'Discovering Music' at the BBC Maida Vale Studios

I went along to the BBC Studios at Maida Vale on Saturday to see an episode of ‘Discovering Music’ being recorded.

‘Discovering Music’ is a programme broadcast on Radio 3 that selects a piece of classical music (or occasionally a particular musical theme) and analyses the various aspects of the work, throwing light on structure, historical context, themes, motifs etc.

The featured work on this occasion was Vaughan Williams’ 6^th Symphony, his dramatic evocation of post-war Britain. It was presented by regular host (and my namesake) Stephen Johnson, with Martyn Brabbins conducting the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

Vaughan Williams’s 6^th Symphony is a recent favourite of mine (discovered through the excellent eMusic website) and combines some powerful, dynamic playing with some of his most melodic folk-inspired lines. The opening movement in particular is excellent.

This particular episode will be broadcast on 16^th November.

Before heading up to north-west London I spent a very enjoyable hour or so in the cafe at the Curzon Soho cinema, people-watching on Shaftesbury Avenue whilst listening to 'Basket Of Light' by Pentangle on my iPod.