on. The lovely
:27:31. > :27:36.thing is now, that piece and other pieces I wrote then, which caused a
:27:37. > :27:41.great scandal they are done and done and done. People enjoy them. And I
:27:42. > :27:48.think that's a very good reason for living until you are 80. You see all
:27:49. > :27:52.those things which caused such problems with audiences, they go
:27:53. > :27:58.full circle. They are family favourites. Even in the time of
:27:59. > :28:03.Beethoven, you know, when a new work was performed, some of their first
:28:04. > :28:08.performances were badly received by audiences it challenged them. Yes.
:28:09. > :28:11.The more we hear music the more we get to understand the sound and
:28:12. > :28:16.enjoy it. If you would like to find out more about new music you can
:28:17. > :28:19.unlock a treasure trove in the new works collection which can be found
:28:20. > :28:26.on the BBC iPlayer. I urge you to check it out. We will turn now to
:28:27. > :28:36.the late John Tavener whose work Requiem Fragments was shown last
:28:37. > :29:26.week on BBC Four when it had its world premier.
:29:27. > :29:29.The world premiere of Requiem Fragments by Sir John Tavener, whose
:29:30. > :29:31.music has become the soundtrack to national, emotional occasions,
:29:32. > :29:35.He composed Requiem Fragments shortly before his death.
:29:36. > :29:43.You knew Sir John the best, you worked with him so many times, tell
:29:44. > :29:49.us about the man behind that beautiful music. He put across a
:29:50. > :29:54.very sombre image in public. He did look very frail towards the end, but
:29:55. > :30:00.knowing him privately, he had a wicked sense of humour and he was
:30:01. > :30:05.very widely read, when I first met him he played Indian classical music
:30:06. > :30:12.to me and he was giggling about it. He said, this is your music, and he
:30:13. > :30:17.took me back to my roots. In the first opera of his that I did, he
:30:18. > :30:22.studied my voice and after that he wrote many pieces for me. They got
:30:23. > :30:26.harder and harder progressively, but they seemed to fit like a glove
:30:27. > :30:31.after I'd done a bit of work and the high notes were just there. It was
:30:32. > :30:41.always difficult, but exciting. You met him. We did a piece together in
:30:42. > :30:47.about 2005. We went to Istanbul and it was also done in London. I
:30:48. > :30:53.remember specifically when Sir John came to rehearsals, I was having a
:30:54. > :31:01.real problem with the style. It was Arabic and very high line. I
:31:02. > :31:08.couldn't get it. Eventually he was just sitting in the stalls and he
:31:09. > :31:17.said, no, like this! He did this extraordinary thing. It made sense!
:31:18. > :31:23.I was trying to sing it, that was my problem. Max, does his work speak to
:31:24. > :31:30.you? I like some of the shorter pieces very much. The longer ones,
:31:31. > :31:40.I'm afraid... I don't take to them so kindly. I do recognise he's a
:31:41. > :31:47.great composer. He has one thing which can be an example to us. He
:31:48. > :31:56.makes one note, two notes were very, very hard over time and in space.
:31:57. > :32:02.That economy produces an intensity, a spiritual awareness, between
:32:03. > :32:06.perhaps just two notes, which is quite extraordinary. I have
:32:07. > :32:11.difficulty with some of his work, but enormous respect and some of the
:32:12. > :32:16.smaller pieces I really do like. He was a wonderful choral writer,
:32:17. > :32:23.particularly. Do you know if you enjoyed your work? He didn't like my
:32:24. > :32:29.work at all! I remember him being quite abusive in public, saying some
:32:30. > :32:36.of my work was like laundering dirty linen in public! I didn't mind.
:32:37. > :32:43.Finally, he didn't like Beethoven either. You just accept that I'm not
:32:44. > :32:50.that I would ever claim to be Beethoven. You think, I can learn
:32:51. > :32:53.from John certain things about concentration and spirituality, but
:32:54. > :32:59.other things I will just leave aside when he starts talking about me and
:33:00. > :33:03.my work. Seems to me that a thick skin is a requirement of being a
:33:04. > :33:05.composer. I think you have to have both a thick skin and are very
:33:06. > :33:07.sensitive one. Now it's time for our weekly feature
:33:08. > :33:10.that we know strikes a chord with many of you - yes,
:33:11. > :33:13.it's David Owen Norris and his Chord of the Week, which tonight looks
:33:14. > :33:27.into Tavener's Requiem Fragments. D major and be major simultaneously.
