The Joy of Classical Music

Unlike Loused Ferranc, there was little support from either family or husbands for Germaine Taillefrre. Nevertheless, this supremely talented composer found her way and led the vanguard of the new European music that arose from the wake of the first world war. The Foundation Philharmonic Orchestra performs Germaine Tailleferre - Petite Suite. Harpist Claudia Antonelli performs Germaine Tailleferre - Sonata for Harp. Nicole Narboni and mark Clinton perform Germaine Tailleferre - Jeux de plein air. The Morgenstern Trio perform Germaine Tailleferre - Piano Trio. Soprani Maria Lagios and pianist Elizabeth Buccheri perform Germaine Tailleferre - 6 Chansons françaises. The Tailleferre Ensemble perform Germaine Tailleferre - Sonate Champêtre. Soprano Arleen Auger and The Paris Opera Orchestra perform Germaine Tailleferre - Concerto de la Fidélité. Exploring classical music in all its glories and complexities. From the sweetest melodic to the cutting edge of the avant-garde... from the deep past to the freshest contemporary. All of it. The joy of classical music.

Born in an age when women were largely excluded from the world of classical music, Louise Farrenc was an anomaly. Though her talent was considerable, talent alone was not enough to penetrate the male dominated institutions of the 19th century - and here luck was her side. Unusually for the time, her parents supported her in every way they could, as did her husband. Then there was her indomitable spirit. When she ran up against the common sexism the age, she stood up to it and beat it down. Sharon Su performs Louise Farrenc: Étude, Op. 26: No. 10 in F-Sharp Minor. Joanne Polk performs Louise Farrenc - Air russe varié. Linda Di Carlo, Amedeo Cicchese and Sergey Galaktionov perform Louise Farrenc -Cello Sonata in B-Flat Major, Op. 46. The North German Radio Symphony, Hannover performs Louise Farrenc - Symphony No. 3 in G Minor, Op. 36. Exploring classical music in all its glories and complexities. From the sweetest melodic to the cutting edge of the avant-garde... from the deep past to the freshest contemporary. All of it. The joy of classical music.

New Adventures in Music is a series within a series about the thrill of musical discovery and the joy of listening. This week I’m playing selections from new albums by composers Cecelia McDowall, Gao Ping and David Sisco, the Santa Fe Chorale and guitarist Sean Shibe. The Santa Fe Desert Chorale perform Shawn Kirchner - Sweet Rivers. The Rudolfus Choir perform Cecilia McDowall - A Tree is A Song. The Rudolfus Choir perform Cellia McDowell - Here Hum the Bees. Michael Houston performs Gao Ping - Wanderings. David Sisco, Laura Strickling and David Fung perform David Sisko - The Wrong Kind of Fountain Enthusiast. Santa Fe Desert Chorale performs Reena Esmail - The Tipping Point. Sean Shibe performs Thomas Ades - Forgotten Dances. Exploring classical music in all its glories and complexities. From the sweetest melodic to the cutting edge of the avant-garde... from the deep past to the freshest contemporary. All of it. The joy of classical music.

Last week’s episode featured two Jazz influenced classical works by Ukrainian Soviet composer Nicolai Kapustin. Energised by the joy and verve of his style, this week I’ve decided to dig a little deeper into his repertoire and devote a whole episode to his music. Nikolai Kapustin performs Kapustin – Impromptu No.2. Ludmil Angelov and Daniel Del Pino perform Nicolai Kapustin – Paraphrase on Dizzy Gillespie's Manteca. Frank Dupree and Adrian Brendle perform Nicolai Kapustin – Sinfonietta for 4-Hand Piano. Yuja Wang and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra perform Nicolai Kapustin – Piano Concerto No. 4. Frank Dupree and the Württemberg Chamber Orchestra of Heilbronn perform Nikolai Kapustin – Chamber Symphony. Exploring classical music in all its glories and complexities. From the sweetest melodic to the cutting edge of the avant-garde... from the deep past to the freshest contemporary. All of it. The joy of classical music.

This week I’m broadcasting from the intersection of Classical and Jazz and on the menu is a selection of jazz influenced classical works and and a classically influenced jazz work - that would be the featured work, Duke Ellington’s Black, Brown and Beige. And then there’s something else altogether, a modern classical-jazz fusion reimagining of Miles Davis’s 1971 jazz- rock fusion work Sivad courtesy of composer, violinist Hugo Ticciati and the O/Modernt Chamber Orchestra. Frank Dupree and the SWR Big Band perform Nikolai Kapustin - Toccata. Benny Goodman and The Columbia Jazz Ensemble perform Igor Stravinsky - Ebony Concerto. Marc-André Hamelin performs Nikolai Kapustin - Kapustin: 8 Concert Etudes. Hugo Ticciati and the O/Modernt Chamber Orchestra perform Miles Davis - Sivad (Arr. for chamber orchestra by Gwilym Simcock). Duke Ellington and his Orchestra perform Duke Ellington - Black, Brown And Beige. Exploring classical music in all its glories and complexities. From the sweetest melodic to the cutting edge of the avant-garde... from the deep past to the freshest contemporary. All of it. The joy of classical music.

This week I’m talking with English composer Andrew March. Winner of the inaugural Masterprize International Composing Competition in 1998, we’ll be listening a selection of works from his extensive compositional catalogue as well as that Masterprize winning work: Marine – à travers les arbres. How Long Oh Lord. Marine – à travers les arbres. Amoration. Elegy on Sudden Loss. Eagle Wood. Exploring classical music in all its glories and complexities. From the sweetest melodic to the cutting edge of the avant-garde... from the deep past to the freshest contemporary. All of it. The joy of classical music.

New Adventures in Music is a series within a series about the thrill of musical discovery and the joy of listening. This weeks new and releases include 2 songs from French tenor Cyrille Dubois new album So Poétique !, 3 selections from Doulas Moore’s opera Giants in the Earth, a track from the London Sinfonia’s new album Eden: The Music of Edward Picton-Turbervill and 3 tracks from a recent album by Australian pianist Stephen Hough called Postcards. There are 2 choral works by English composer Andrew March and the featured composition is David Sisco’s Patterns, a long form art-song about the often silent grief endured woman who had lost their loved ones to the First World War. Cyrille Dubois and the Brussels Philharmonic perform Gabriel Fauré - 4 Mélodies, Op. 39: No. 4, Les roses d’Ispahan Cyrille Dubois and the Brussels Philharmonic perform Charles Gounod - Ma belle amie est morte, CG 404 South Dakota Symphony Orchestra and Chorus perform Douglas Moore - Giants in the Earth, Act I: No. 1, Prelude, Act I: No. 2, Not a thing in sight yet, far as I can see, Act I: No. 3, Good morning, good morning! The Chapel Choir of Corpus Christi College perform Andrew March - Marian Antiphon No. 3 The Chapel Choir of Corpus Christi College perform Andrew March - Be Still and Know London Choral Sinfonia and Katie Bray perform Edward Picton-Turbervill - Spell of Sleep Stephen Hough performs Yu-Hsien - Spring Breeze Prelude Stephen Hough performs Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman - Mary Poppins Suite: I. Chim chim cher-ee, 2. Feed the Birds and 3. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Pianist David Fung, Mezzo-Soprano Elizabeth Mondragon, and Baritone David Sisco perform David Sisco and Amy Lowell - Patterns. Exploring classical music in all its glories and complexities. From the sweetest melodic to the cutting edge of the avant-garde... from the deep past to the freshest contemporary. All of it. The joy of classical music.

