Listen to David Walliams' Marvellous Musical Podcast – out now!

4 February 2019, 07:00 | Updated: 2 March 2020, 17:36

The time is finally here! We're releasing an episode of our 10-part podcast every weekday for two weeks.

Over the next ten weekdays, from 4 February, we'll be releasing one episode every day from our new podcast series David Walliams' Marvellous Musical Podcast. Which is rather, well, marvellous news! 

You can listen to the series wherever you listen to podcasts including on Global Player, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts. Or, if you scroll down, you can also listen to an episode right here on this page. 

And if you have anAmazon Alexa device you can enable the Global Player skill (by saying "open Global Player or visiting the skill store). Then all you have to do is say: "Ask Global Player to play David Walliams' podcast"

Each episode is also accompanied by a playlist of Apple Music – you can find those here. 

Episode 1: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
You might well have heard of Mozart – but did you know he had a really rude sense of humour? Or that he owned a pet starling? In the first episode, David meets one of the most famous composers of all time… and has a bit of a run in with a music professor. 

And the music in this episode is: 

Mozart: The Magic Flute – Bayerischen Staatsoper/Wolfgang Sawallisch (Warner).  

Mozart: The Marriage of Figaro – Collegium Vocale Gent, Concerto Köln/René Jacobs (Harmonia Mundi); 

Mozart: Symphony No.41 ‘Jupiter’ – Academy of St. Martin in the Fields/Neville Marriner (Warner); 

Mozart: Piano Concerto No.21 – Murray Perahia, English Chamber Orchestra (Sony); 

Mozart: Clarinet Concerto – Martin Fröst, Amsterdam Sinfonietta/Peter Oundjian (BIS); 

Mozart: Eine kleine nachtmusik – Camerata Nordica/Terje Tønnesen (BIS); 

Mozart: Piano Sonata No.11 ‘Alla turca’ – Fazil Say (Warner); 

Wagner: Wedding March from Lohengrin – Bayreuth Festival/Andris Nelsons (Opus Arte); 

Mozart: La finta semplice – Jeremy Ovenden, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment/Jonathan Cohen (Signum Classics); 

Mozart: Don Giovanni – MusicAeterna/Teodor Currentzis (Sony); 

Allegri: Miserere – Tenebrae/Nigel Short (Signum); 

Mozart: Requiem – Freiburger Barockorchester, RIAS Kammerchor/René Jacobs (Harmonia Mundi) 

Episode 2: The Liszt Factor 

Franz Liszt was music’s first true rock star, baby. Join David Walliams as he enrols in Liszt’s school of cool, and discovers what it really means to rock, old school.

Music from:

Liszt: La Campanella – Ji Liu (Classic FM);

Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody No.2 – Georges Cziffra (Warner);

Liszt: Liebesträum – Ji Liu (Classic FM);

Liszt: Mephisto Waltz No.1 – Leif Ove Andsnes (Warner);

Liszt: Transcendental Studies – Yevgeny Sudbin (BIS);

Liszt: Totentanz – Louis Lortie, Residentie Orchestra The Hague/George Pehlivanian (Chandos);

Liszt: Un sospiro – Leslie Howard (Hyperion)

Episode 3: It takes one to (pia)no one: 

This instrument may seem pretty black and white, but there’s more to the piano than meets the eye. Join David Walliams as he travels inside the piano, discovers its most famous players and explores the unlikely ways it changed music forever.

Music from:

Beethoven: Für Elise – Ji Liu (Classic FM);

Mozart: Piano Sonata No.11 ‘Alla turca’ – Fazil Say (Warner);

J. S. Bach: Concerto in G major, BWV 973 – Richard Egarr (Harmonia Mundi);

Chopin: Nocturne in E flat major – Ji Liu (Classic FM);

Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5 ‘Emperor’ – Leif Ove Andsnes (Sony);

Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody No.2 – Georges Cziffra (Warner);

Beethoven: Piano Sonata No.23 ‘Appassionata’ – Lang Lang (Sony);

Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No.2 – Leif Ove Andsnes (Warner);

Chopin: Piano Sonata No.3 – Martha Argerich (Warner);

Round Midnight – Thelonious Monk (Sony/ATV);

Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue – André Previn, London Symphony Orchestra (Warner);

Things are Getting Better (Echobass)

Episode 4: Ethel Smyth 

We journey back a hundred years to explore the life of Ethel Smyth: composer, suffragette and all-round legend. Also, there are pirates.

Music from:

Ethel Smyth: Concerto for Violin – BBC Philharmonic Orchestra/Odaline de la Martinez (Chandos)

Ethel Smyth: Mass in D – Orchestra of the Plymouth Music Series/Philip Brunelle (EMI)

Ethel Smyth: The Wreckers – Scottish National Orchestra/Sir Alexander Gibson (Warner)

Ethel Smyth: March of the Women – Orchestra of the Plymouth Music Series/Philip Brunelle (EMI)

Ethel Smyth: The Boatswain’s Mate, Overture – BBC National Orchestra of Wales/Rumon Gamba (Chandos)

Ethel Smyth: String Quartet in E minor – Mannheim String Quartet (CPO)

Episode 5: Ballet 

You may think it’s all tutus and tippy toes, but join David Walliams as he discovers the highly competitive, fantastically strange world of ballet.

