Written and presented by Sir Simon Rattle, the foremost British conductor of our day, this series forms a fascinating introduction to, and overview of, the music of the 20th century. Each of the seven programmes features over thirty minutes of specially-shot music in performance, with Rattle conducting the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Simon Rattle leads viewers on an exhilarating journey through the music of our time, explaining the chief musical developments from Mahler to the present day. Each programme is illustrated with evocative imagery, archive film and photographs and the featured music is set within the broader context of artistic and social change.

Why “Leaving Home”? The story of twentieth-century music is one of leave-takings in many ways. As a wealth of talented composers searched for new creative responses to the world around them, many made departures from the solid ‘home’ foundations of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century music – tonal harmony, melody, regular rhythm and metre. Many had to literally leave home, displaced by political upheavals. A remarkable diversity of expression developed – not all of the difficult or discordant variety commonly associated with modern music. The range is wide and this series samples the work of over thirty composers, discovering new and challenging sounds as well as some unexpectedly familiar music. It presents an extraordinary kaleidoscope of orchestral images, full of contrasts and surprises.

Winner of the British Academy of Film and Television Award (BAFTA) for Best Arts Programme

1) Dancing On A Volcano
The first episode in the series describes a great musical culture in decline in turn-of-the-nineteenth-century Vienna. From that decline erupted a musical revolution whose reverberations have continued to this day. The names of Schönberg, Webern and Berg still strike terror into the hearts of many concert-goers, but with Simon Rattle we hear in this music’s brooding power not only the collapse of the old Austro-German order and the rise of Facism, but also the portents of the music to come in the second half of the twentieth century.

Excerpts from: WAGNER: Ouverture to Tristan und Isolde; SCHOENBERG: Verklaerte Nacht; MAHLER: Symphony No. 7; R. STRAUSS: Elektra; SCHOENBERG: Five Orchestral Pieces, Op. 16, No. 2; BERG: Violinkonzert; WEBERN: Five Pieces for Orchestra Op. 10 (Nos. 3, 4, 5)

2) Rhythm
In the 20th century, music in the West freed itself form the dominance of melody and explores the richness of musical pulse for its own sake. Starting with the driving power of Stravinsky’s Sacre du Printemps, Sir Simon Rattle takes viewers on a vibrant sensory Journey.

Excerpts from: STRAVINSKY: Le Sacre du Printemps; VARESE: Ionisation; LIGETI: Atmospheres; REICH: Music for Piece of Wood; BOULEZ: Rituel in Memoriam Bruno Maderna; MESSIAEN: Turangalila Symphony; MAHLER: Das Lied von der Erde; NANCARROW: Piano Roll No. 21

3) Colour
Painting and poetry developed a more abstract style during the latter part of the 19th century, and music was quick to follow. In Colour, Sir Simon Rattle looks at the shift away from melody towards an emphasis on tone colour or ‘timbre’.

Excerpts from: DEBUSSY: Prelude a l’apres-midi d’un faune; STRAVINSKY: L’oiseau de feu; SCHOENBERG: Fuenf Orchesterstuecke Op. 16; DEBUSSY: Jeux; BOULEZ: Notations for piano; MESSIAEN: Et expecto resurrectionem mortuorum; TAKEMITSU: Dream / Window; RAVEL: Daphnis et Chloe

4) Three Journeys Through Dark Landscapes
The fourth episode examines the effect of fundamental political upheaval on the music of Bela Bartok, Dmitri Shostakovich and Witold Lutoslawski. All three composers actively embraced the climate of change in Eastern Europe and, despite adverse pressures, found a way to develop their own musical language in works of triumphant originality and power.

With musical excerpts from: BARTOK: Bluebeard’s Castle, Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta; Concerto for Orchestra; SHOSTAKOVICH: Symphonies Nos. 4, 5 & 14; LUTOSLAWSKI: Concerto for Orchestra, Venetian Games; Symphony No. 3

5) The American Way
The focus of The American Way is the music of young men in a young country, individualists and innovators who nevertheless learnt from the music of the past, and from the music of the other cultures. Jazz, military bands, country dances, German Expressionism and minimalism all contribute to a dazzling display of energy and virtuosity in American music.

With musical excerpts from: GERSHWIN: Rhapsody in Blue; IVES: Decoration Day; CAGE: First Construction in Metal; CARTER: Celebration of some 100 x 150 notes; FELDMAN: Mme Press died last week at 90; RILEY: In C; ADAMS: Harmonium; COPLAND: Appalachian Spring; WEILL: Lonely House from Street Scene; BERNSTEIN: Symphonic Dances from West Side Story

6) After the Wake
The sixth episode looks both backwards and forwards. It considers the musical legacy of two old men who had dominated the first part of the 20th century – Schoenberg and Strauss – and looks at the post-war generation of young Europeans, such as Boulez and Stockhausen, who were determined to erase the recent past and build a completely new music for a new Europe.

With excerpts from: STRAUSS: Four Last Songs; SCHOENBERG: A Survivor from Warsaw; BRITTEN: Serenade for tenor, horn & strings; STRAVINSKY: Agon; STOCKHAUSEN: Gruppen; BOULEZ: Le Marteau sans maitre

7) Threads
In Threads Sir Simon Rattle presents an ecclectic, and very personal selection of works by 20th century composers like Berio, Henze, Kurtag, Gubaidulina and Birtwistle to illustrate the rich variety of new musical trends he believes pave the way to the future.

With excerpts from: BERIO: Laborintus II; HENZE: Symphony No. 8; KURTAG: Grabstein fur Stefan; BIRTWISTLE: Ritual Fragment; TURNAGE: Drowned Out; KNUSSEN: Flourish of Fireworks; GUBAIDULINA: Zeitgestalten

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http://www.rarefile.net/koeg33txa71v/Leaving.Home.Part.4.Three.Journeys.Through.Dark.Landscapes.part1.rar
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http://www.rarefile.net/xb9i28n0zao1/Leaving.Home.Part.5.The.American.Way.part1.rar
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http://www.rarefile.net/y5ccvi24xqox/Leaving.Home.Part.6.After.The.Wake.part1.rar
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