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February 17, 2009
Rewriting history
Arnold Schoenberg loved Brahms' first piano quartet, but hated how it was usually played. The pianist was always too loud, covering up the strings. He fixed the problem by rewriting the whole piece for symphony orchestra, and ditching the pesky piano altogether. We'll hear Schoenberg's arrangement today, played by Amsterdam's Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Ivan Fischer conducts.
Today's Playlist
hour 1
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Astor Piazzolla
Tango from Three Tangos for Bandoneon and Orchestra
Astor Piazzolla, bandoneon, with the Orchestra of St. Luke's and conductor Lalo Schifrin
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Sergei Rachmaninoff
Barcarolle in G Minor, Op. 10, No. 3
Pianist Bernd Glemser
Hobart Town Hall, Hobart, Australia
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Herbert Howells
"The Scribe"
Clerestory
Green Music Festival, Rohnert Park, California
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Astor Piazzolla
"The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires"
Violinist and music director Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg with the New Century Chamber Orchestra
First United Methodist Church, Palo Alto, California
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Arvo Part
"Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten"
The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra with conductor Paavo Jarvi
Cincinnati Music Hall, Cincinnati
hour 2
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Arnold Schoenberg
Adagio from Suite for String Orchestra in G
The German Symphony Orchestra of Berlin with conductor John Mauceri
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Johann Sebastian Bach
Contrapunctus VI from "The Art of the Fugue" BWV 1080
The Orion String Quartet and Windscape
The New York Society for Ethical Culture, New York City
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Johannes Brahms
Piano Quartet No. 1 in G Minor
The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra with conductor Ivan Fischer
Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Music and Silence
Posted at 9:25 PM on August 31, 2009 (5 Comments)
Robert Fripp: "Music is the wine that fills the cup of silence."
Aldous Huxley: "After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music."
Marcel Marceau: "Music and silence combine strongly because music is done with silence, and silence is full of music."
Leopold Stokowski (to an audience not providing enough silence): "A painter paints his pictures on canvas. But musicians paint their pictures on silence. We provide the music, and you provide the silence."
Former pianist, now anonymous monk: "Silence is my music now."
Edith Sitwell: "My personal hobbies are reading, listening to music, and silence."
Music theorist Elizabeth Hellmuth Margulis: "The same acoustic silence, embedded in two different excerpts, can be perceived dramatically differently."
John Cage, on reaction to his 'silent' piece 4'33": "They missed the point. There's no such thing as silence. What they thought was silence, because they didn't know how to listen, was full of accidental sounds. You could hear the wind stirring outside during the first movement. During the second, raindrops began patterning the roof, and during the third the people themselves made all kinds of interesting sounds as they talked or walked out."
Quoted by Richard Kostelanetz in his 2003 book, "Conversing with John Cage."
Call 1-866-943-4450
In-studio with Lang Lang, David Chan and Hai-Ye NiPianist Lang Lang is a superstar soloist among classical musicians, but that hectic schedule often keeps him from performing chamber music. Until now. Listen to Lang Lang's in-studio chamber performance two other musical powerhouses: concertmaster of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra David Chan and principal cellist with the Philadelphia Orchestra Hai-Ye Ni.
Tchaikovsky's Piano Trio
New Classical Tracks with Julie AmacherJulie Amacher provides an in-depth exploration of a new classical music. This week, Gustavo Dudamel's "Discoveries".
Dudamel Discoveries 11/19/2009
Download mp3 (right click and save)
Lost Gem 11/12/2009
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Star Power 11/05/2009
Download mp3 (right click and save)
For information about purchasing a CD of the Oslo Chamber Choir please contact the Oslo Chamber Choir.In studio with the Oslo Chamber Choir
The Oslo Chamber Choir joins host Fred Child in the studio during their American tour. The choir performs some lively traditional Norwegian folk songs as well some haunting arrangements of classical songs by Anton Bruckner, Edvard Grieg and Sergei Rachmaninoff. Those songs have a lingering melancholy which,the choir's conductor, Hakon Daniel Nystedt jokes "is our speciality."
PART I: Grieg and A Wedding March
PART II: Sheep herding songs and Rachmaninoff
Steve ReichPT listeners responded in droves to "New York Counterpoint," a modern classic by Steve Reich. We often read listener emails on the air, but this time we've shared them with the composer, too. Steve Reich joins Fred to comment on our listener comments, share his thoughts about the piece, and reflect on his own evolution as a composer.
Listen to the interview
Fleck-Meyer-Hussain Trio in MiamiBela Fleck, Edgar Meyer and Zakir Hussain are musical legends in their own right: on the banjo, on the double bass and on the tabla drum. They come from very different traditions, but these musicians have found some fascinating musical common ground as a trio. Fred Child joined them onstage for a live interview and performance in Miami, Florida. Their visit was hosted by Classical South Florida and made possible by the Rhythm Foundation.
Onstage in Miami
Thomas Hampson chose America's heartland - specifically Minnesota's bluff country - to kick off his Song of America tour. He gave a spectacular recital from three centuries of song at the Minnesota Beethoven Festival in Winona.
Download the concert for free.
I'll Be Seeing YouIn 2002 composer Paul Moravec wrote a piece inspired by a 1945 photograph of his parents. At the time, the young couple was not yet married and Vince, his father, was on leave from the Navy. They didn't know if they would ever see each other again. Moravec took a few notes from their favorite song, "I'll Be Seeing You", and created a new song inspired by that photograph.
Listen to Vince and Jan: 1945 by Paul Moravec
Pierre-Laurent Aimard makes work fun. The pianist joins host Fred Child in the studio to talk about and perform etudes by Claude Debussy. Etudes are studies for the piano, but Aimard reveals their artistic and thoughtful character.
Listen to Aimard's performance
Download Radio Radiance, a podcast collaboration between YPC, WNYC New York Public Radio and American Public Media. In each audio file you'll hear a performance of a new work by the the Young People's Chorus and conductor Francisco J. Núñez, plus an interview with the composer. (To download, right click then save the audio file.)
Crosstown M42 by Rob Kapilow and Fred Newman
Picaflor Esmeralda by Gabriela Lena Frank
Things by Meredith Monk
Liement Me Deport by Eve Beglarian
The Piano Puzzler® with Bruce Adolphe is now available for download and as a podcast.
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