Music from:

Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker – Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra/Neeme Järvi (Chandos)

Saint-Saëns: The Swan from Carnival of the Animals – Ji Liu (Classic FM)

Lully: Alcidiane, Ritournelle et air de Mademoiselle Hilaire – La Risonanca/Fabio Bonizzoni (Glossa)

Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake – Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra/Neeme Järvi (Chandos)

Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring – MusicAeterna/Teodor Currentzis (Sony)

Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet – Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra/Andrew Litton (BIS)

Episode 6: Maverick musicians 

They broke the mould and changed the face of music. Meet the marvellous mavericks and devilish divas who took the musical world by storm. And don’t be surprised if a number of old friends turn up to join the party…

Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody No.13 – Arcadi Volodos (Sony)

Rimsky-Korsakov: Flight of the Bumblebee – Royal Scottish National Orchestra//Neeme Järvi

excerpts from Mozart: Don Giovanni – MusicAeterna/Teodor Currentzis (Sony)

Mozart: ‘Voi che sapete’ from Don Giovanni – Adelina Patti (Nimbus)

Paganini: 24 Caprices – Augustin Hadelich (Warner Classics)

Paganini: Violin Concerto – Itzhak Perlman/Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Lawrence Foster

Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody No.2 – Arcadi Volodos (Sony)

Bizet : ‘L’amour est un oiseau rebelle’ from Carmen – Maria Callas, Orchestra de l’Opéra National de Paris

Episode 7: Beethoven

You’ve heard his music, now it’s time to hear his story. David dives into the life of one of history’s greatest – and grumpiest – composers.

Beethoven: Symphony No.5 – Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique/John Eliot Gardiner (SDG)

Beethoven: Symphony No.7 – Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique/John Eliot Gardiner (SDG)

Walter Murphy: A Fifth of Beethoven

Beethoven: Rage Over a Lost Penny – Ronald Brautigam (BIS)

Beethoven: Symphony No.3 – Dresden Philharmonic/Michael Sanderling (Sony)

Beethoven: Für Elise – Ji Liu (Classic FM)

Beethoven: Symphony No.9 – Minnesota Orchestra/Osmo Vänskä (BIS)

Beethoven: Piano Sonata No.14 ‘Moonlight’ – Ji Liu (Classic FM)

Episode 8: The Greatest Schumann 

It’s time to delve into the tale of Clara Schumann, the phenomenally gifted composer who was, in many ways, The Greatest Schumann.

Clara Schumann: Three Romances – Jennifer Pike and Tom Poster (Chandos)

Beethoven: Für Elise – Ji Liu (Classic FM)

Robert Schumann: Piano Quartet in E flat – Alexander Melnikov/Jerusalem Quarete (Harmonia Mundi)

Brahms: Piano Sonata in F minor – Stephen Hough (Hyperion)

Chopin: Nocturne Op.9, No.2 – Ji Liu (Classic FM)

Brahms: Variations on a Theme by Haydn – Georg Solti/Murray Perahia

Clara Schumann: Scherzo in D minor, Op.10 – Konstanze Eickhorst

Episode 9: Weird Instruments

From a helicopter quartet to a vegetable orchestra, prepare to have your idea of what an ‘instrument’ can be blown wide open. David Walliams explores some of the most fantastical, needlessly complex and sometimes tasty musical instruments that human beings have ever created.

Viola Organista performed by Sławomir Zubrzycki. Find out more here. 

The Vegetable Orchestra – find out more

John Cage: Variations I – Langham Research Centre

Leroy Anderson: The Typewriter – Richard Hayman Orchestra/Richard Hayman

Verdi: ‘Anvil Chorus’ from Il trovatore – Orchestra e coro del teatro alla scala/Riccardo Muti

Mahler: Symphony No.6 – Minnestora Orchestra/Osmo Vänskä (BIS)

Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture – Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra/Vasily Petrenko (Classic FM)

Ligeti: Poème Symphonique for 100 Metronomes – Françoise Terrioux (Sony)

Leopold Mozart: Cassation in G ‘Toy Symphony’

Rautavaara: Cantus Arcticus – Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra/Leif Segerstam

Tchaikovsky: Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy on glass harmonica – William Zeitler. Original video here >

Episode 10: John Williams and the Chamber of Star Wars

David Walliams takes a ride through the magical career of legendary film composer John Williams, from Star Wars to Harry Potter – with a little help from a ghost.

Music from:

All music from John Williams: A Life in Music (unless otherwise state)

John Williams: Star Wars, Main Title – London Symphony Orchestra/Gavin Greenaway (Decca/Classic FM)

John Williams: Raiders of the Lost Ark, Raiders March – London Symphony Orchestra/Gavin Greenaway (Decca/Classic FM)

John Williams: Jaws, The Shark Theme – London Symphony Orchestra/Gavin Greenaway (Decca/Classic FM)

John Williams: Jurassic Park, Theme – London Symphony Orchestra/Gavin Greenaway (Decca/Classic FM)

John Williams: Superman, Superman March – London Symphony Orchestra/Gavin Greenaway (Decca/Classic FM)

John Williams: Saving Private Ryan, Hymn to the Fallen – London Symphony Orchestra/Gavin Greenaway (Decca/Classic FM)

John Williams: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Hedwig’s Theme – London Symphony Orchestra/Gavin Greenaway (Decca/Classic FM)

Tchaikovsky: Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy from The Nutcracker – Bergen Philharmonic/Neeme Järvi (Chandos)