麻豆社 - Tunes for Tyrants

Tunes for Tyrants - The Music

In this ambitious three-part series, Suzy Klein explores how the power of music to rouse our emotions gave it a crucial role in some of the most turbulent years of the 20th century 鈥� from the Russian revolution and the dictatorships of Hitler and Stalin to WW2. 鈥淲hat fascinates me鈥�, says Klein, 鈥渋s music鈥檚 uncanny ability to stir us up, calm us down 鈥� to express every possible human emotion. It bypasses language and reason and aims instead directly for our souls. And that鈥檚 what makes music so incredibly powerful, and potentially incredibly dangerous.鈥� This bonus collection of music features extended extracts from some of the key musical repertoire from the documentary series.

Watch 麻豆社 National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales perform The Internationale — Tunes for Tyrants: Music and Power with Suzy Klein, Series 1

The Internationale - a rebel song for revolutionary times.
Symphony No. 2 by Rachmaninov 鈥� the composer some Bolsheviks tried to ban — Tunes for Tyrants: Music and Power with Suzy Klein, Series 1

Watch Symphony No. 2 by Sergei Rachmaninov 鈥� the composer some Bolsheviks tried to ban.
Kurt Weill鈥檚 Mack the Knife 鈥� not as jolly as you might think! — Tunes for Tyrants: Music and Power with Suzy Klein, Series 1

Watch 麻豆社 National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales perform Kurt Weill鈥檚 Mack the Knife.
Saint-Saens鈥� Swan as you鈥檝e never heard it before! — Tunes for Tyrants: Music and Power with Suzy Klein, Series 1, Revolution

The theremin chimed with the post-revolutionary utopian ideals of 1920s Russia.
Richard Strauss鈥� Metamorphosen (excerpts) 鈥� a lament for the destruction of German culture — Tunes for Tyrants: Music and Power with Suzy Klein, Series 1, Dictatorship

Metamorphosen was Strauss's doleful lament for the destruction of the culture he loved.
Shostakovich鈥檚 Symphony No. 5 (excerpts) 鈥� triumph or terror? — Tunes for Tyrants: Music and Power with Suzy Klein, Series 1, Dictatorship

An ambiguous masterpiece, both triumph for Stalin and survival of humanity against him.
Prokofiev鈥檚 Peter and the Wolf (excerpts) 鈥� a piece for Soviet children — Tunes for Tyrants: Music and Power with Suzy Klein, Series 1, Dictatorship

Written in 1936, soon after the composer returned from exile to the Soviet Union
O Fortuna from Carmina Burana by Carl Orff 鈥� capturing the toxic spirit of the Nazis — Tunes for Tyrants: Music and Power with Suzy Klein, Series 1, Dictatorship

One of the most popular pieces of classical music today, and also a Nazi favourite.
Walton鈥檚 Spitfire Prelude - quintessentially British film music — Tunes for Tyrants: Music and Power with Suzy Klein, Series 1, World War

Setting the mould for rousing, patriotic music that became an essential propaganda weapon
Michael Tippett鈥檚 Child of Our Time (excerpts) 鈥� a warning of the dire consequences of war — Tunes for Tyrants: Music and Power with Suzy Klein, Series 1, World War

A Child of Our Time expresses the composer鈥檚 pacifism and horror at the outbreak of war.
Wagner鈥檚 G枚tterd盲mmerung (excerpt) 鈥� an apocalyptic finale for the Third Reich — Tunes for Tyrants: Music and Power with Suzy Klein, Series 1, World War

A fire-ravaged scene from this opera mirrored the Third Reich as it too went up in flames