This week, it’s a hour of music bridging Indigenous and Western musical traditions. There’s music from Brazil, Aotearoa, Australia and the United States and the featured work was inspired by the composers Wisconsin childhood in an Indigenous American community: Gloria Coates Indian Sounds - Symphony Number 5. São Paulo Symphony Orchestra and Choir perform Heitor Villa-Lobos: Chôros No. 3 Hannah Darroch performs Helen Fisher - Te Tangi a te Matui Aunty Delmae Barton and William Barton perform Dreamtime Duet The Fort Smith Symphony performs Louis W. Ballard - Devil’s Promenade Du Yun and Raven Chacon - Sweet Land: Scene 1 - Introduction featuring Raven Chacon and Du Yan. Musica-viva-ensemble Dresden perform Gloria Coates - Indian Sounds (Symphony No.8) Exploring classical music in all its glories and complexities. From the sweetest melodic to the cutting edge of the avant-garde... from the deep past to the freshest contemporary. All of it. The joy of classical music.

New Adventures in music is a series within a series about the thrill of musical discovery and the joy of listening and among the new albums featured in episode 8 is Infrastructure: The Songs of David Sisco, 55 from pianists Katia and Marielle Labeque and Milestones from Hugoi Ticiatti and the O/Modernt Chamber Orchestra. The featured work, a 3-movement choral work called Cycle of Peace, is from Tenebrae’s new album In between: Choral Works by Jessica Ulusoy-Horsley. Pianist David Fung and Tenor David Sisco perform David Sisko - Where Memories Go to Die. Burnt Reeds perform Amber Ferenz - From The Mountains to The Sea: A musical journey across North Carolina. Katia Labèque performs Lili Boulanger - Trois Morceaux: I. D’un vieux jardin. Marielle Labeque performs Lili Boulanger - Trois Morceaux: II. D’un jardin clair. Katia and Marielle Labèque perform Fanny Mendelssohn - Vier Lieder ohne Worte, Op. 8: I. Allegro moderato Hugo Ticciati and the O/Modernt Chamber Orchestra perform Igor Stravinsky - Suite de L’Histoire Du Soldat. Tenebrae Choir perform Jessica Ulusoy-Horsley - Cycle of Peace. Exploring classical music in all its glories and complexities. From the sweetest melodic to the cutting edge of the avant-garde... from the deep past to the freshest contemporary. All of it. The joy of classical music.

This week it’s three works by English composer Herbert Howells - Here is the Little Door, String Quartet No. 3 "In Gloucestershire”, and the episodes focus - Hymnus Paradisi. Music journalist Simon Heffer described Hymnus Paradisi as “one of the great works of the whole musical canon, and one that stakes a claim to be the finest piece ever written in the English choral tradition.” Choir of King's College, Cambridge perform Herbert Howell - Here Is The Little Door Divertimenti perform Herbert Howells - String Quartet No. 3 "In Gloucestershire”. Heather Harper (soprano), Robert Tear (tenor), the Bach Choir with the King's College Chapel Choir and the New Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Sir David Willcocks perform Herbert Howells - Hymnus Paradisi.

A Taste of India This weeks the music bridges the musical traditions of the Indian Sub-Continent and the West. There’s music from a 2023 album called You’ve Stolen My Heart: Songs From R D Burman’s Bollywood, 2 tracks from the pianist composer Michael Harrison’s recent Evening Light: Raga Cycles 1 album, and two works from Indian American composer Reena Esmail. The 100,000 selling TaReKiTa and an epic 2023 choral work called This Love Between Us “Prayers for Unity”. Asha Bhosle and the Kronos Quartet perform R D Burman - Dum Maro Dum (Take Another Toke) The Oxford Choir perform Reena Esmail - TaReKiTa Michael Harrison and Ina Filip perform Water Jhala (Raga Yaman) Michael Harrison and Ina Filip perform Mahadev (Raga Bhupali) Asha Bhosle and the Kronos Quartet perform R D Burman - Nodir Paare Uttchhe Dhnoa (Smoke Rises Across The River) Juilliard415 and the Yale Schola Cantorum perform Rena Esmail - This Love Between Us "Prayers for Unity"

New Adventures in music is mostly about new and recent releases and this weeks selections include two tracks from a 2023 album called Songs & Symphoniques: The Music of Moondog, 3 tracks from superstar pianist Hayato Sumino’s new album Chopin Orbit and a 4 movement work from Homegrown Melodies, the brand new album from reed quintet Burnt Reeds. From 2023 Sylvan Wind album Resonant Worlds, the featured work is a modern reimagining of the Cinderella story called Xenia and the Bishop by Serbian-American composer Aleksandra Vrebalov. Ghost Train Orchestra and the Kronos Quartet perform Moondog - All Is Loneliness Burnt Reeds perform Madison D. Bush - The Drive There and Back Hayato Sumino - Larghetto Hayato Sumino - Lydian Harp Hayato Sumino - Raindrop Postlude Ghost Train Orchestra and the Kronos Quartet perform Moondog - Coffee Beans Mary Beth Peil and the Sylvan Winds perform Aleksandra Vrebalov - Xenia and the Bishop. Exploring classical music in all its glories and complexities. From the sweetest melodic to the cutting edge of the avant-garde... from the deep past to the freshest contemporary. All of it. The joy of classical music.

