Week of September 30, 2024 - How Strange the Change from Major to Minor, Part Il When our listener wrote asking Bill to describe the different scales and modes in music, he said a week ought to do it. Bill quickly realized that a week ought NOT to do it, and two weeks were better! So, this week we continue listening to music change from major to minor, plus harmonic surprises that composers add to their music. This same listener goes on to say “What classical music buff wouldn't find that interesting and entertaining, and what classical music neophyte wouldn't find that enlightening?” He’s right, come listen with fresh new ears to Franz Schubert, and Gustav Mahler, plus your favorite folk songs and jazz standards. We will sample Stravinsky’s “Four Norwegian Moods for Orchestra” to the Beatle’s “Norwegian Wood.”
Week of October 7, 2024 - TBA
Week of October 14, 2024 - Symphony, Part VI (French Symphonies) The symphony has been fertile ground for composers throughout history and around the world. This week, we'll follow its development in France in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. We will enjoy Georges Bizet’s well-liked Classical Symphony in C through to the lesser-known Symphony in C of Paul Dukas.
Week of October 21, 2024 - Shakespeare, William (1564-1616) Shakespeare valued rhythm, meter, and harmonies in music and utilized these elements in his plays and poetry. This week, Bill has programmed musical adaptations of Shakespeare's works for the stage and screen. The queue includes a suite from Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream performed by the Berlin Philharmonic and excerpts from William Walton’s score for the film Henry V narrated by Lawrence Olivier. This week is full of The Bard of Avon's song settings by English composers Ralph Vaughan Williams and Henry Purcell and we will conclude with musical versions of Romeo and Juliet by Bernstein, Tchaikovsky, and Prokofiev.
Week of October 28, 2024 - Czech Out Those Bohemians Composers from the regions around the present-day Czech Republic have left a lasting impact on music. In this exploration, we will delve into their history and influence from medieval times to the present. We'll listen to a wide range of compositions, from an Anonymous composer's "Nobis Est Natus Hodie" from the Codex "Speciálník" performed by Early Music New York to Antonín Dvořák's Slavonic Dances performed by the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. We will also enjoy works by Bedřich Smetana, Josef Suk, plus many other Bohemian composers.
