Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5
In 1888, Tchaikovsky's 5th symphony was premiered. It was enthusiastically received by the audience, and by Tchaikovsky's friends. But Tchaikovsky's nemesis, the critics, were not so happy with the pi...
24 Feb 20221h 1min
Fauré Requiem
In 1902, the great French composer Gabriel Faure said this: "It has been said that my Requiem does not express the fear of death and someone has called it a lullaby of death. But it is thus that I see...
17 Feb 202257min
Stenhammar Symphony No. 2
The year is 1910. Imagine that you are a young composer, and the music world is in flux all around you. Mahler is dying, and with his death many agreed that the great Austro-German symphonic tradition...
10 Feb 202257min
Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherezade
Rimsky-Korsakov, above anything else, is regarded as a master of orchestration, the art of creating orchestral sound and color. As Rachmaninoff said about Rimsky-Korsakov's music: "When there is a sno...
3 Feb 202256min
R. Nathaniel Dett: The Ordering of Moses
In May of 1937, R. Nathaniel Dett's oratorio "The Ordering of Moses" was premiered by the Cincinnati Symphony. The performance was carried live on national radio by NBC, but about 3/4's of the way thr...
27 Jan 202257min
The Music of Ingram Marshall
"I never really thought of them as walls. I thought of them more as boundaries. Walls are a much more serious matter. You're not supposed to be able to get through, while boundaries at least you can c...
20 Jan 202258min
Sibelius Symphony No. 5
Sibelius never gets mentioned on "most" lists, the most innovative, modernistic, romantic, beautiful, conservative, ugly, violent, peaceful etc. In fact, no one is ever sure where to put him on these ...
13 Jan 20221h 6min
Shostakovich Symphony No. 5, Part 2
Last week I told you the story of the genesis of Shostakovich's 5th symphony. We talked politics, but we also talked about just the music itself. Today, I'll take you through the second half of the sy...
6 Jan 202249min