The Joy of Classical Music - Episode 161: The Outsiders. What is an outsider composer? Generally outsider composers occupy the fringes of the classical tradition. Creating music on their own terms, they are unconcerned with accepted rules, prevailing fashions or institutional approval. Some build entirely new physical instruments to reproduce the sounds they hear in their heads and they often create their own notation systems, scales, or tuning structures. That’s Moondog and Harry Partch, but Julius Eastman was a different kind of outsider, one made by conviction, circumstance and temperament. Moondog - All Is Loneliness The Partch Ensemble perform Harry Partch - The Letter Wild Up performs Julius Eastman - Stay On It London Brass and London Saxophonic and Moondog perform Moondog - Invocation The Partch Ensemble performs Harry Partch - U.S. Highball

Nothing but Rachmaninoff The 1954 edition of the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians said Rachmaninoff’s popular appeal was based on "uncomfortable" emotionalism and that his works lacked structural innovation. They predicted that he would soon be forgotten. Dame Kiri Te Kanawa performs Rachmaninoff: Vocalise, Op. 34 No. 14 Rachmaninoff plays Rachmaninoff: Siren: Lilacs, Op. 21, No. 5 Jussi Björling and the Stockholm Concert Society Orchestra perform Rachmaninoff - 12 Romances, Op. 21: No. 5, Lilacs Huberman Piano Trio perform Rachmaninoff - 5 Morceaux de fantaisie, Op. 3: No. 1, Elégie (Arr. for Piano Trio) Soprano Elisabeth Söderström and Pianist Vladimir Ashkenazy perform Rachmaninoff - Do Not Sing, My Fair Maiden The New Philharmonia Orchestra, Baritone John Shaw and The Cathedral Choir of St. Ambrose perform Rachmaninoff - Three Russian Folk Songs Soprano Heidi Grant Murphy and pianist Kevin Murphy perform Sergei Rachmaninoff - Au! (A-oo (The Quest) , Op. 38, No. 6 Vladimir Ashkenazy with André Previn and the London Symphony Orchestra perform Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, Exploring classical music in all its glories and complexities. From the sweetest melodic to the cutting edge of the avant-garde... from the deep past to the freshest contemporary. All of it. The joy of classical music.

This weeks it’s an hour of music by Japanese composers. There’s two choral works by Makiko Kinoshita, some Buddhist cosmology from Toshiro Mayuzumi, two avant-garde pieces by Michiko Toyama, one of Japans most beloved pieces of music, a tribute to the Ainu people of Northern Japan, the first Western style work by a Japanese composer and we close with Tōru Takemitsu’s November Steps. Hokkaido University Mixed Chorus perform Makiko Kinoshita - The Things I Dreamed Of Fumiaki Miyamoto performs Michiru Ōshima - Wind Plays the Flute (Theme from Asuka) The NHK Symphony Orchestra perform Toshirō Mayuzumi - Mandala Symphony New Symphony Orchestra perform Kiyoshige Koyama - Song of Ainu for Strings Yoko Greeney and Emily Cole perform Nobu Kōda - Violin Sonata in D Minor Michiko Toyama - Waka (Parts 1&2) The Heinrich Schutz Choir of Osaka perform Makiko Kinoshita - Seagull Saito Kinen Orchestra perform Takemitsu - November Steps

We open with guitarist Sara Reichert and close with Forward into Light, the title track from composer Sarah Kirkland Snider’s new album, Forward into Light. In between, we traverse a universe of new music by women. Sara d'Ippolito Reichert performs Ida Presti - Danse Rythmique Anne Vanschothorst - A Harp Note to Emily Dickinson Barbara Hannigan performs Hildegard von Bingen - O virga mediatrix (Arr. for Soprano, Pianos and Electronic by David Chalmin) The Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra and Esther Abrami perform Ina Boyle - Concerto for Violin and Orchestra (To the memory of my mother) Anne Vanschothorst - I Haven't Told My Garden Yet Metropolis Ensemble perform Sarah Kirkland Snider - Forward Into Light

This week, it’s more from the strange realms of unreality and the featured work is electronic pioneer Delia Derbyshire’s Invention for Radio No. 1: The Dreams, a work that sets recorded interviews of people describing their dreams against an electronic soundscape. Stephen Drury performs John Cage - Dream The Eric Whitacre Singers perform Eric Whitacre - Sleep Delia Derbyshire - Invention for Radio No.1: The Dreams

Strange Dreams Part 1 Dreams have long provided fertile inspiration for composers and over the next two episode I’ll be playing music inspired by those strange dimensions of unreality where the fortunate might find a truer sense of themselves. Ann Crumb performs George Crumb - The Sleeper. The BBC National Orchestra of Wales performs Toru Takemitsu - Dreamtime. Chen Yao - The Moon over the West River: The World Is But a Great Dream. New England Conservatory Philharmonia performs Gunther Schuller - Dreamscape. Lahti Symphony Orchestra performs Einojuhani Rautavaara - Piano Concerto No. 3: Gift of Dreams.

This episode of the Joy of Classical Music speaks to the resilience of the Ukrainian people in the face of 250 years of Russian aggression and oppression. The featured composition is Valentyn Bibik’s Cry and Prayer, a work of memory dedicated to the victims of the Holodomor. The Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra perform Mykhailo Verbytsky - Ukraine’s glory has not perished. The Odessa Philharmonic Orchestra perform Myroslav Skoryk - The High Pass: Melody Violinist Solomia Soroka and Pianist Arthur Greene perform Yevhen Stankovych - Ukrainian Poem The Crimean Chamber Choir Perform Mykola Leontovych - Shchedryk The National Choir of Ukraine perform Yevhen Stankovych — Prophet from Passions for Taras National Academic Ukrainian Folk Choir perform Taras Shevchenko - My Thoughts Lviv National Opera performs Yevhen Stankovych - Earth, Give your Blessing from Folk Opera When The Fern Blooms. Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus perform Mykola Lysenko - Prayer for Ukraine The Academic Symphony Orchestra of the National Philharmonic of Ukraine perform Valentyn Bibik — Cry and Prayer

New Adventures in Music is a series within a series devoted to the thrill of musical discovery and the joy of listening. This week, there’s two new releases from Harmonia Mundi - Zachary Wilder’s Brooklyn Suite and The Toronto Symphony Orchestra: Béla Bartók and from that album, we’re featuring The Miraculous Mandarin, a controversial work that banned for decades across much of Europe. There’s also a song about Ruth Bader Ginsberg and composer Francis Poulenc’s amazing Concerto for Clarinet and Piano, a work that was commissioned by big band leader and clarinetist Beeny Goodman in 1962. Zachary Wilder performs Franz Schubert - Die schöne Müllerin, D. 795, Op. 25: No. 4, Danksagung an den Bach. Zachary Wilder performs Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Le nozze di Figaro, K. 492: Giunse alfin il momento — La clemenza di tito, K. 621: Ah, grazie si rendono. David Shifrin and Robert Blocker perform Francis Poulenc - Sonata for Clarinet and Piano. Patrice Michaels performs Dissenter of de Universe. 5 Opinions and a Comment. The Toronto Symphony Orchestra performs Bella Bartok - The Miraculous Mandarin.

This week I am doing something I have only ever done once before, devoting a whole episode to one piece of music - Henryk Górecki’s Symphony No.3. I’ll be playing the 1992 Nonesuch recording, which Robin Hilton, host of NPR’s All Songs Considered, described as revealing the "soul of the universe" in a "wondrous way”. Nonesuch Selects: Flea talking about Henryk Górecki’s Symphony No.3. Robert Greenberg - Music as a Mirror of History - Henryk Górecki: Symphony No. 3 Nonesuch Selects: Sarah Kirkland Snider talks about Henryk Górecki’s Symphony No.3 The London Sinfonietta, conducted by David Zinman with soprano Dawn Upshaw perform Henryk Górecki - Symphony No. 3.

