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Episode details

Radio 3,19 Jun 2026,82 mins

Available for over a year

Donald Macleod explores a rich and varied body of music gathered under a single name: Anonymous. Bringing together works whose creators were never recorded, later forgotten or deliberately obscured, the podcast traces how music can circulate and endure without a clear author. With contributions from Professor Lisa Colton and Professor Fay Hield, there is a focus on how anonymous works have been preserved, collected and sometimes reshaped over time, from medieval polyphony and early modern song to folk traditions passed down through generations. Along the way, questions emerge about authorship, ownership and how we listen to music when its origins are uncertain or shared. Music featured includes: Romance Anonimo (arr. Yepes) from Jeux interdits Horn Concerto in E flat major Three Medieval Dances: A que as cousas coitadas; Il Trotto; La Quarte Estampie Royal Shallow Brown Dances from Le Concert Royal de la Nuit (1653) Three Modinhas from 18th Century Portugal Neapolitan Songs: Barcarola napoletana; La favola dell'uccello grifone La Messe de Tournai: Gloria; Credo The Cruel Mother The Bull Ring Vaughan Williams: English Folk Song Suite Three Dances (arr. Praetorius) Attrib. Beethoven: Waltz in B flat major ‘Gertrude’s Dream Waltz’ Attrib. L. Mozart: Cassation in G major ‘Toy Symphony’ Mrs Philarmonica: Sonata Sesta in G major Attrib. Mozart: Divertimento in E flat major, K.196e Attrib. Brahms: Piano Trio in A major, Op. post. El Cant de la Sibilla The Banks of the Nile Green Gravel In Te Domine speravi Three Medieval Dances Sumer is icumen in Agincourt Carol O sponsa Dei electa Three Worcester Fragments Lovely on the Water The Bloody Gardener Old England Grown New Three Cantigas de Santa María

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