The latest Classics Count musical journey? From Mussorgsky’s Fantasia favourite to Vivaldi’s sizzling Summer & a Godfather film theme from Mascagni. The show was full of stories. Plus a beautiful piece from Felix Mendelsshon (pictured) for the coffee break.

06 July 25

The latest Classics Count was a rich musical journey, from Mahler’s dramatic Symphony No. 5 to John Field’s piano concerto gem, and Camilleri’s captivating Clarinet Concertino.

20 July 25

Classics Count transports you from Handel’s regal Water Music to Offenbach’s swaying Barcarole. Find out how did Haydn’s Symphony 100 got its nickname. Your scintillating Sunday soundtrack also includes the whole of Schubert's third Symphony written in 1815 when Franz was just 18 years old

27 July 25

17 August 25

The latest Classics Count took us on a musical journey. From Schubert’s playful symphonic twists to Holst’s serene Venus, and Smetana’s flowing Ma Vlast Vltava. Plus Mascagni (pictured) and Mozart in the coffee break...

31 August 25

Verdi (pictured): Prelude from La Traviata – an evocative and moving piece from this wonderful opera
Saint Saens: La Princesse Jaune Overture - a story of dreams from the Land of the Rising Sun
Debussy: Clair de Lune from the Bergamasque Suite - Debussy’s most popular piece from this Suite
Hamish MacCunn: The Land of the Mountain and the Flood Overture – an uplifting musical portrait by this Scottish composer 
Beethoven: Symphony No 3 Eroica 2nd movement Largo –capturing a funereal feel
Gluck : Dance of the Blessed Spirits - Orpheus’ sorrowful song
Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake Finale – an emotionally charged ending to this familiar ballet
Delibes: Coppelia Act 1 Valse – a light and airy waltz


COFFEE BREAK featuring 2 mesmerising compositions from the acclaimed contemporary British composer
John Barry: Give Me A Smile
John Barry: Beyondness of Things


Boyce: Symphony No 4 in F major Overture to the Shepherd’s Lottery 1st Allegro – from English Baroque composer’s pastoral work
Barbara Eifler CEO of Making Music interview - tune in to find out more about the organisation and how they help promote live music and support musicians
Bach: The Prelude and Fugue in C major, BWV 846, from Book I of The Well-Tempered Clavier – a rather stately piece
Mendelssohn: Midsummer Night’s Dream Scherzo – listen out for the dainty flute motifs
J Strauss II: Die Fledermaus The Bat Overture – a gloriously uplifting overture from the comic opera
Faure: Pavane – pure musical elegance
Grieg: Peer Gynt Suite No 1 Solveig’s Song – hear the melody Solveig sings as she sits abandoned at her spinning wheel
Grieg: Holberg Suite Praeludium - written in 1884 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Ludvig Holberg-founder of Danish literature


14 Sept 25

Handel: Arrival of the Queen of Sheba – get in the mood with the pomp of this majestic piece
Chris Hopkins, Artistic Director of the Amersham Festival of Music - interview
Delius: On hearing the first cuckoo in Spring – based on an old Norwegian folk song
Mozart: Piano Concerto No 23 in A K488 2nd movement Adagio – Mozart seduced the public back into loving his piano concerti with this tantalising piece
Rachmaninov: Second Suite for 2 pianos – written in Italy in 1901 after a 4 year period of self doubt
Grieg: Peer Gynt Suite No 1 Anitra’s Dance – a seductive and bewitching dance
Vivaldi: Concerto in F Autumn Allegro – the feel of the onset of Autumn captured in this piece
Hilary McCann, Publicity Officer of the Amersham Festival of Music - interview
Borodin: Polovtsian Dance – from the opera Prince Igor


COFFEE BREAK 2 moving pieces written 100 years apart
Mahler: Symphony No 5 in C sharp minor 4th movement Adagietto 
Pheloung: Lewis Main Theme 


Puccini : Che gelida manina from La Boheme – from the tragic love story of poet Rodolfo and seamstress Mimi
Boccherini : Cello Concerto No 9 in B flat 3rd movement rondo allegro – one of talented cellist Boccherini’s 12 concerti for his favoured instrument 
John Dunnett, conductor of Wycombe Sinfonia - interview 
Wagner: Prelude to Die Meistersingers Mastersingers of Nuremburg Overture – a powerful piece from a story of competitive singing
 Von Suppe: Light Cavalry Overture – a favourite piece for bands and orchestras from this Austrian composer
Dvorak: Symphony No 8 in G major 3rd movement allegretto grazioso – composed in 1889 following his election to the Bohemiam Academy, listen out for the trumpet finale
Marcello: Oboe Concerto in D minor 3rd movement Vivace – a chirpy pice from this Venetian composer
Stradella: Sinfonia a Tres in D major Part 1 – some stately Baroque to draw the show to a close


28 September 25

Charles Avison (pictured): Concerto Grosso No 5 in D minor Largo – a superb start from Newcastle born composer, conductor and organist considered to be the best English concerto composer of the 18th century

Beethoven: Symphony No 1 in C major 3rd movement Menuetto allegro molto e vivace – dedicated to a Dutch-born Austrian diplomat and patron

Shostakovitch: Piano Concerto No 2 in F major 2nd movement Andante – listen to the violins, violas and cellos starting the movement in a meditative mood

Brahms: Symphony No 4 in E minor 1st movement Allegro non troppo and 3rd movement Allegro giocoso poco meno presto – hear what Brahms said to his friends about this piece

