Music Matters

11 December 2005

Sunday 11 December 2005 17:45-18:30 (Radio 3)

Presented by Tom Service.

Writer Roger Nichols looks over the vast personal correspondence of Claude Debussy, published in France for the first time.

American music historian Vivian Perlis talks about her new publication, An Oral History of American Music, documenting the history of 20th Century music directly through the voices of composers.

Plus a look at the simple dance in triple time that became the most popular ballroom dance of the 19th Century, inspiring composers well into the 20th Century - the Waltz.

Duration:

45 minutes

In This Programme

The Letters of Debussy
Denis Herlin and Francois Lesure have finally completed the mammoth task of collecting together all of Debussy's correspondence in a single volume of over 2000 pages containing more than 3000 letters. The collection offers an insight into the world of a very private man. In his letters to his wives, lovers, friends and fellow composers, Debussy's personality is revealed to be one of a melancholic and pessimistic artist, but a genuine, warm and passionate friend. The Debussy scholar and translator Roger Nichols has read all of the letters and talks with Tom about their significance as well as translating a selection of extracts from the French for illustration.

Denis Herlin & Francois Lesure (Ed's): Debussy Correspondance. Pub. Gallimard 65 Euro (hardback - not currently available in translation).

Composers Voices
A unique collection is housed at Yale University in America - Oral History, American Music. Vivian Perlis has made it her life's work to record the voices of the giants of American music and has amassed an enormous archive, ranging from Charles Ives to Meredith Monk. It all started when Vivian got a call from Julian Myrick, an elderly insurance executive who was Charles Ives' business partner. Vivian interviewed Myrick on tape, and so began her collection of reminiscences, both of the composers themselves and the people who knew them. Vivian Perlis and her co-author, Libby Van Cleve, have now published the first volume of a series of books documenting the transcripts of these interviews. Two CDs accompany the book, and give a remarkable insight into the content of the archive. Tom talked to Vivian Perlis and Libby Van Cleve about this musical treasure-trove.

Vivian Perlis & Libby Van Cleve: Composers' Voices: from Ives to Ellington. Pub. Yale University Press £30 (hardback)

Waltz
The New Year's Day concert from Vienna has become a great seasonal tradition and features the waltz. Though familiar today, the waltz was a serious social and musical revolution in the nineteenth century. It swept all over Europe from its centre in Vienna , and the music of the Strauss family, in particular Johann Strauss Junior. Thanks to Johann's annual visits to St. Petersburg from the mid-1850s, the waltz was embraced by the Russian people and had an indelible influence on composers of the time. Tom is joined by Russian music expert David Nice, to find out how Russian composers took up and transformed the waltz.

The New Year's Day concert from Vienna is broadcast on Sunday 1 st January 2006, 10.15-12.40 on BBC Radio 3 .

Music Matters

Episode and Playlist Information

• 12 March 2006
• 5 March 2006
• 19 February 2006
• 5 February 2006
• 22 January 2006
• 8 January 2006
• 11 December 2005
• 4 December 2005
• 20 November 2005
• 13 November 2005

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