Classical Icons

Hugh Macdonald presents a special Classical Icons dedicated to the BBC SSO.

Hugh Macdonald guides us through the oratorio composed in 1741 by George Frideric Handel.

Hugh Macdonald takes us back in time to 1877 and to the St Andrews Hall in Glasgow.

Hugh MacDonald unwraps the slow movement from the Symphony used in an ad for Hovis bread.

Hugh Macdonald sheds light on the eduring appeal of Holst’s The Planet Suite.

Hugh Macdonald highlights one of the great masterpieces of opera - Dido and Aeneas.

Hugh Macdonald reveals the reasons for the mass appeal of Bach's prelude in C Major.

Hugh MacDonald looks at Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring

Hugh MacDonald reveals the story behind Wagner's tender and intimate Siegfried Idyll.

Hugh MacDonald explores Bach’s mighty Mass in B Minor.

Hugh MacDonald reveals the secrets of Finlandia, one of Sibelius' best known works.

Hugh MacDonald delves into Elgar’s famous Enigma Variations –

Hugh MacDonald uncovers the story and politics behind Verdi’s Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves

Hugh MacDonald looks at how Vaughan Williams evoked the spirit of the countryside.

One of classical music’s best-loved treasures was written by an Parisian bar pianist.

Carl Orff's spectacular blockbuster gets the Hugh MacDonald treatment.

The most recorded piece of all time: what makes Vivaldi’s Four Seasons such a hit?

The Icon of icons: Hugh explains how four notes changed the world.

Ravel didn’t think much of his own great masterpiece- but Hugh MacDonald proves him wrong!

Hugh MacDonald explains how Gershwin bridged the worlds of Jazz and Classical music.

Hugh MacDonald explores the magical world of Debussy’s best-loved masterpiece.

Hugh MacDonald explains how Barber’s music is linked with the assassination of JFK.

Hugh Macdonald explains how this early piece of classical music ended up in a horror movie

One of the best-loved pieces of music of all time- played at weddings across the world.