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John Rutter at 80

Tom Service with guests, stories and the perfect classical soundtrack to start the weekend!

Tom Service with the perfect classical soundtrack to start the weekend, including music by Schubert, Bacewicz, Rossini and Kevin Puts.

Choral composing legend John Rutter invites Tom to Cambridgeshire to the space where he writes all of his music, as he celebrates two new albums marking his 80th birthday. After rummaging in his attic during lockdown he rediscovered some of his early orchestral works which he's now recorded with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for an album called 鈥淩eflections鈥�. John talks about the impact the introduction of mixed choirs at Oxbridge colleges in the 1970s had on the choral scene we see today, being typecast, and music鈥檚 power to heal.

Mezzo-soprano Lea Desandre and lutenist Thomas Dunford bring music from their new album 鈥淪ongs of Passion鈥� to the Saturday Morning studio, performing music by Henry Purcell and John Dowland. Thomas Dunford has been called the 'Eric Clapton of the lute', whilst French-Italian mezzo-soprano Lea Desandre was just 20 when she was awarded a place in William Christie鈥檚 academy Le Jardin des Voix. They talk to Tom about the therapeutic nature of Dowland鈥檚 music and the spontaneity of their live performances with the ensemble Jupiter.

We also hear from the team behind an exhibition called 鈥淩evivification鈥� in Perth, Australia, which features sounds created by 鈥渃erebral organoids鈥�, sometimes referred to as 鈥渕ini brains鈥�, grown from cells of the late American composer Alvin Lucier. Tom talks to neuroscientist Stuart Hodgetts and artist Guy Ben-Ary who worked with Lucier on the project in the few years before his death in 2021, and asks what it could mean for the future.

To listen on most smart speakers just say "Ask 麻豆社 Sounds to play Saturday Morning鈥�.

3 hours

Last on

Sat 20 Sep 2025 09:00
麻豆社 Radio 3

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Music Played

  • Johannes Brahms

    Sonata Op.120 no.1 (4th mvt)

    Orchestrator: Luciano Berio. Performer: Michael Collins. Orchestra: Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Edward Gardner.
    • Berio: Orchestral Realisations.
    • Chandos.
    • 7.

  • Maurice Ravel

    String Quartet in F major (2nd mvt)

    Ensemble: Belcea Quartet.
    • Debussy, Dutilleux & Ravel: String Quartets.
    • Warner Classics.
    • 118.

  • Judith Steenbrink

    Polonois chinois (after Melante)

    Performer: Wu Wei. Ensemble: Holland Baroque Society.
    • PENTATONE.

  • Luise Adolpha Le Beau

    Cello Sonata (1st mvt)

    Performer: Steven Isserlis. Performer: Connie Shih.
    • HYPERION.

  • Kevin Puts

    Virelai (after Guillaume de Machaut)

    Conductor: St茅phane Den猫ve. Orchestra: Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra.
    • Delos.

  • Johannes Hieronymus Kapsberger

    Toccata Arpeggiata

    Music Arranger: David Orlowsky. Music Arranger: David Bergm眉ller. Performer: David Orlowsky. Performer: David Bergm眉ller.
    • Alter Ego.
    • Warner Classics.
    • 12.

  • Franz Schubert

    Impromptu in A flat major, D935 no.2

    Performer: Steven Osborne.
    • Schubert: Impromptus D935.
    • Hyperion.
    • 2.

  • Gra偶yna Bacewicz

    String Quartet No. 4 (Arr. for String Orchestra): 3rd mvt

    Music Arranger: Marijn van Prooijen. Orchestra: Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra. Director: Malin Broman.
    • BIS.

  • Henry Purcell

    Come, Ye Sons of Art Away, Z. 323: V. Strike the viol, touch the lute

    Performer: Thomas Dunford. Singer: Lea Desandre. Ensemble: Jupiter.
    • Warner Classics.

  • Edward Elgar

    Violin Concerto in B Minor, Op. 61: II. Andante

    Performer: Christian Tetzlaff. Orchestra: 麻豆社 Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: John Storg氓rds.
    • Ondine.

  • Nico Muhly

    The Revd Mustard his Installation Prelude

    Performer: James McVinnie.
    • Bedroom Community.

  • John Rutter

    Reflections: I. Prelude

    Orchestra: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: John Rutter.
    • Decca.

  • John Rutter

    The Gift of Life: II. The tree of life

    Ensemble: Dmitri Ensemble. Choir: Choir of Clare College, Cambridge. Conductor: Graham Ross.
    • Harmonia Mundi.

  • Gioachino Rossini

    The Thieving Magpie (Overture)

    Orchestra: Chamber Orchestra of Europe. Conductor: Claudio Abbado.
    • Rossini OverturesThe Chamber Orchestra Of Europe.
    • Deutsche Grammaphon.
    • 7.

  • Claude Debussy

    Pagodes (Estampes)

    Music Arranger: Percy Grainger. Orchestra: City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Sir Simon Rattle.
    • EMI.

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K550 - IV. Allegro assai

    Conductor: Ren茅 Jacobs. Orchestra: Freiburg Baroque Orchestra.
    • HARMONIA MUNDI.

  • Nikolai Girshevich Kapustin

    Burlesque, Op. 97

    Performer: Christine Rauh. Performer: Benyamin Nuss.
    • SWR music.

  • Howard Skempton

    More sweet than my refrain

    Ensemble: Ars Nova Copenhagen. Director: Paul Hillier.
    • CANTALOUPE.

  • Benjamin Britten

    Young Apollo Op.16

    Performer: Lorenzo Soul猫s. Orchestra: Aldeburgh Strings.
    • LINN.

  • John Dowland

    Lachrimae

    Performer: Thomas Dunford.

  • John Dowland

    Now o now I needs must part

    Performer: Thomas Dunford. Singer: Lea Desandre.

  • Henry Purcell

    An Evening Hymn

    Performer: Thomas Dunford. Singer: Lea Desandre.

  • Max Bruch

    Violin Concerto in G minor (3rd mvt)

    Performer: Janine Jansen. Orchestra: Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. Conductor: Riccardo Chailly.
    • DECCA.

  • Gabriela Montero

    Improvisation no.3

    Performer: Gabriela Montero.
    • Orchid Classics.

  • Felix Mendelssohn

    String Quartet No. 4 in E Minor, Op. 44 No. 2: III. Andante

    Ensemble: Quatuor Arod.
    • Mendelssohn.
    • Erato/Warner Classics.
    • 3.

Broadcast

  • Sat 20 Sep 2025 09:00
    麻豆社 Radio 3