S2.E55. Soul and magnificence, book-ended with Baroque - Marcello Oboe Concerto, Mendelssohn Andante D Mi Piano Trio, Finale Finzi Cello Concerto, Handel Ode for St Cecilia's Day.

Welcome back to Perfect Pitch with Nick Healy Hutchinson and his fresh approach to the world of classical music. Whether you're an expert or a beginner, old or young, Perfect Pitch has something for everyone.

In my eagerness to publish last week's podcast before the Wimbledon and Euros finals, I noticed later that I've made a very stupid misidentification in my introduction to Mozart's Adorno in the Maria Figure. When I explained that the Countess was seeking the help of her maid, Carabino, to win back her husband's heart. Lovers of the opera will know that the Countess is the apple of Carabino's eye, so any assistance he gets the chance to offer is likely to be of a very different nature. I did, of course, mean to say Susan. Alessandro Marcello was a composer of the Baroque period, a contemporary of Albinoni. He comes from that relatively rare breed in the world of music, in that he didn't actually need to compose to survive, because he was born with several spoons in his mouth. But that doesn't mean his output was of poor quality. Far from it. And his charming oboe concerto was good enough for none other than Johann Sebastian Bach to transcribe it of a keyboard. So you might just recognize the joyful final movement. Here is a three-movement piece played in full on a Baroque oboe by Alfredo Bernardino with the Bach Soloist of Soul. I've said on a previous occasion how I suspect his hugely poverty background has caused some to wonder if his music can have the soul you find in Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert, all of whom struggle to make ends meet. I only know that the more I hear of his music, the more I realise how misguided this is. Of all his chamber music, his D minor piano trio for violin, cello, and piano is one of his most popular. In it, Mendelssohn gives the piano more prominence than normal. The Andante, the second of four moments, is just a complete delight. And three songs don't come much better than this. Emmanuel Ax on the piano, Yo-Yo Ma on the cello, and Itzak Pellman on the violin. Time to wire. He barely wrote any orchestral music, but left a substantial body of choral work, and much of that is entered the poetry of Thomas Hardy. I recommend Hardy's poetry, by the way, having a very different outlook to his novels, none of which will ever feature in the pick-me-up category. The dates of his lifespan mean that he lived through two world wars with the inevitable associated traumas that he's brought, but he also came across many of the leading lights in the musical and literary circles of the day, enabling him to amass vast quantities of books and manuscripts, all of which are preserved. His cello concerto was one of those rare orchestral works, and the last piece he wrote, first performed on 19th of July 1955, so 69 years ago, almost to the day. The finale has an unusual opening, but then launches into this magnificently rising tune. It's played here by Tim Hugh with the Northern Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Howard. We started today with some Baroque music, and that's how we'll conclude. Another event which occurred on the 19th of July was my wedding many years ago. We had treated, as I thought subjected, our guests to the better part of a Mozart mask. So by the time I walked my wife down the aisle, I think it's very unlikely that most would have paid much attention to the music which I'd chosen to accompany our departure. The trumpet's loud clanger from Hamble's oat to some cycle was irresistible. It's routing stuff with a very clear message. Well that Buckland's diction is so clear that it requires no further input from me. He's accompanied by Vox Luminists.