:33:28. > :33:31.I think it came into Tavern's mind when he was thinking about the
:33:32. > :33:36.residence buildings - resonant buildings his pieces would be
:33:37. > :33:41.performed. A generous acoustic can make cords overlap and his take on
:33:42. > :33:48.that idea would run with it. He's writing for double choir and he has
:33:49. > :33:57.one choir singing a cycle of fifth, D major, down five notes to grams,
:33:58. > :34:07.down to see and F. His other choir fills in that cycle of fifth with
:34:08. > :34:10.cords three notes apart. So when Tavener puts those together, he gets
:34:11. > :34:24.overlapping, echoing cords. Then he gets a completely different
:34:25. > :34:34.set of overlapping echoes by singing everything backwards. To put it in
:34:35. > :34:36.the context of contemporary art, you might say he's cut up his shark a
:34:37. > :34:49.different way. David Owen Norris and
:34:50. > :34:51.his chords will be back next week. Now, from revolutions to sacred
:34:52. > :34:53.words to tragedy, or at least a symphony nicknamed
:34:54. > :34:56.?Tragic'/Tragische, but officially known as the sixth symphony,
:34:57. > :34:59.composed by Gustav Mahler. Conducted by Valery Gergiev, here is
:35:00. > :35:02.the World Orchestra for Peace Mahler's 6th Symphony, performed
:35:03. > :36:05.by the World Orchestra for Peace Can you feel the tragedy in that
:36:06. > :36:09.music? It's very tragic and the ending of the sixth Symphony was be
:36:10. > :36:13.one of the most despairing noises music has ever made. He quite
:36:14. > :36:22.literally takes a big hammer and smashes it onto the platform. A
:36:23. > :36:26.terrifying gesture. I think that music is a foretaste of the extreme
:36:27. > :36:31.agonies he was going to go through mentally, spiritually, a little
:36:32. > :36:38.later in his life. The very fact that he wrote it with all itself
:36:39. > :36:45.questioning and agonising and despair, what an act of courage,
:36:46. > :36:52.what an example that is for all of us. We can all have... There's a
:36:53. > :36:56.lovely old-fashioned word, uplift, his example. I think it's a nap
:36:57. > :37:02.salute you marvellous piece, wonderful piece. One of my
:37:03. > :37:05.favourites. One of the things that impresses me about hearing a
:37:06. > :37:11.well-known piece is hearing it performed by so many orchestras. The
:37:12. > :37:14.World Orchestra for Peace are a very particular group, hand-picked,
:37:15. > :37:21.superb musicians who play in other orchestras around the world. There
:37:22. > :37:24.is a real mission to show how musicians can work together from all
:37:25. > :37:31.different cultural backgrounds. This is something you feel very strongly
:37:32. > :37:38.about, Patricia. Absolutely. Music is a force that opens people up and
:37:39. > :37:43.it gives them confidence. I've been teaching in India for the last five
:37:44. > :37:48.years and I've been amazed by young people coming to me from all parts
:37:49. > :37:54.of India. I do this singing, I teach singing. They are just lapping it up
:37:55. > :38:01.and I've been discovering some beautiful voices. Max, this is a
:38:02. > :38:05.cause close to your heart, the idea of music breaking down boundaries
:38:06. > :38:09.and crossing social divides. That has put an end to that orchestra.
:38:10. > :38:17.All you can do is try to overcome and make music, the healing power
:38:18. > :38:23.that it really is given half a chance. The orchestra there that we
:38:24. > :38:30.saw, it's a marvellous gesture in the right direction. There must be
:38:31. > :38:36.more, there must be more. There will be a huge buzz when Daniel Barenboim
:38:37. > :38:39.comes into town with his orchestra. Yes, in the next couple of weeks. We
:38:40. > :38:43.shall look out for that. It's good to see classical music is
:38:44. > :38:47.doing all it can to bring everyone together,
:38:48. > :38:49.but sadly Proms Extra is about to break up this party as we're almost
:38:50. > :38:52.at the end of tonight's show. Something for you to enjoy tomorrow
:38:53. > :38:55.night on BBC4 is one heck of a singin', swingin' battle
:38:56. > :38:58.in the Royal Albert Hall. There's nothing else worth watching
:38:59. > :39:00.because it don't mean a thing An exciting concert not to be missed
:39:01. > :39:39.tomorrow night on BBC4 at 7pm, And the host of that concert,
:39:40. > :39:43.Clare Teal, will be joining me on next week's Proms Extra,
:39:44. > :39:47.along with the king of dad dancing and conductor of the Borusan
:39:48. > :39:49.Istanbul Phil, Sascha Goetzel, and another bad boy of British
:39:50. > :39:52.composers, Mark-Anthony Turnage. Just time to remind you that you can
:39:53. > :39:55.watch Proms every Thursday, Radio 3 broadcasts every Prom live
:39:56. > :40:00.and you can find this episode Many thanks to my guests tonight,
:40:01. > :40:10.to Patricia Rozario, Max aka Sir Peter Maxwell Davies and thanks
:40:11. > :40:14.to Roderick Williams, who has taken Accompanied by Susie Allan
:40:15. > :40:51.on the piano, here is Roderick # amazing Grace. # how sweet the
:40:52. > :41:07.sound. # that saved a wretch like me.
:41:08. > :41:37.# I once was lost. # but now I'm found.
:41:38. > :41:39.# I was blind but now I see. # was grace that taught my heart to
:41:40. > :42:33.feel. # When we've been here ten thousand
:42:34. > :42:54.years # Bright shining like the sun
:42:55. > :42:54.# We've no less days to sing God's praise
:42:55. > :43:15.# Than when we've just begun. #