Music Matters

On this programme:

Joshua Rifkin

Tom talks to Joshua Rifkin about his approach to Bach. Rifkin made a legendary recording of Bach's B Minor Mass in the early eighties, which according to his revolutionary research suggests that Bach wrote the piece for just one singer to each choral part. It's an idea that continues to reverberate throughout the early music world. Just what did Bach expect from performances of his choral works - massed choirs or single singers?

Arts and the American Election

Fresh from re-election, George W. Bush embarks on his 2nd term in office. To discuss the state of music in Bush's America. Tom is joined live from the States by the director Francesca Zambello, who's worked for everyone from the Disney Corporation to English National Opera, and Dana Gioia, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts in America, the organisation responsible for distributing the money the government gives for the arts. What does the future hold for music in America?

Charles Ives

Paul Moor is a writer with a unique perspective on Charles Ives, one of the most iconoclastic and individual American composers who ever lived. Moor narrates the story of his meeting with the elderly Ives in 1948 - a revealing insight into the private world of this elusive composer.

Music and Well being

Violinist Paul Robertson joins Tom live in the studio to discuss music's therapeutic value. The Greeks theorised about the physical effects that different musical modes could have on us but it's only recently that there's been any hard science to back these ideas up. Tom went along to the Association of British Orchestras's symposium on music and health - part of the Listen Up! festival - to find out how music can help with depression, blood pressure, and even the health of foetuses.

Music Matters

Episode and Playlist Information

• 5 December 2004
• 21 November 2004
• 14 November 2004
• 7 November 2004
• 24 October 2004
• 17 October 2004
• 10 October 2004

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