Episode notes
This episode features a living musician, still very much in his prime… the Dutch cellist, Pieter Wispelwey. So, what prompted me to choose him? Well, a few things. I've been a fan for a long while and have been lucky enough to hear him play a number of times over the last three decades. And about 18 months ago the record company Channel Classics released a big box of CDs of recordings he made for the company… and they're terrific. And Wispelwey is equally at home with music from any of the last several centuries. Plus he is still touring… so for many of you listening to this podcast… he will…
Podcast
Classical For Everyone
Peter Cudlipp · Music · English
Five hundred years of incredible music. No expertise is necessary. All you need are ears. If you've ever been even slightly curious about classical music then this is the podcast for you.
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12 Jul 2026 · 1 hr 25 min
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3 Jul 2026 · 1 hr 6 min
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25 Jun 2026 · 1 hr 16 min
The Other Russians
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21 Jun 2026 · 39 min
Sunday Night Special … Ralph Vaughan Williams' Symphony No. 6
The name comes from the night of the week when for some of us, the frustrations of insomnia hit the hardest… and because my preferred antidote is getting lost in some music. Of course this series is for everyone… but it is perhaps intended a little more for those of you whose sleep has been troubled. The idea of the special is to play just one piece, uninterrupted and in its entirety… with a few minutes of background explained at the end of the episode. This month… Ralph Vaughan Williams' Sixth Symphony. The BBC Symphony Orchestra is conducted by Andrew Davis.
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12 Jun 2026 · 1 hr 16 min
Franz Schubert 1
He was taught by Antonio Salieri and his music was admired by Ludwig van Beethoven… but he enjoyed very little success in his short lifetime. It would take decades after his death for his music to make its way onto concert stages… and for him to become one of the best loved composers who ever lived. If you are new to his music I hope that over the next hour and a bit I'll give you a sense of why that is the case. I'm going to concentrate on music Schubert wrote between 1814 and 1822, that is between the ages of 17 and 25, including sections from two symphonies, two piano sonatas and a piano…
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28 May 2026 · 1 hr 15 min
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21 May 2026 · 1 hr 11 min
Muses... Worth Repeating*
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14 May 2026 · 1 hr 1 min
The Sea… Worth Repeating*
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8 May 2026 · 1 hr 7 min
Maurice Ravel... Worth Repeating*
Maurice Ravel (1875 – 1937) is arguably the most beloved composer France has given the world… able to take classical and pre-classical forms, absorb the harmonic colours of Impressionism, draw on the dance traditions of his Basque mother's heritage, and infuse his later work with the energy of early jazz. All of it synthesised into a language that is quite distinctly his own. In this episode… a section of his first Piano Concerto, the Pavane for a Dead Princess, a little taste of his String Quartet, the amazing orchestral work La Valse, or The Waltz, the 'Blues' section of his second Violin…
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2 May 2026 · 1 hr 31 min
Recent Discoveries Two
Recent Discoveries Two T his episode is the second one called 'recent discoveries'. And that should only be taken in the very personal sense of 'recent discoveries' for me. Some of it is indeed recent but in addition to music written in the last few years, there are a couple of pieces that date back to the early and mid-20 th century so they were well and truly discovered before I encountered them. I want to apply a little bit of gentle pressure on behalf of the unfamiliar. I am going to hope that you will be pleasantly surprised by how good music by people whose names might not know can be……
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