Episode 11 of Tim The Composer's podcast, with host Tim Benjamin, features Schubert's String Quartet number 14 in D minor, better known as "Death and the Maiden". The name comes from an earlier song by Schubert, which is also explored, along with Schubert's tragically short life. Schubert - and the Romantics in general - were obsessed with Death as a seducer, even as a lover, in a tradition going back centuries, and it's a topic visited by Schubert many times in his music. Tim explores the music and the tradition in detail, and as usual there is a playlist to accompany the episode.

Spotify Playlist for Episode 11: Death

Episode 10 of Tim The Composer's podcast, with host Tim Benjamin, is about Beethoven's Third Symphony, known as the "Eroica" symphony. Originally dedicated to Napoleon, Beethoven removed the dedication, apparently in a rage, leaving it "to the memory of a great hero". Who was that hero, then, if not Napoleon? Why did Beethoven think of Napoleon in the first place? And why is this symphony in particular considered to be such a hugely important milestone in the history of music? Tim explores all these questions, and more - including the effect of Beethoven's deafness on him and his music at this turning point in his life - in a bumper 10th episode of the podcast.

Spotify Playlist for Episode 10: Hero

Episode 9 of Tim The Composer's podcast, with host Tim Benjamin, is about Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 20, in D minor (K.466), and Mozart's life and influences up to the time of the concerto's chaotic first performance in 1785. This was a time of radically changing styles, and the adoption of "empfindsamkeit" or "sensibility" into musical language aided by new instruments such as the fortepiano, for which the concerto was originally intended - with Mozart as the star soloist. Alongside the concerto and its style, Tim explores Mozart's hugely successful yet risky life as an entrepreneur in Vienna, and a touching story concerning a pet starling.

Spotify Playlist for Episode 9: Sensibility