Nov 15, 2018
Have you ever been to an art museum and wanted to have music to accompany your experience? Well, Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition is the piece for you. Inspired by the art of his late friend Victor Hartmann, Mussorgsky composed a series of 10 miniature piano pieces full of character, excitement, and...
Nov 5, 2018
Just in time for Election Day in the US, this week we explore 12 pieces of Political Classical Music! All throughout history, composers have expressed their feelings about the issues of the day through their music, from Haydn and Mozart discussing class, to Verdi and Sibelius' Nationalism, to Shostakovich, Penderecki,...
Nov 1, 2018
This week, on Part 2 of our exploration of the most important piece of the 20th century, we'll go through the narrative section of the Rite of Spring, beginning with the introduction and taking us to the sacrifice of the young girl and the beginning of spring. There is no piece of Western Classical Music that was...
Oct 25, 2018
Today we start a two week exploration of Stravinsky's earthshakingly revolutionary Rite of Spring. Focusing on Part 1, we'll talk about the cast of characters involved in the ballet: Diaghilev, Nijinsky, Roerich, Monteux, and of course Stravinsky. These 5 men were part of a performance that quite literally changed the...
Oct 18, 2018
People are often fascinated when I tell them what I do for a living. Sometimes they do a little imitation of a band director they had back in school, or talk about a great conductor they saw, or once in a while, they ask me what train company I work for. But when it comes down to it, I always seem to get some kind...