Key Changes: Radio 3's Essential History of Classical Music Episodes Available now
1816: Engineering Music
1816, Bavaria. Music meets machine.
1814: A Viennese Whirl
1814, Vienna. The waltz sweeps through Europe.
1808: Yes, we will have a pianoforte
1808, Hampshire. Jane Austen joins a growing craze for the pianoforte.
1807: A New Quartet
1807, Vienna. Beethoven pushes the string quartet into new territory.
1794: Les enfants de la patrie
1794, Paris. A pianist faces the Revolution's most feared tribunal.
1786: The Figaro Revolution
1786, Vienna. Two servants take on their master in Mozart’s greatest opera.
1772: The Symphony Laboratory
1772. The remote court of Esterháza. Haydn expands the possibilities of the symphony.
1741: Messiah at Sea
1741. On a rough crossing to Dublin, Handel carries the manuscript of a masterpiece.
1727: Season of the Violin
1727, Cremona. Master craftsman Stradivari examines his latest creation: a perfect violin.
1722: Pitch Imperfect
1722, Köthen. Bach rethinks tuning, and expands the possibilities of music.