New Adventures in Music is a series within a series devoted to the thrill of musical discovery and the joy of listening. This week we have three new and recent releases as well as a tribute to French electronic music pioneer, the composer Éliane Radigue, who died on the 23rd of February this year. The episodes featured work episodes is her 1983 magnetic tape composition Elimination of Desires but keep an ear out for Vietnamese-American composer Viet Cuong’s joyful 3 movement concerto - Re(new)al. Yang Bao - The Riddle Albany Symphony and Sandbox Percussion perform Viet Cuong - Re(new)al: I - Hydro, Re(new)al: 2 - Wind, Re(new)al: 3 - Solar. Gilda Lyons and Robert Frankenberry perform gather-summon offering from Magic and Desire: Songs of Intimate Connections Yang Bao - Human and I Éliane Radigue - Elimination of Desires

This week, it’s cloud music from The Land of the Long White White Cloud. Jian Liu performs David Hamilton - Clouds Over Aoraki. The NZ Trio perform Jenny McLeod - Clouds Nick Nock - Land Of The Long White Cloud Gillian Whitehead: Clouds Over Mata-au Ross Harris - Dark Clouds Gillian Rivers, Ciaran Wright, Hunter Craig, and Josh Meads perform John Rimmer - Clouds over Pirongia The Florida State Percussion Ensemble perform John Psathas - Cloud Folk

This weeks exploration of Clouds is all about the ephemeral, allegorical and esoteric. Chanticleer perform Majel Connery - I am a Cloud Jennifer Koh, Jaime Laredo and the Curtis 20/21 Ensemble perform Anna Clyne - Prince of Clouds Hua Wang, Ge Zhao, Yang Di, Xuemeng Wu and Chen Yao perform Chen Yao - Cloud Herding Apollo Chamber Orchestra perform John Luther Adams - Clouds of Forgetting, Clouds of Unknowing.

I was recently watching Jaques Tati’s 1967 film Playtime, which features some artful shots of modernist buildings silhouetted against azure blue skies dotted with white cumulus clouds. It’s an evocative sight and I got to thinking about clouds and the way they interact with our psyche. The result is 3 episodes of music that examine clouds from a variety of perspectives and contexts. Based on Kālidāsa’s 4th-5th century lyric poem Meghadūta, this weeks featured work is Gustav Holst’s The Cloud Messenger. Joni Mitchell - Both Sides Now Anja Arko performs Florence Price - Clouds The Malmö Opera Chorus perform Florence Price - Summer Clouds The Berlin Philharmonic performs Debussy: Nocturnes, CD 98: I. Nuages Sviatoslav Richter performs Liszt - Nuages gris, S.199 The London Symphony Chorus, The London Symphony Orchestra and mezzo-soprano Della Jones perform Gustav Holst - The Cloud Messenger

A series within a series, New Adventures in Music is devoted to the thrill of music discovery and the joy of listening. Each episode features a varied selection of music that culminates with a featured work. This weeks episode features selections from pianist Tiffany Poon’s new album Nature and quite a bit from a new album called Igor Stravinsky: Late Works. This weeks featured work is a cantata from that album called That is to say, the Lamentations of Jeremiah the Prophet, otherwise known as Threni. Tiffany Poon performs Jean-Philippe Rameau - Nouvelles suites de pièces de clavecin Suite in G Major, RCT 6: XII. La Poule. Tiffany Poon performs François Couperin -Pièces de clavecin, Livre 1: Second Ordre, XXIII. Les Papillons. Sergei Rudnev performs his own arrangement of Lipa Vekovaia. North Netherlands Symphony and mezzo-soprano Marianne Beate Kielland perform Igor Stravinsky - Two Sacred Songs (Hugo Wolf): No. 1, Herr, was trägt der Boden hier. North Netherlands Symphony and mezzo-soprano Marianne Beate Kielland perform Igor Stravinsky - Two Sacred Songs (Hugo Wolf): No. 2, Wunden trägst du mein Geliebter. Tiffany Poon performs Robert Schumann - Arabeske, Op.18. Cappella Amsterdam and North Netherlands Symphony Orchestra perform Igor Stravinsky Threni: De elegia quinta: Oratio Jeremiae Prophetae. Threni: Incipit Threni: De Elegia Prima Threni: De Elegia Tertia: I. Querimonia Threni: De Elegia Tertia: II. Sensus spei Threni: De Elegia Tertia: III. Solacium Threni: De Elegia Quinta: Oratio Jeremiæ Prophetæ

A series within a series, New Adventures in Music is devoted to the thrill of music discovery and the joy of listening. Each episode features a varied selection of music that culminates with a featured work. This weeks episode features three tracks from coloratura soprano Julie Roset’s wonderful new album M'a dit Amour (Love Said To Me) and from Symbiosis: A Tribute to Bill Evans, a new album by Danish jazz pianist Thomas Clausen, his Trio, and the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, I’m featuring the glorious Bill Evans Suite. Julie Roset performs Claude Debussy - La romance d'Ariel, L. 54 Julie Roset performs Charles Koechlin - Sept chansons pour Gladys, Op. 151: No. 1, M'a dit Amour Anne Akiko Meyers and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra perform Eric Whitacre - The Pacific Has No Memory Conrad Tao performs Adam Roberts - Book of Flowers: No. 6 - Shavasana Book of Flowers No. 8 - Rolling Waves Julie Roset performs Claude Debussy - La fille aux cheveux de lin, L. 15 Thomas Clausen Trio and the Singapore Symphony Orchestra perform Bill Evans and Palle Mikkelborg - The Bill Evans Suite 1 “Interlude" into Waltz for Debby 2 Time Remembered 3 My Bells 4 Interlude (Treasures) 5 Waltz for Debby (Reprise) 6. Walkin' Up

A series within a series, New Adventures in Music is devoted to the thrill of music discovery and the joy of listening. Each episode features a varied selection of music that culminates with a featured work. This weeks featured work is On the Transmigration of Souls by composer John Adams. Exaudi Chamber Choir From Cuba - Son de la loma Trio Matamoros - Son de la Loma Bournemouth Sinfonietta perform Edward Elgar - Sospiri Kathryn Stott and Tine Thing Helseth perform Alexander Glazunov - Albumblatt The Tenebrae Choir with soloist Martha McLorinan perform Judith Bingham - The Drowned Lovers Keiko Abe and Motoe Miyazima perform Keiko Abe - Divertimento for Marimba and Alto Saxophone. Gérard Souzay performs Gabriel Fauré - Après un rêve The Tallis Scholars perform Thomas Tallis - Miserere Nostri The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and the Gwinnett Young Singers Perform John Adams - On the Transmigration of Souls

