'The greatest composer you've (probably) never heard of'

 
The popular BBC Radio 3 programme 'Composer of the week', presented by Donald Macleod, will be focusing entirely on Weinberg next week (starting 02/06/14). Weinberg was chosen by an open listener poll, with audiences invited to suggest their favourite 'obscure' composer. Apparently, Weinberg's name came out on top, leading to the week's broadcasts title of 'The greatest composer you've (probably) never heard of'. This will see five hour-length episodes, dedicated to Weinberg's life and works, featuring the broadcaster and Weinberg-enthusiast, Martin Anderson. More from the BBC's website:

'Over the past seven decades, Composer of the Week has delved into just about every major composer in classical music, and plenty of less well-known ones too. As the programme reached its 70th birthday last year, Donald Macleod challenged listeners to come up with the name of a deserving composer who had never previously been featured. Suggestions flooded in, over four-and-a-half-thousand of them, and of these, more than 20 made the case for an obscure Soviet composer of Polish-Jewish origin, Mieczyslaw Weinberg. Weinberg's music is well represented on CD, and as Donald heard more and more of it, his astonishment that he hadn't come across it before grew commensurately. So all this week, Donald Macleod explores the life and work of Mieczyslaw Weinberg, in the company of writer, broadcaster and champion of unjustly neglected composers, Martin Anderson.'

Find a link to the first page on the BBC website here. All five episodes of the series will be available to listen again on the BBC iPlayer website.