Host Bill McGlaughlin continues his American Masters series with the exploration of music composed during the terms of President Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon. Week of May 31st at 7pm.
Week of May 3, 2021 - From the Mountains to the Sea
Sweeping expansive music that expresses the breadth of land and seascapes, with a sense of coming together to where these elements touch each other—land meeting water, mountain stretching to heavens above, and distant horizons where oceans and skies blend. This image brings together symphonies and folksongs from the hills of Appalachia, ballads of conquering heroes and lost souls. We will hear the music of Liszt, Strauss, Moeran, and forgotten composers we call Traditional and Anonymous.
Week of May 10, 2021 - Top Shelf, Part I
Closing in on twenty years, Bill has been collecting and programming music for Exploring Music. However, many of his favorite recordings don’t find their way into a thematic week of EM and end up orphaned on a top shelf in his back room. These are special recordings that wait and wait for the right theme, and it begins to feel like they become a character in Samuel Beckett’s play Waiting for Godot. So, this week Bill pulled down these CDs and they became the theme – colorful, great performances of music that Bill adores.
Week of May 17, 2021 - Sir William Walton (1902-1983)
Composer Benjamin Britten once wrote that hearing William Walton's music was a "great turning point in his musical life.” We'll trace the arc of Walton's life and his associations with the greatest artists of his time, including Heifetz, Hindemith, Olivier, and Beecham. is a week steeped in British music of the 20th century.
Week of May 24, 2021 - Mozart Piano Concertos
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart breaks a concerto tradition in his Piano Concerto No. 9, known as the Jeunehomme Concerto, with his placement of a piano solo near the opening of the piece. While exploring various sounds into his teens, Mozart was so heavily inspired by Johann Christian Bach's writing that he reinterpreted it, making it his own. Bach and Mozart bonded over music, as well as over tricky keyboard games.
Week of May 31, 2021 - American Masters, Part VI: American Composers from the age of Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon
Our first episodes begin at the turn of the 20th century, and over the years we have worked our way to composers who were active in the time of Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and beyond. You’ll hear all the usual suspects (Copland, Gershwin, Stravinsky, and Schoenberg), but we’ll also weave in beautiful and intriguing music from Peter Menin, Augustus Hailstork, Charles Wuorinen, Joan Tower, Charlie Parker, and, yes, Fats Domino. We’ll end the week with an elegiac symphonic work from George Walker, the first African American composer to win the Pulitzer Prize.