The other day I was reading an article about Duke Ellington who described his style of music as American. What is American Music? That’s a question to big to answer here but this weeks selections offer a taste of the Americanness in contemporary American art music. Stacey Tappan performs Ricky Ian Gordon - Just an Ordinary Guy Stacey Tappan performs Ian Ricky Gordon - What the Living Do Missy Mazzoli, The Victoire Ensemble and Wilco drummer Glenn Kotche perform Missy Mazzoli - Wayward Free Radical Dreams Jos Milton and Melinda Coffey Armstead perform John Musto’s song cycle - Shadow of the Blues 1. Silhouette 2. Litany 3. Island 4. Could Be Marc-André Hamelin performs William Bolcom - Lost Lady Rag Nmon Ford and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra perform Jennifer Higdon - Dooryard Bloom

Over the next hour I’ll be taking a closer look at some of my favourite new discoveries from recent episodes and for this episode that means George Gershwin and Igor Stravinsky. Michael Tilson Thomas performs George Gershwin - 3 Preludes for Piano Daniil Trifonov and The Philadelphia Orchestra perform George Gershwin - Piano Concerto in F Sinfonietta de Montréal perform Igor Stravinsky - Concerto in E-Flat: Dumbarton Oaks

For the next two episodes I’m going to be taking a closer look at some new favourites and this week it’s music from pianists Julia Hamos and Jeremy Denk, songwriter and composer Marc Blitzstein, soprano Isabel Schicketanz and Sweden’s Gavle Symphony Orchestra. Julia Hamos performs Charles Mingus - Myself When I Am Real William Sharp and Steven Blier perform Marc Blitzstein - The New Suit Isabel Schicketanz performs Adam Krieger - Der Liebe Macht herrscht Tag und Nacht Jeremy Denk performs Claude Debussy - Images, Book 1, L. 110: No. 1, Reflets dans l’eau Avi Avital, Between Worlds Ensemble and Marina Heredia perform García Lorca, Solinís: Canciones españolas antiguas: No. 10, Zorongo Julia Hamos performs György Ligeti - Etudes, Book 1: No. 4, Fanfares Gavle Symphony Orchestra performs Max Reger - Romantic Suite, Op. 125

Last week's episode opened with Theory of Flight, the first part of the the first movement of Marc Blitzstein’s Airborne Symphony, a work I enjoyed so much that this week I’m doing something I have never done before, devoting an entire episode to one piece of music. Leonard Bernstein, The New York Philharmonic, The Choral Arts Society and Orson Welles perform Marc Blitzstein: The Airborne Symphony FIRST MOVEMENT Theory of Flight Ballad of History and Mythology Kittyhawk The Airborne SECOND MOVEMENT The Enemy Threat and Approach Ballad of the Cities Morning Poem THIRD MOVEMENT Ballad of Hurry-Up Night Music/Ballad of the Bombarder Recitative: Chorus of the Rendezvous The Open Sky The Joy of Classical Music Episode 143 - Part 1: New Favourites and Recent Discoveries For the next two episodes I’m going to be taking a closer look at some new favourites and this week it’s music from pianists Julia Hamos and Jeremy Denk, songwriter and composer Marc Blitzstein, soprano Isabel Schicketanz and Sweden’s Gavle Symphony Orchestra. Julia Hamos performs Charles Mingus - Myself When I Am Real William Sharp and Steven Blier perform Marc Blitzstein - The New Suit Isabel Schicketanz performs Adam Krieger - Der Liebe Macht herrscht Tag und Nacht Jeremy Denk performs Claude Debussy - Images, Book 1, L. 110: No. 1, Reflets dans l’eau Avi Avital, Between Worlds Ensemble and Marina Heredia perform García Lorca, Solinís: Canciones españolas antiguas: No. 10, Zorongo Julia Hamos performs György Ligeti - Etudes, Book 1: No. 4, Fanfares Gavle Symphony Orchestra performs Max Reger - Romantic Suite, Op. 125

Beginning around the 1920s, composers in American and elsewhere began imagining a new kind of musical theatre, a fusion of styles that borrowed from established operatic traditions, Broadway and popular music and culture, but whatever it was going to be, it wasn’t going to happen overnight, it would be something that evolved over time. Over the next few weeks I’ll be exploring the new musical theatre and some of the composers that brought it to life. Leonard Bernstein, Choral Art Society and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and Orson Welles perform Marc Blitzstein - Airborne Symphony: I. Theory of Flight Steven Blier and William Sharp perform Marc Blitzstein - Stay In My Arms Marc Blitzstein - The Cradle Will Rock: Scene 1 - Streetcorner: I'm Checkin' Home Now Marc Blitzstein - The Cradle Will Rock: Scene 2 - Nightcourt Marc Blitzstein - The Cradle Will Rock:Scene 3 - Mission Scene Sheri Greenawald and the Scottish Opera Orchestra perform Marc Blitzstein - Regina: Act 1: Lionett Gregory Mercer performs Marc Blitzstein - Sacco’s The Whole Shoe from Sacco and Vanzetti Magdalena: A Musical Adventure Studio Cast Recording: Villa-Lobos - Magdalena: Festival of the River Magdalena: A Musical Adventure Studio Cast Recording: Villa-Lobos - Magdalena: Finale: The Seed of God The Hague Philharmonic perform Shostakovich - Mosow-Cheryomushki: Prologue - Meeting You Here We Do Not Want Superfluous Words. The Hague Philharmonic perform Shostakovich - Mosow-Cheryomushki: Tyoplui Lane The Hague Philharmonic perform Shostakovich - Mosow-Cheryomushki: Lidochka's Song The Hague Philharmonic perform Shostakovich - Mosow-Cheryomushki: When I am Wondering Along the Streets of Moscow

Beginning around the 1920s, composers in American and elsewhere began imagining a new kind of musical theatre, a fusion of styles that borrowed from established operatic traditions, Broadway and popular music and culture, but whatever it was going to be, it wasn’t going to happen overnight, it would be something that evolved over time. Over the next few weeks I’ll be exploring the new musical theatre and some of the composers that brought it to life, people like Kurt Weill, Leonard Bernstein and Marc Blitzstein, but kicking it off, it’s the music of the incomparable George Gershwin. Fred and Adele Astaire perform George and ira Gershwin - Fascinating Rhythm Al Jolson performs George Gershwin and Irving Cesar - Swanee The Juilliard String Quartet performs George Gershwin – Lullaby Frances Lucey performs George Gershwin and Buddy DeSilva - Blue Monday: Has Anyone Seen My Joe? Leonard Bernstein and the Columbia Symphony Orchestra perform George Gershwin - Rhapsody in Blue Judy Garland performs George and Ira Gershwin - I Got Rhythm Adele Addison performs Summertime from 1959 film Porgy and Bess, Music by George Gershwin, lyrics by DuBose Heyward and Ira Gershwin Robert McFerrin performs I Got Plenty O’ Nutting from 1959 film Porgy and Bess, Music by George Gershwin, lyrics by DuBose Heyward and Ira Gershwin. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra performs George Gershwin - Catfish Row

