February 23, 2009

The Color of Music

We all hear with our ears, but there's a small minority of people who seem to hear with their eyes too. They see colors when they hear music. It's called synesthesia. Hour two of today's show is all about the phenomenon, featuring interviews with synesthetes and the scientists who have studied them, plus music by synesthetic composers.

Today's Playlist

LISTEN

hour 1

Gustav Mahler
Fourth movement from Symphony No. 1 ("Titan")
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra with conductor Klaus Tennstedt
George Frideric Handel
Overture to "Agrippina"
Tempesta di Mare
Plays and Players Theatre, Philadelphia
Gustav Mahler
Fourth and fifth movements from Symphony No. 5
The Berlin Philharmonic with conductor Claudio Abbado
Mahler Festival, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Francis Poulenc
Sonata for Flute and Piano
Flutist James Galway and pianist Phillip Moll
Ravinia Festival, Highland Park, Illinois

hour 2

Alexander Scriabin
"Vers la Flamme" ("Toward the Flame")
Pianist Ruth Laredo
Robert Schumann
Preambule from "Carnaval," Op. 9
Pianist Joyce Yang
Aspen Music Festival, Aspen, Colorado
Felix Mendelssohn
Scherzo from Piano Trio No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 49
Violinist Cho-Liang Lin, cellist Andrew Shulman, and pianist Joyce Yang
Aspen Music Festival, Aspen, Colorado
Leonard Bernstein
Divertimento for Orchestra
National Orchestra Institute Philharmonic with conductor Jorge Mester
University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland
Peter Torke
"Yellow Pages" and "White Pages," from "Telephone Book"
The Australia Ensemble
University of New South Wales, Kensington, Australia
Olivier Messiaen
Prelude ("The Dove")
Pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard

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