Sunday afternoons have been improved lately by a series called Great
Composers, narrated by Kenneth Branagh.  So far we've had Bach, which
I missed, Beethoven, Mozart and Wagner.  They're not just a standard run
through of greatest hits but occasionally spend some time on lesser-known
music, eg Beethoven's Cantata on the Death of Joseph II, and there are
also some unusual shots of places few of us would have visited such as the
opera house in Riga.  The Wagner program included a clip of a New York taxi
driver who uses Wagner to relieve stress which leads nicely to the opening
graphic over three yellow taxis driving towards you to the sound of The
Ride of the Valkyries.  A much more civilised memory than the helicopters
in Apocalypse Now.  Anyway, if they turn up on a station near you, they're
worth your time.

Richard Pennycuick
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