The final episode of the Best Classical Albums of 2025 includes recommendations from Gramophone, Classical Radio Boston 99.5FM, The New York Times and NPR. Among the selections is composer Arthur Bliss’s joyous and lyrical Cello Concerto and Seelentrost, an album from soprano Isabel Schicketanz that explores early Baroque music about the soul. Avi Avital with Between Worlds perform Manuel de Falla: El amor brujo: Danza del juego del amor from The Song of Birds Alessia Tondo, Avi Avital and Between Worlds perform Bella ci dormi from The Song of Birds Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra perform Arthur Bliss - Cello Concerto from Arthur Bliss: Cello Concerto Isabel Schicketanz performs Johann Theile - Gott hilf mir, denn das Wasser gehet mir bis an die Seele from Seelentrost Lukas Geniušas and Anna Geniushene perform Igor Stravinsky - Dumbarton Oaks Concerto: Movement II from Hallelujah Junction The London Philharmonic performs Tania Leon - Pasajes from Tania Leon - Orchestral Works

Part 3 of the Best Classical Albums of 2025 includes recommendations from The New York Times, The Times and classical music streaming site Presto Music. Among this weeks selections is the Collected Works of Steve Reich, a 27 CD set that spans 6 decades and Songs of Passion, a collection of vocal and instrumental music by John Dowland and Henry Purcell. Lutist Thomas Dunford performs John Dowland - A Dream from Songs of Passion Alarm Will Sound performs Steve Reich - Tehillim: I. Psalm 19:2-5 - Hashamyim mehsapehrim kavohd Kail from Steve Reich - The Collected Works Thomas Dunford, Lea Desandre, Jupiter, Alex Rosen, Jess Dandy and Laurence Kilsby performing John Dowland - First Book of Songs or Ayres: No. 1, Come Again! Sweet Love Doth Now Invite from Songs of Passion Gävle Symphony Orchestra perform Max Reger - 4 Tone Poems After Arnold Böcklin: No. 1, Der geigende Eremit from Reger: 4 Tone Poems After Arnold Böcklin, Op. 128 & Romantic Suite, Op. 125 The Philadelphia Orchestra perform William Grant Still: Symphony No. 2 Movement 4: Song of a New Race from Still & Bonds - Symphonies & Variations The Philadelphia Orchestra perform Margaret Bonds: Montgomery Variations: VII. Benediction from Still & Bonds - Symphonies & Variations The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra performs Anna Clyne - Within Her Arms from Abstractions

In Part 2 of the Best Classical Albums of 2025 we will be hearing music from albums recommended by Gramophone, Substack writer Leah Broad, The Boston Globe, Apple Classical, and I Care If YouListen. Among the selections is an evocative album by pianist Julia Hamos called Ellis Island and the wondrous Yanga from YANGA: an album of Orchestral Works by Gabriela Ortiz. Countertenor Hugh Cutting performs Herbert Howells - Come Sing and Dance from Refound Pianist Tamara-Anna Cislowska and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra perform Elena Kats-Chernin: Ancient Letters: Movement 1 - Tiger Club from Ancient Letters Julia Hamos performs Meredith Monk - Ellis Island from Ellis Island Here’s Chris Thile performs Ciaccona, the fifth movement from Bach’s Partita No 2 in D-Minor from Bach: Sonatas and Partitas, Vol. 2 Sarah Alice Ott performs John Field: Nocturne No. 15 in D Minor, H. 59 Song Without Words from John Field: Complete Nocturnes Sphinx Virtuosi perform Quenton Blache - Habari Gani from American Mirror Los Angeles Master Chorale and the Tambuco Percussion Ensemble perform Gabriela Ortiz - Yanga from YANGA: an album of Orchestral Works by Gabriela Ortiz.

Over the next 4 weeks, I’ll be playing a wide selection of music drawn from numerous Best Classical Music of 2025 lists. In this episode we’ll be hearing music from albums recommended by NPR, The Guardian, Gramophone, The New York Times and Bandcamp. Among the selections is a personal favourite - Hallelujah Junction, an album by pianists Lukas Geniušas and Anna Geniushene ROSALÍA - Mio Cristo Piange Diamanti from Lux ROSALÍA - Reliquia from Lux The Hermes Experiment perform Islands from Tree Lawrence Brownlee and Erin Morley with the Munich Radio Orchestra perform Giuseppe Verdi - Rigoletto: Gualtier Maldè! ... Caro nome from Golden Age Lukas Geniušas and Anna Geniushene perform John Adams - Hallelujah Junction: Movement 1 From Hallelujah Junction Les Kapsber’ Girls perform Barbara Strozzi - Che si può fare? from Vox Feminae Exaudi Vocal Ensemble performs Jürg Frey - Polyphonie der Wörter from Voices Lukas Geniušas and Anna Geniushene perform George Gershwin - Cuban Overture (Arr. for 2 Pianos by Gregory Stone) from Hallelujah Junction

Episode 135 of The Joy of Classical concludes our four part journey through the little known classical music genre of Music Inspired by Science Fiction. Following on from episodes 118, 119 and 122, this episode features music by composer Michael Daugherty and a little nostalgia as I examine my own love of science-fiction and the qualities it has brought to my life. Cincinnati Pops Orchestra performs John Williams - Lost in Space Theme - Season 1 and 2 Original Theme and the Revised Season 3 Theme John Williams - The Time Tunnel Theme The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra performs Michael Daugherty’s Time Machine: Movement 2. Future Percussionist Evelyn Glennie and the Colorado Symphony Orchestra perform Michael Daugherty UFO: Movement 5 - Objects The Baltimore Symphony performs Michael Daugherty — Metropolis Symphony: Movement 2 - Krypton Theremin specialist Katica Illényi and the Anima Musicae Chamber Orchestra perform Alexander Courage - Original Star Trek Theme The Danish National Symphony Orchestra perform Richard Strauss - Thus Spoke Zarathustra! from 2001: A Space Odyssey The Danish National Symphony Orchestra performs Jerry Goldsmith - No Escape from The Planet Of The Apes The London Theatre Orchestra perform Ron Grainer - Dr Who Theme The Cincinnati Pops Orchestra perform Jerry Goldsmith - Star Trek: The Next Generation Theme Christina Johnston and the Dvořák Hall Film Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra perform Star Trek: The Original Series theme

This episode of the Joy of Classical Music is all about Paramusicology, an obscure and niche discipline of musicology that examines the spiritual, non-rational, intuitive and metaphysical aspects of music. In this episode we will be listening to music by dead composers channeled via a spiritualist medium, music from the transcendental realm, music from the otherworld and music inspired by arcane belief systems. Rosemary Brown - Jesus Walking to the Water Vladimir Horowitz performs Alexander Scriabin - Toward the Flame Irma Glen - Quiet Waters Pianist Claude Lavoix and Soprano Francoise Masset perform Louis Aubert - The Nameless Country Jonas Salk talks about Intuition Tui St. George Tucker - Indian Summer: Three Microtonal Antiphons on Psalm Texts The Carnegie Mellon Repertory Chorus and the Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic Orchestra perform Giacinto Scelsi - Konx-Om-Pax: First Movement Alan Hovhaness conducts the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra performing his 1968 work Fra Angelico, A Fantasy for Orchestra

