Braving the Stave

Jon and Haz ask some important questions about Tchaikovsky's final masterpiece, including the origins of the 'pathétique' moniker and why a Colorado conductor got the movements the wrong way round when he performed it. Is that waltz really as 'limping' as they say? How about the legend about the symphony being Tchaikovsky's 'suicide note'? And do you agree t...

Welcome to a new season of Upbeats podcasts, with light-hearted conversations every month about orchestral pieces featured in the St David's Hall programme. This month Jon and Haz talk Sibelius: his 'large, well-shaped sound-receiver' ears, why certain passages make string players' backs ache, 'tapeworm' melodies and how his magnificent second symphony represents a st...

'In this last instalment of the season, JJ and Haz (despite a bout of Covid) pick a musical sunrise and sunset each, consider how you express light and shade in sound and look forward to the prospect, in the autumn, of doing podcasts while not in pyjamas.' Accompanying Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0IujonLl2lB7bfPzz71U0Z?si=OY3AWmbuQwSXwg22frcOsg Support the show www.artsac...

JJ and Haz share six pieces that have helped them get through lockdown this past year, following three themes:  music to help you grieve, music to aid reflection and music to give you hope. Which would your six pieces be? Accompanying Playlist:  https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0IujonLl2lB7bfPzz71U0Z?si=OY3AWmbuQwSXwg22frcOsg Support the show www.artsactive.org.uk Email a2@artsactive.org.uk X @ar...

Playlist available here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0IujonLl2lB7bfPzz71U0Z?si=OY3AWmbuQwSXwg22frcOsg Support the show www.artsactive.org.uk Email a2@artsactive.org.uk X @artsactive Instagram artsactivecardiff Facebook artsactive #classicalmusic #artsactive #drjonathanjames #bravingthestave #musicconversations #funfacts #guestspeakers #cardiff #cardiffclassical

Can Music be Humorous? Can music make you laugh? JJ and Haz explore ways in which it can, including parodies, false endings, slapstick and mishaps. Strauss' Til Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks is mined for laughs too. Playlist available here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0IujonLl2lB7bfPzz71U0Z?si=OY3AWmbuQwSXwg22frcOsg Support the show www.artsactive.org.uk Email a2@artsactive.org.uk X...

All things Welsh and Beautiful Recorded just prior to St David's Day, Haz and JJ enjoy a heartening range of Welsh musical traditions, from Bryn Terfel hitting the high notes to delicate harps and ballads of forbidden love. Calan and Cool Cymru rub shoulders with Grace Williams and Mathias, then there's a survey of one of the ever-popular Sir Karl Jenkins. Hiraeth abounds throughout. Acc...

In this St Dwynwen/Valentine's Special, JJ and Haz celebrate music as the supreme language of love. Includes a Rachmaninoff-off, comparisons of the sexiest classical pieces and which wind players would have the best six-pack. The 'stave being braved' this time is the balcony scene from Prokofiev's 'Romeo and Juliet'. Accompanying playlist: https://open.spotify.com/pla...

'The sweets left at the bottom of the box' In this bumper Christmas episode, JJ and Haz explore festive pieces that often get overlooked while reflecting on premature descants, Ukranian nationalism, an orchestral musician's essential kit and the perils of pizzicato. The stave to be braved this time is the ballet score to Tchaikovsky's 'The Nutcracker', but expect the...

The "It's definitely not Christmas yet" one. JJ and Haz venture into some very chilly winter musical landscapes, ward off the gloom with a risqué viola joke, and brave the stave of Vivaldi's 'Winter' from his Four Seasons, courtesy of a dynamic recording by Dmitri Sinkovsky and La Voce Strumentale. Accompanying playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0IujonLl2lB7b...

Upbeats goes to the dark side in a Halloween special In this second Upbeats episode, JJ and Haz ask what makes scary music scary, listen to diabolical instruments and marvel at the many versions of 'Night on a Bare Mountain.' And there's even a creepy viola joke! Accompanying Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0IujonLl2lB7bfPzz71U0Z?si=De9jrT05R0iO9A0dE1ekwQ Support the sho...

