Midwinter is the time when we all desperately need nourishment. And this can be found in great music, including Johann sebastian bach's mysterious cello sweets. The star german baritone benjamin apple talks to us about schubert's haunting song cycle winter reiser for a new film made outdoors in the wind and snow in switzerland. Kate whitley speaks with stephen iselis, who's written a new book about the music which moves him most.
The internationally renowned cellist Steven Isserlis talks to Andrew Marr about his companion guide to The Bach Cello Suites. Isserlis explores why Bach’s Six Suites have become some of the most cherished music, and how Bach takes the audience on a spiritual journey, from joy, through tragedy, to jubilation.
Schubert’s heart-breaking song-cycle Winterreise tells of a young man’s desperate wanderings: the music and the poems creating images of fire and snow, of scalding and frozen tears. The baritone Benjamin Appl, accompanied by James Baillieu, stars in a new BBC film, Winter Journey, filmed in a tower on the snow-covered summit of the Julierpass in south-east Switzerland. An album of the music will be released in February.
The composer and pianist Kate Whitley is also interested in the importance of place in music. But she has taken a different tack, eschewing the often rarefied atmosphere of concert halls, for the concrete heart of city centres. She runs The Multi-Storey Orchestra which performs in car parks around the UK.
Producer: Katy Hickman
Photo copyright: Satoshi Aoyagi