Host Bill McGlaughlin explores American composers born before the first World War, including Ned Rorem (1923), who Time magazine called "the world's best composer of art songs." But his musical output and writings include so much more. Explore these American Masters the week of Oct 18th at 7pm.
Week of October 4, 2021 - Samuel Barber (1910-1981) Samuel Barber was only 28 years old when Arturo Toscanini premiered his Adagio for Strings in 1938 with the NBC Symphony Orchestra. He was an overnight success and became the most performed composer in the United States. We’ll explore his world, life, and music in this week’s program and finally face the inevitable question: A huge success at such a young age – a blessing or a curse?
Week of October 11, 2021 - It Takes Two to Tango Bill starts by sharing tunes with two musical lines, where one line goes up while the other goes down to create a counter melody, to complex sonatas like Beethoven’s Kreutzer Sonata for violin and piano. We’ll also savor the great love duets of Verdi, Puccini, and Wagner. Oh, don’t miss the meowing cat duets of Rossini and Ravel.
Week of October 18, 2021 - American Masters V The American Masters series examines composers who forged our Nationalist identity in the 20th century, and who continue to energize and influence classical music today. This fifth installment of the series focuses on composers born in the years before the First World War, musical trailblazers, such as Mary Howe, Henry Brant, Lukas Foss, and Robert Russell Bennett. Bill ends this week with Ned Rorem who was born in 1923.
Week of October 25, 2021 - Robert Schumann (1810-1856) This week is a biography of the passionate life of one of Germany’s early romantics. Married to composer/pianist Clara Wieck, and a friend to Johannes Brahms, and Joseph Joachim, Schumann was at the heart of the German Romantic intellectual movement in the mid-19th century. He struggled with his mental health and was an imaginative composer, pianist, and music critic.
