NPR's resident classical music specialist Tom Huizenga previews two of the albums he's looking forward to spending time with in 2021.
This car choir solution is one that accomplished baritone David Newman came up with so that ensembles could sing "together." The method uses microphones, a mixer, an FM transmitter and car radios.
Meet internationally-acclaimed author Alexander McCall Smith and award-winning composer James Ross, who collaborated on song cycle These Are The Hands .
James Newton Howard has composed the music for more than 100 films: thrillers, Disney animation and big fantasy series. His latest is the Tom Hanks western, News of the World .
The renowned musician and Late Show bandleader has sage advice on everything from finding your north star and owning your own orbit to honoring lineage.
NPR Music's classical editor traces the high points of a year spent listening to new albums that offered comfort and confrontation in counterpoint with the relentless world outside the headphones.
Growing up in a progressive city, Ludwig van Beethoven embraced the ideals of the Enlightenment, the philosophical movement that shook Europe and helped shape the composer's music.
Join cellist Jan Vogler and pianist Alessio Bax at the "doctor's office," where they make the case for Beethoven as the liberator of the cello by playing music from his cello sonatas.
Raymond Bisha introduces a programme of orchestral music by the Pulitzer and Erasmus Prize-winning American composer John Adams. The two works on this new album from the Nashville Symphony under Giancarlo Guerrero demonstrate why Adams is one of today’s most widely performed and recorded composers. Adams describes My Father Knew Charles Ives as “an homage Read More ...
Choral music formed an important part of Anton Bruckner’s output throughout his career, even though the genre was widely underappreciated by a public more inclined to large-scale symphonic and operatic works. Although the big-boned structure of such music also made its presence felt in Church masses and oratorios, there was always a need for smaller Read More ...
Czech composer Vitězslav Novák (1870-1949), who was one of Dvořák’s composition students, rose to prominence with a series of increasingly ambitious orchestral works that fused elements of folk music, impressionism and late-Romanticism. Raymond Bisha introduces Vol. 1 of his orchestral works performed by Marek Štilec and the Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra. The programme pairs the heady Read More ...
Raymond Bisha discusses a release of music by the American composer Bernard Herrmann with Joseph Horowitz, co-founder of PostClassical Ensemble, a group dedicated to stepping across normal repertoire boundaries. The album’s programme showcases Herrmann’s talents not only as a composer of film scores, but also as a consummate provider of music for the forgotten genre Read More ...
George Frideric Handel: impresario, performer, composer. The Great Bear, as he was referred to in his time, remains an Ursa Major of the musical firmament to this day. Raymond Bisha illustrates Handel’s creative genius with Vol. 2 in pianist Philip Edward Fisher’s recordings of his Keyboard Suites, released in April 2015. View album details Catalogue Read More ...
Once in a while you hear such incredibly beautiful music for the first time that you just can’t understand why it has remained under wraps for so long. The Violin Concertos Nos. 1 and 2 by the Italian-born composer Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco are a case in point. Originally championed in the 1920s and 30s by no less Read More ...
This month, JoAnn Falletta and the Buffalo Philharmonic celebrate their 21-year association with Naxos as they release their 26th recording on the label — a second album of music by the French composer Florent Schmitt (1870-1958). Peter Hall talks with the orchestra’s music director about that sustained collaboration, reviewing the musical development she has achieved Read More ...
Raymond Bisha introduces a new release of Baroque violin sonatas by 18th-century Italian violinists trained in the tradition of Arcangelo Corelli, spreading his elegant, expressive and virtuosic style on their travels throughout Europe. Giovanni Mossi’s sonatas retain Corelli’s dramatic contrasts and structure, while Giovanni Stefano Carbonelli also incorporates features found in music by Vivaldi. Both Read More ...
Raymond Bisha introduces recordings of J. S. Bach’s cello suites, transcribed for guitar and performed by Jeffrey McFadden. Bach himself made arrangements of other composers’ works, as well his own, recycling them for new uses, a practice that continues with these two new volumes. Pablo Casals (1876–1973), Read More ...
Latvian composer Ēriks Ešenvalds (b. 1977) has demonstrated his versatility by writing in a variety of genres, from orchestral and film scores to electronic and multi-media works. Choral music, however, features in much of what he does. The richness of texture and variety of colour in his music for choirs reflects his practice of dividing Read More ...