Grieg: Peer Gynt Suite No 2 Arabian Dance – commissioned after meeting the playwright Henrik Ibsen; this is one of the 33 incidental pieces Grieg composed

Crusell: Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra in E flat 3rd movement Rondo allegretto – including some incredibly fast finger work

Binge: Elizabethan Serenade – from a contemporary Derby-born composed and used by the BBC in the 1950s for the popular series Music Tapestry

Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No 3 in G Allegro – find out how the 6 concertos got their name

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COFFEE BREAK Three Adagios composed for the cello in a Boccherini sandwich

Boccherini: Concerto in D for Cello and Strings

Elgar: Cello Concerto in E minor

Boccherini: Cello Concerto No 9 in B flat

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Delibes: Lakme Duo des fleurs- Flower duet – the story of the daughter of a Brahmin priest and her maid gathering flowers by the river

Mendelssohn: Symphony No 4 in A Italian 1st movement Allegro vivace and 3rd movement Con moto moderato – written following a 10 month tour of Italy

Mozart: Symphony No 40 in G minor K550 4th movement Finale allegro assai – first conducted by Antonio Salieri in 1791 and part of this month’s programme from the Amersham Festival of Music (hear Artistic Director Chris Hopkins speak via listen again in Classics Count from 28th September)

Dvorak: Symphony No 8 in G major 3rd movement allegretto grazioso – the ideas for this symphony came so fast to Dvorak in 1889 that he struggled to write them down

Debussy: Preludes Book 1 No 8 The Girl with Flaxen Hair – a short piece for solo piano from this French composer

12 October 25

Elgar: Pomp and Circumstance March in G major No 4 – listen in to find out how Elgar’s Marches got their name
Hummel: Trumpet Concerto in E flat major 2nd movement Andante - composed for a Viennese trumpeter who developed a keyed trumpet
Chopin: Berceuse in D flat major – meaning lullaby and written in summer 1843 for Louisette but who was she?
Binge: Sailing By – played before the 00:45 shipping forecast every night on BBC Radio 4
Haydn: Symphony No 94 in G Surprise 2nd movement Andante and 3rd movement Menuetto – allegro molto  - beware there is a loud and sudden chord in the second movement! What was Haydn thinking? 
Mozart: Piano Concerto No 23 in A  K488 3rd movement Allegro assai – a beautifully seductive piece
Delius: On hearing the first cuckoo in Spring – a tone poem where the clarinet represents the cuckoo’s call 
Tchaikovsky: Marche Slave – composed for a benefit concert to raise funds for wounded soldiers
Ennio Morricone: Gabriel’s Oboe – from the 1986 movie The Mission


COFFEE BREAK Two beautiful pieces from the remarkable and determined 19th century French composer 
Louise Farrenc: Sextet in C minor Andante sostenuto 
Louise Farrenc: Symphony No 3 in G minor Adagio cantabile


Finzi: Forlana – one of the 5 Bagatelles which Finzi started composing in 1941 before he was drafted into the war

Interview with Rowena Cutting and Hannah Stephens from the Audentior Symphony Orchestra who will be telling us about their special Hallowe’en Concert on Saturday 25th October

Saint Saens: Danse Macabre – listen out for the xylophone denoting the rattling of the skeletons’ bones
Mussorgsky: Night on the Bare Mountain – written to depict the witches’ wild dancing party
Grieg: Peer Gynt Suite No 1 In the Hall of the Mountain King – hear how the music changes as Peer is chased by the Trolls
Prokofiev: Dance of the Knights – a fabulously dramatic and iconic piece for the Montagues and Capulets
Faure: Pelleas and Melisande Sicilienne – from an opera with the story of a love triangle


19 October 25

Barber: Adagio for Strings – originally the slow movement of a string quartet written in Rome in 1936
Albinoni: Adagio in G minor for strings and organ – listen in to found out who the real composer is thought to be
Faure: Pavane – based on a 16th century court dance performed in pairs
Elgar: Nimrod – the 9th of his 14 Enigma Variations and synonymous with Remembrance
Mascagni: Cavelleria Rusticana Intermezzo – an evocative piece with luscious, sweeping melodies
Dvorak: Serenade for Strings 2nd movement – written in just 2 weeks in the summer of 1875
Brahms: Symphony No 3 in F major 3rd movement Poco allegretto – hear what Dvorak said about this symphony
Mozart: Piano concerto No 21 in C K467 2nd movement Andante – Mozart’s autographed manuscript for this well known concerto is on display in a library in New York City
John Barry: The Beyondness of Things – from a Yorkshireman and  one of the greatest composers of film music

COFFEE BREAK We will be playing the adagios from two much loved concerti 
Bruch: Violin Concerto No 1 in G minor 2nd movement 
Mozart: Clarinet Concerto in A 2nd movement

Interview with Claudio Di Meo, conductor with Hemel Symphony Orchestra
Saint Saens: Danse Macabre – hear how Saint Saens uses the instruments to tell the story of dancing skeletons
Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition Bydlo – the fourth movement entitled Bydlo meaning cattle in Polish and refers to an oxcart
Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition The Great Gate of Kiev – a majestic, solemn finale
Interview with piano soloist Mario Miralle Garcia 
Grieg: Piano Concerto in A minor 2nd movement Adagio – the middle movement of Grieg’s much-loved but only piano concerto 
Beethoven: Symphony No 6 in F major Pastoral 4th movement Allegro – entitled Thunderstorm , listen out for the fearful cries of the piccolo and the trombones depicting a lightning strike 


09 November 25

Martin Clarke is a Freelance Journalist & Presenter:
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