Week of November 3, 2025 - I Didn't Know About You Bill loves the line from Duke Ellington’s song, “How could I know about love - I didn’t know about you.” Bill shares some remarkable music he has unearthed, including hidden gems, unexpected delights, and wonderful treasures shared by our listeners. Listen to "Autumn on a Calm Lake," played by Lang Lang, and enjoy Cecilia Bartoli singing "Chants Populaires," composed by Maurice Ravel. Also, don't miss Peter Lieberson's songs inspired by Pablo Neruda's love sonnets, beautifully performed by mezzo-soprano Lorraine Hunt Lieberson.
Week of November 10, 2025 - Martha Graham and Her Music Martha Graham changed the way we think about dance, as much as Igor Stravinsky did with music and Pablo Picasso with his paintings and sculpture. Her choreography was born out of a close relationship to fresh-off-the-page music: she commissioned ballets from American composers Samuel Barber, Aaron Copland, and Louis Horst— whose music would be all but forgotten if it were not for archival films of Graham’s early dances like her 1931 Primitive Mysteries. She lived a long, passionate life and her ashes are scattered across the Sangre de Cristo Mountain range above Santa Fe, New Mexico. There they mingle with the memories of so many artists from her generation.
Week of November 17, 2025 - Symphonies Numbered Nine, Part 2 Welcome to Exploring Music’s second week of symphonies that are all numbered nine. Bill starts the week with the expansive Ninth symphonies of Anton Bruckner, Dmitry Shostakovich, and Einojuhani Rautavaara. For the last two days of the week, Bill will guide us through Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, in a historic performance by the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra under the baton of Wilhelm Furtwängler. These symphonies capture the very essence of mankind.
Week of November 24, 2025 - Orpheus in the New World With communications and travel offering cultural exchange like never before, today’s composer draws from an enormous palette, giving voice to the amazing era in which we live. You’ll find tonality and melody are most decidedly in style, while originality and diversity reign. From Joseph Schwantner and John Adams to Marc Neikrug and Amy Beach, we'll listen to and celebrate their music.