Listening Guide: With Lew Smoley Richter No. 5b in G minor Larghetto Allegro Spirituoso Andantino Grazioso Tempo Di Minuetto Cambini No. 2 in F Major Allegro Maestoso Larghetto Cantabile Minuetto (Allegretto) Allegro Ma Non Tanto Rosetti No. 5 in D Major Allegro Molto Andante Sostenuto Rondeau Allegretto Abel No. 5 in A Major Un Poco […]
Listening Guide with Lew Smoley Mills Soundscapes For Percussion and Orchestra Signals, Dialogues Dance Nocturne Continuum Broadstock Federation Flourish Symphony No. 2: Stars In A Dark Night Movement 1 Movement 2 Movement 3 Movement 4 Movement 5 Timeless Vine Symphony No. 3 Symphony No. 4.2 Koehne Unchained Melody Inflight Entertainment Agent Provocateur Horse Opera Beat […]
Listening Guide – With Lew Smoley Meale Lumen Brumby Symphony No. 1: The Sun Andante Sostenuto, Allegro Larghetto Presto Stisky Violin Concerto No. 2: Gurdjieff Dolce Allegro Allegretto Andantino Andante Con Moto Allegretto Larghetto Mageau An Early Autumn’s Dreaming Butterley Fire In The Heavens Edwards Mountain Village In A Clearing Mist Symphony No. 4: Star […]
Listening Guide – with Lew Smoley Dreyfus Sextet For Didjeridu and Wind Instruments Williamson Piano Concerto No. 3 Eb Allegro Toccata Allegro, Allegretto, Scherzo Molto Largo E Cantando Ben Allegro Travel Diaries: Sydney North Head Pyrmont Dockside Harbour Bridge Botanical Gardens At Central Railway Harbour Ferry Lane Cove King’s Cross A Morning Swim Kirribilli The […]
Listening Guide: With Lew Smoley Glanville-Hicks Sinphonia Da Pacifica Allegro Energico Recitativo, Lento Tranquillo Allegro Giocoso Hughes Sea Spell Holland Trio for Violin, Cello, and Piano Allegro Non Troppo Allegro Scherzando Allegro Maestoso Hyde Fantasia on Waltzing Matilda Sonata in g minor Le Gallienne Sinfonietta Penberthy Symphony No. 6: The Earth Mother Werder Violin Concerto: […]
Listening Guide: With Lew Smoley Selections Marshall-Hall Symphony in Eb: Finale – Allegro con spirito Symphony in c: Adagio Sostenuto Hart The Bush – Symphonic Suite: Poco lento e sostenuto Allegro Vivace Hill Symphony No. 3 Adagio, Allegro Molto Adagio Allegro Maestoso, Allegro Grainger Colonial Song The Warriors Hutchens The Enchanted Isle The Island Benjamin […]
With Lew Smoley
The University of Minnesota's 40th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Tribute concert moves online this year and honors the legacy of John Lewis. Featuring music from spirituals to pop, the event on Jan. 17, hosted by VocalEssence's G. Phillip Shoultz III is a fitting tribute to the civil right leader's legacy.
The Minnesota Orchestra's 2020 season is being broadcast on TPT and Classical MPR on select Fridays at 8 p.m. Listen now to the Jan. 15 performance for a program featuring a Saint-Georges symphony and Mozart's Bassoon Concerto.
Get a free MP3 of Johannes Brahms - Hungarian Dance No. 21. Can you guess this week's theme? Let us know for a chance to win more free music. And don't forget to sign up for the Daily Download newsletter so you never miss a free classical track!
Voces8 presents an achingly beautiful performance of two works by Minnesota composers, Stephen Paulus' "The Road Home" and Jake Runestad's "Let My Love Be Heard," seamlessly sung together. Enjoy this performance from their concert with the STMA Choirs last year!
What are percussion instruments and how do they make classical music more exciting? Find out in the latest episode of Classical Kids Corner, hosted by Melissa Dundis.
On Wednesday, the 59th presidential inauguration is set to commence. To celebrate this time-honored transition of power, here are six marches that were composed specifically for past presidential ceremonies.
Get a free MP3 of Johannes Brahms - Hungarian Dance No. 6. Can you guess this week's theme? Let us know for a chance to win more free music. And don't forget to sign up for the Daily Download newsletter so you never miss a free classical track!
Due to current circumstances, we have adapted the concert content to provide a virtual Class Notes Concert. Today's Classical Kids Music Lesson will be a virtual Class Notes concert featuring the OK Factor.