Upbeats  Classical musings with JJ and Haz (Jonathan James and Angharad Smith). In this pilot episode, Jonathan James and Angharad Smith get to know each other, try unsuccessfully to avoid viola jokes and, with some trepidation, scale the modernist mountain that is Stravinsky's Rite of Spring.   Support the show www.artsactive.org.uk Email a2@artsactive.org.uk X @artsactive Instagram artsacti...

Jonathan is joined by conductor Jessica Cottis to discuss the ambitious vision of nature and humanity coming together in Mahler's third symphony, bringing this series of podcasts to a very grand close. Jessica, it turns out, is a real lover of nature and of butterflies in particular. For her this is one of the finest symphonies ever written. Support the show www.artsactive.org.uk Email a2@art...

Jonathan James and photographer Molly Hollman chat about the deeply inspiring and romantic worlds of moonlight and sunrise in this week's podcast, comparing how they are treated in visual art and music and dipping into works by Field, Chopin, Debussy and Nielsen as they go. Molly Hollman website: mollyhollman.myportfolio.com Support the show www.artsactive.org.uk Email a2@artsactive.org.uk X...

Music and the Sea For a composer, the sea is an obvious source of inspiration. The waves, the calm, the depths and the surface, all of these invite a musical response. Jonathan James takes to the coast to see how composers from Telemann to Britten represent the ocean in all its colours and complexity. This week he's accompanied by Sarah Jane Brown, a painter with a deep connection to the sea...

Music and Storms Composers have always enjoyed whipping up a storm. Baroque theatre was the perfect crucible, and as the orchestra grew larger and mightier through the centuries, so the storms got more and more ferocious. Jonathan James ventures in the eye of various musical storms and compares them to the actual thing, in conversation with Sound Artist, Jay Richardson. Jay Richardson Album: https...

In conversation with Tony Whitehead Tony has been with the RSPB for 31 years and is also a sound technician and curator of concerts that encourage people to listen differently. The perfect conversation partner, in other words, to explore how to listen to birds and appreciate their musicality, including the all-important question: do blackbirds improvise? Support the show www.artsactive.org.uk Emai...

Music and Birdsong In a lighthearted exploration to kick off the series of podcasts examining the connections between music and nature, Jonathan James captures the dawn chorus in his local park before reflecting on four ways composers have captured birdsong in their music, with reflections from Tony Whitehead, Communications Manager from the RSPB. Support the show www.artsactive.org.uk Email a2@ar...

Fauré's Élégie gives us one of his most memorable, singable melodies. But it offers so much more. Jonathan James explores why this short work packs such an emotional punch, using the version cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason was due to play this summer in the hall. This podcast is related to the concert that would have taken place on the 6 June 2020 at St David's Hall, Cardiff with the Royal Li...

Jonathan James talks about Beethoven's mighty 'Eroica' symphony, and in particular the challenges the Aurora Orchestra must have faced when they memorised the work's finale, where every instrument has an important voice. This is related to the concert that would have taken place at St David's Hall, Cardiff on the 18th May 2020 with the Aurora Orchestra. Support the show ww...

Jonathan James talks online to Nick Collon, conductor of the Aurora Orchestra, about their feats of memorisation and about the challenges of  Beethoven's epic 'Eroica' symphony.  Among other candid insights, Nick reflects on how we don't think twice about other artists memorising their parts - opera singers, for example - and how the Eroica should "hit you around the face&...

A message to all patrons and staff at St David's Hall from Nicola Benedetti about her cancelled performance with the Aurora Orchestra due to the COVID19 pandemic. Nicola speaks about why she loves the Mendelssohn violin concerto that she would have performed at St David's Hall (Cardiff) on 18th May 2020. Support the show www.artsactive.org.uk Email a2@artsactive.org.uk X @artsactive Inst...