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Mendelssohn - Italian Symphony

Sara Mohr-Pietsch takes us on a listening journey which ends up at Felix Mendelssohn's Symphony no. 4, the Italian.

Sara Mohr-Pietsch takes us on a listening journey, ending up at Felix Mendelssohn's Symphony no. 4, the Italian. He wrote it in his early twenties when he was on a Grand Tour, taking in the rich range of Italian culture - and we'll hear other music inspired by Italian tours, from the eighteenth-century English prodigy Thomas Linley to the German late Romantic Richard Strauss. The Italian folk music that inspired Mendelssohn also features, as does the music of his sister Fanny, who had to stay at home while Felix was on his travels. The Italian Symphony was commissioned by the Royal Philharmonic Society, and there'll be more music that they have helped to bring to life down the ages.

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15 days left to listen

1 hour, 29 minutes

Last on

Sun 30 Aug 2026 13:30
麻豆社 Radio 3

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Music Played

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Toccata and Fugue in D minor BWV.565

    Performer: Simon Preston.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.

  • Louis Spohr

    String Quintet no.4 in Am (op.91): II. Larghetto

    Performer: Academy of St Martin in the Fields.

  • Thomas Linley (the younger)

    Violin Concerto in F major: ii. Adagio, iii. Rondeau

    Performer: Elizabeth Wallfisch. Orchestra: The Parley of Instruments. Director: Peter Holman.
    • HELIOS.

  • Franz Liszt

    Anne虂es de pe虁lerinage, deuxie虁me anne虂e: Italie S161: No.4: Sonetto 47 del Petr

    • Liszt: Excerpts from Anne虂es de Pe虁lerinage, deuxie虁me anne虂e: Italie and other.
    • Signum Records.
    • 3.

  • Alessandro Scarlatti

    Dormi, o fulmine di guerra (La Giuditta)

    Singer: Philippe Jaroussky. Ensemble: Ensemble Artaserse.
    • ERATO.

  • Richard Strauss

    Aus Italian: IV Neapolitanisches Volksleben

    Performer: Berlin Philharmonic. Performer: Riccardo Muti.

  • Orchestra Popolare del Saltarello

    Saltarello Teramana

    • Danilo Di Paolonicola.

  • Dani Howard

    Argentum

    Orchestra: Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Michael Seal.
    • Rubicon.

  • Felix Mendelssohn

    Symphony No. 4 in A major, Op.90 'Italian' (iv. Finale)

    Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner.
    • LSO Live.

Broadcast

  • Sun 30 Aug 2026 13:30
    麻豆社 Radio 3