This brief 2 Part series about Aotearoa’s greatest composer is not in anyway meant to be a comprehensive account of his life and work, just a sketch that shows something of his evolution as a composer. In Part 2, Lilburn reinvents himself twice, first introducing something of the contemporary and avant-garde into his work before giving himself over to the new medium of electronica. Lilburn: “Music is not something to be bottled and stoppered and stored away. It’s a living flow...” James Judd and the NZSO perform Douglas Lilburn - Processional Fanfare, for 3 trumpets and small orchestra Ashley Heenan and the NZSO perform the Prelude from Douglas Lilburn’s Symphony No. 2 John Hopkins and the NZSO perform Douglas Lilburn - A Birthday Offering, for orchestra John Hopkins and the NZSO perform Douglas Lilburn - Symphony No 3 Michael Houston performs Douglas Lilburn - Sonatina No. 2: Douglas Lilburn - Soundscape with Lake and River

Following in the footsteps of Episode 126 - The Cambridge Summer School of Music, Episode 132 is all about that episodes central figure, Douglas Lilburn. In this episode we explore something of Lilburn’s legacy but mostly we’ll be listening to a selection his of music from the 1930s, 40s and 50, works that demonstrate something of his evolution as a composer and his commitment to creating “a music of our own, a living tradition of music created in this country, a music that will satisfy those parts of our being that cannot be satisfied by the music of other nations.” Scott Bezett (baritone), Sarah Hubbard (soprano), Olivia Pike (soprano), Rhiannon Cooper (alto) and Tom McGrath (piano) perform Douglas Lilburn - The Magpies James Judd and the NZ Symphony Orchestra perform Douglas Lilburn - Forest Kenneth Young and the The NZ Symphony Orchestra perform Douglas Lilburn - Drysdale Overture John Hopkins and the NZ Symphony Orchestra perform Douglas Lilburn - A Song of Islands Ed Zuccollo performs Douglas Lilburn - Overture: Aotearoa (Synth Arrangement) Whānau London Voices perform ‘Douglas Lilburn - Flowers of the Sea' from Sings Harry

This week it’s a selection of contemplative Japanese and Japanese inspired Music. Mezzo-Soprano Mika Kaneko performs Yoshinao Nakada - Cherry Blossoms Lane. Manchester Camerata performs Takashi Yoshimatsu - And Birds Are Still Tampa Bay Symphony performs Alan Hovhaness - Fantasy on Japanese Wood Prints for Xylophone & Orchestra Pacific Symphony Orchestra performs Toru Takemitsu - From Me Flows What You Call Time

This week it’s an episode of All-Sorts, a concept and theme free selection of music from all over the world and from all across the timeline. Soprano Elīna Garanča performs My Voice opens Your Heart, an aria from Act 11 of opera Samson and Delilah by Camille Saint-Saëns Alice Sara Ott performs John Field - Nocturne No. 16 in C Major Tenor Gérard Souzay Performs Claude Debussy - Beautiful Evening The Melos Ensemble of London performs Guy Ropartz ‒ Prelude, Marine and Songs The National Orchestra of Spain performs Manuel De Falla - Master Peter's Puppet Show

Down Argentina Way, the title of a 1940 Hollywood Musical starring Betty Grable, Don Ameche, and Carmen Miranda or as it is in this case, a selection of music from four Argentinian composers: Ariel Ramirez, Alicia Terzián, Astor Piazzolla, and Alberto Ginastera. Ariel Ramírez - Misa Criolla - First Movement - Kyrie Grupo Encuentros perform Alicia Terzián -Tres Retratos Mercedes Sosa performs Ariel Ramírez - Alfonsina y el Mar Astor Piazzolla - Cafe 1930 - 2nd Movement from The History of Tango Aniello Desiderio performs Alberto Ginastera - Sonata for Guitar, Ariel Ramírez - Los Caudillos: 2nd Track - Artigas, el Protector Şahan Arzruni performs Alicia Terzian - Piano Toccata Mercedes Sosa performs Ariel Ramírez and Félix Luna - Juana Azurduy Ariel Ramírez - Misa Criolla - 2nd Movement: Gloria

This episode of The Joy off Classical Music explores Liturgical and Spiritual music and finds a place where these two disparate styles meet. Dorothy Melton - I Want Jesus to Walk With Me. Julia Lezhneva and Philippe Jaroussky perform Giovanni Battista Pergolesi - Stabat Mater: I. Stabat mater dolorosa. The Latvian Radio Choir performs Arvo Part - Salve Regina Choir of the Sretensky Monastery perform Grigory Lvovsky’s arrangement of the Cherubic Hymn Zhihua Tang and Deborah Moriarty perform Florence Price -Three Negro Spirituals: III. Ev’ry Time I Feel the Spirit Cappella Nova performs Sir James MacMillan - Until the Day Breathes The Son Sonora String Quartet perform George Walker - Lyric for Strings Valeriy Antonyuk - Cantata in 5 parts with mixed choir a capella.

It takes a lot of work to put together the themed episodes that make up so much of this series so sometimes it’s nice to to take a break and just a wander through the sunlit forests of musical imagination with no particular destination in mind. So with that out of the way, here’s an episode of theme free All-Sorts. Antonín Dvorák · Boston Symphony Orchestra Rusalka, Op. 114, B. 203, Act I: Song to the Moon La Belle Alliance perform Christopher Adams - Release Marko Topchii performs Regino Sainz de la Maza - Rondeña The Alex Lindsay String Orchestra performs Larry Pruden - Dances of Brittany, for string orchestra Elly Ameling performs Henri Duparc - Chanson triste USSR Ministry of Culture Symphony Orchestra performs Edison Denisov - Peinture The Australian Voices perform Aija Dragun - Situ Koku Alter Ratio performs Alexey Retinsky - Salve Regina

From 1946 to 1986 the Cambridge Summer School of Music was one of the nations most important arts events. Composers, students, musicians, music teachers and interested amateurs gathered at St Peters College just outside of Cambridge for a week of musical immersion. On a hot and humid Waipa day in January 1947 photographer Kathleen Reardon snapped a group of young composers sitting on the steps to the main building - Ronald Tremain, Edwin Carr, Carraigh Thompson, Ronald Dellow, Larry Pruden and Dorthea Franchi. Curiosity piqued, I wanted to know more about those young composers so this episode will be exploring something of their lives and music and keeping true to the spirit of the photo, I’ve endeavoured to find recordings of works composed closest to that time. John Rimmer - Clouds over Pirongia The NZSO performs Ronald Tremain - Symphony for Strings The NZSO performs Larry Pruden - Harbour Nocturne for Orchestra The Queensland Symphony performs Edwin Carr - Mardi Gras Overture Ronald Dellow - Three Studies for Recorder The NZBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Dorothea Franchi performs Dorothea Franchi - Do-Wack-A-Do Suite for Orchestra.

