Sticky Notes: The Classical Music Podcast

I've mentioned Ethel Smyth a few times in the past on this show. This is partly because of her music, and partly because she remains one of the most interesting people who ever lived. She was a compos...

1 Feb 202448min

When you think of the genre of the concerto, you might be thinking of something like this: virtuoso fireworks, perhaps over romantic gestures designed simply to show the soloist off, and a rather pede...

18 Jan 202448min

We're back! Welcome to Season 10! Leonard Bernstein to his wife: "These days have flown so -- I don't sleep much; I work every -- literally every -- second (since I'm doing four jobs on this show -- c...

4 Jan 202446min

I had the great joy to do my first ever live edition of Sticky Notes last month with the Aalborg Symphony in Denmark. For this concert, I chose a piece that is extremely close to my heart, Dvorak's Ne...

16 Nov 20231h 42min

Throughout the history of Western Classical Music, folk music has imprinted itself as an invaluable resource for composers from all over the world. In fact, it's easier to make a list of composers who...

9 Nov 20231h 2min

In January of 1839, Clara Wieck, Robert's future wife, wrote to Robert, "Don't take it amiss if I tell you that I've been seized by the desire to encourage you to write for orchestra. Your imagination...

2 Nov 202348min

Brahms' violin concerto is one of the most difficult works for any violinist to tackle. It is as virtuosic as the hardest piece of Paganini as well as being as musically complex as a Brahms symphony. ...

26 Okt 202350min

Today is a bit of an unusual episode. Last month I was invited by the British Society of Aesthetics to address their annual conference. My task was to give a lecture on whatever topic I wanted, having...

19 Okt 202352min