Bartok Violin Concerto No. 2
During Bartok's life, the violin concerto we now know as Violin Concerto No. 2 was simply known as Bartok's only violin concerto. The reason? His first concerto, written when he was a much younger man...
13 Sep 202456min
Dvorak Symphony No. 7
In December of 1884, Dvorak wrote to a friend about the composition of a new symphony: "I am now busy with this symphony for London, and wherever I go I can think of nothing else. God grant that this ...
29 Aug 202458min
Shostakovich Symphony No. 4
Shostakovich's 4th symphony is not for the faint of heart. It is a massive work, around an hour in length, and it calls for the second largest orchestra of any in Shostakovich's output. It is uncompro...
15 Aug 20241h 8min
Beethoven Symphony No. 5
They are the most famous 8 notes in not only Western Music, but probably in all of music. If you walk down the street and ask someone to name a painting, they might say the Mona Lisa. A movie? Maybe...
1 Aug 20241h 5min
Mozart Requiem
This show is a bit different today. Last year I did a live video podcast on Mozart's Requiem for my Patreon subscribers. I've now edited that show into an audio-only version for everyone to be able to...
18 Jul 20241h 6min
The Life and Music of Lili Boulanger
The history of classical music is littered with the stories of great composers who tragically died young. The composer I've been talking about for the last two episodes, Franz Schubert, died at 31. Mo...
4 Jul 202447min
Schubert Sonata in B Flat, D. 960 (Part 2)
There are a few tropes when it comes to Schubert's late music. The pieces are very long. They have four movements. The first two movemnts are expansive, magisterial explorations of the human psyche, ...
20 Jun 202454min
Schubert Sonata in B Flat, D. 960 (Part 1)
For a long time I've received emails and messages from people asking, and sometimes demanding, that I explore the solo piano repertoire. Other than a look at the Goldberg Variations of Bach, I've basi...
6 Jun 202440min
