Week of October 2, 2023 - Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) This week begins our 20th season of Exploring Music! To celebrate, we are revisiting our very first program: the intriguing life and art of French composer Maurice Ravel. Ravel blended his Swiss-Basque heritage as well as early 20th-century jazz to create a unique compositional voice. He clashed with teachers at the Paris Conservatory yet maintained his instincts in the modernity of visual art, dance, and literature—all affected by World War I. Bill will feature the String Quartet in F Major, Rapsodie Espangole-Malagueña for two pianos, and the one-movement orchestral composition, Boléro.
Week of October 9, 2023 - Outward Bound Afoot and lighthearted, Bill takes to the open road with the world before him. In the steps of Walt Whitman, he explores the relationship of man to nature, as expressed in music. We start this week with Bryn Terfel singing “The Vagabond,” with the words of Robert Lewis Stevenson set to music by Ralph Vaughan Williams. Bill will then “inhale great drafts of space” with Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony, Strauss’ Alpine Symphony, and Villa-Lobos’ Bachianas Brasileiras. Join us on this colorful musical path.
Week of October 16, 2023 - A Keyboard Smörgåsbord It’s a lot more than just pianos! We’ll follow the story of the musical keyboard, from the ancient Greeks all the way to synthesizers, examining music for many different types— clavichords, harpsichords, fortepianos, organs, harmoniums, accordions, dulcimers, cimbaloms, melodicas, and mallet instruments from Java to jazz. This is a large and interesting family!
Week of October 23, 2023 - Two Very Different Worlds: Delius and Holst Two English composers, Frederick Delius and Gustav Holst, were both born of German parentage, both dead in the same year of 1934, and with little else in common. We start with Delius, and in the years that Bill played as a trombonist in orchestras around the US, he doesn’t recall ever having performed a Delius symphony. Bill describes Delius as having an affinity with Benjamin Britten and we will listen to “On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring” which evokes sounds of the Yorkshire Moors.
Week of October 30, 2023 -- Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) On this edition of Exploring Music, we focus on the works of Leonard Bernstein, the great American composer, conductor, author, music lecturer, and pianist. We will enjoy Bernstein’s unique contributions to our American sounds—West Side Story, Candide, sonatas, symphonies, plus many amazing stories from musicians who had worked with him.
In October, Exploring Music will celebrate our 20th season on the air, and on October 3rd, Bill McGlaughlin will start his eighth decade!
Listeners are invited to send along birthday greetings to Bill and anniversary wishes to the Exploring Music team to use on their website for listeners to enjoy. Please send notes or messages!
Phone message: 203-718-8977
Email us through our website: https://www.wfmt.com/about-us/contact-us
