Unsung Heroes: Charles Koechlin and Magic of The Jungle Book

Joanna Lumley & The Maestro

This week's mini episode comes to you as a pair. Stephen and Joanna discuss their favourite 'unsung heroes' - this time focusing on the strange and absorbing late works of Charles Koechlin. 'Les Bandar-Log' is part of a cycle of symphonic poems based on Kipling's Jungle Book, completed in 1940. The score touches on a range of early 20th-century styles, from Debussyan impressionism to 12-note technique, but somehow welds all the tongue-in-cheek references into a dazzling whole.