This week, kick back, shut your eyes and let the music carry you away. Xuefei Yang performs Ryuichi Sakamoto - Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence. Caroline Shaw - The Mona Lisa, from the Ken Burns film Leonardo da Vinci (Original Score) Arnold Bax ~ Elegiac Trio The Chamber Choir of Europe performs Brahms - Es ist das Heil uns kommen her, Op. 29 Seong-Jin Cho performs Ravel: Pavane pour une infante défunte 6:28 Sabine Devieilhe performs George Frideric Handel - Giulio Cesare in Egitto, HWV 17, Act III: Piangerò la sorte mia The Tenebrae Choir performs Paul Mealor - Ubi Caritas David Bedford - Sun Paints Rainbows on the Vast Waves

This week its all about the classical guitar and we’ll be visiting with virtuoso guitarists from Croatia, Portugal, Brazil, Spain, Aotearoa NZ, New York, Ukraine, Australia, Russia and China. rina Kulikova performs Konstantin Vassiliev - 3 Lyric Pieces: No.1: Elegie in memoriam Sergey Rachmaninov From his album Van Gough Fire - Marko Topchii performs Antonio Ruiz-Pipó -Canción y Danza No. 1 Philip Norman - Inception for Infinity for Solo Guitar and String Orchestra Aleksandr Tsiboulski performs Peter Sculthorpe - From Kakadu: 1. Grave Matthew Marshall performs Michael Calvert’s Gaston in Love from the album Rhapsody on a Riff Carlos Paredes - Canção Verde Anos (The Green Years Song) Xuefei Yang performs Mark Houghton - Dance of the Orient Ana Vidovic performs Johann Sebastian Bach’s - Lute Partita in E Major, BWV 1006a (arr. W. Despalj) : I. Preludio Andrés Segovia performs Francisco Tárrega - Recuerdos de la Alhambra Julian Bream and the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by André Previn - Heitor Villa-Lobos: Concerto for Guitar and Chamber Orchestra

No big themes this week, just a selection of the interesting and unusual from all around the world with a focus on Chickasaw composer Jerod Tate’s Fire and Light, a work that explores Chickasaw identity and culture (The Chickasaw are indigenous to the South Western regions of the USA). Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate - Lowak Shoppala', Act I: I. Fire and Light. Phillip Martin performs Edward MacDowell - Woodland Sketches, Op. 51: I. To a Wild Rose Dubravka Srebotnjak performs Christian Sinding - Rustle of Spring Op. 32 No. 3 The Canby Singers perform Claudio Monteverdi - Zefiro Torna Takashi Yoshimatsu - Symphony No. 1, Op. 40 "Kamui-Chikap Symphony": V. Rainbow Bella Bartók: Romanian Folk Dances for Orchestra Meredith Monk - Book of Days: Early Melody Miriam Margolyes performs Francis Poulenc -The Story of Babar, the Little Elephant: I. The Story of Babar ZOFO Piano Duet perform David Lang - Gravity Jerod Tate - Lowak Shoppala', Act I: III. Shell Shaker

My exploration of Music Inspired by Science Fiction is almost over with one more episode to come. Lost in space, strange alien phenomenon and nuclear armageddon, this episode is mostly about the existential crisis. Then there’s Ursula Le Guin and Elinor Armer’s ‘Season of Oling’ from their 2 CD set ‘Uses of Music in Uttermost Parts’ and Essa Pekka Salonen’s Floof, joyous works which are the exact opposite of everything else featured in the episode. Meredith Monk and Ping Chong - The Games: Movement 3 - Migration Tod Dockstader - Quatermass Movement 2: Tango Ursula Le Guin and Elinor Armer - Uses of Music in Uttermost Parts: The Seasons of Oling Esa-Pekka Salonen - Floof (Songs of a Homeostatic Homer) Karl-Birger Blomdahl - Aniara, An Epic of Spaceflight in 2038 AD: The Yurg, The Mimarobe (also known as Aniara: A Revue of Man in Time and Space) Michael Obst - Crystal World: Part I

Episode 121 visits the year 1962. Usually in these sorts of episodes I stick to works published in the given year - for this episode I’ve widened the parameters to include album releases and music events. Sergio Franchi performs Ungrateful Heart on The Ed Sullivan Show Igor Stravinsky - Movements For Piano And Orchestra Ravi Shanker - Improvisation on the Theme Music from Pather Panchali The Canby Singers perform Elliot Carter’s - Musicians Wrestle Everywhere Benjamin Britten - Let Us Sleep Now In Paradisum, movement 6 from War Requiem La Monte Young - The Second Dream of the High-Tension Line Stepdown Transformer Aaron Copland - Connotations for Orchestra

This weeks it’s leftovers, music I’d selected for previous episodes and ran out of time to play. It’s an eclectic mix that takes us from the contemporary through to the medieval. Dame Kiri Te Kanawa performs Vissi d’arte from Act 2 of Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca. Mezzo-soprano Emily D’Angelo performs Missy Mazzoli – A Thousand Tongues. Jeremy Denk plays Doulz amis by Guillaume de Machaut. The NZ String Quartet performs Long Zhou - Song of the Ch’in. Luciano Pavarotti performs Mamma, quel vino è generoso from Pietro Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana. VOCES8 performs Ola Gjeilo’s Northern Lights Robert Wyatt performs John Cage - Experiences No 2 Bernard Herrmann on Film Music Simon Ghraichy performs Arturo Márquez: Danzón’s No. 2 Kiri Te Kanawa performs Franz Liszt - Oh, quand je dors

Part 2 - Music Inspired by Science Fiction The centrepiece of Part 2 of Music Inspired by Science Fiction is David Bedford’s City and the Stars Cantata, a work inspired by Arthur C Clarke’s 1956 novel of the same name. There’s more from sci-fi icon Ursula Le Guin and an aria from Voyagers, a sci-fi themed opera by Philip Glass. And yes, there’s more Sci-Fi Classical to come. 1. Ursula Le Guin and Todd Barton – Dragonfly Song from Music and Poetry of the Kesh. 2. Philip Glass talks about his operatic adaptation of Doris Lessing’s novel The Making of the Representative from Planet 9 3. Mari Morya and the MDR Radio Choir perform Philip Glass - The Voyage: Act 1 Scene 3 - In My Secret Heart 4. David Bedford - The City and the Stars Cantata featuring Arthur C Clarke A radio show and podcast created and first aired at Free FM 89.0, a member of the Community Access Media Alliance Aotearoa/New Zealand. Supported by NZ on Air. freefm.org.nz and @freefm89 on Facebook and Instagram

Classical Music inspired by science fiction is one of classical musics most obscure sub-genres and over the last few weeks I’ve been compiling a list works that I hope will offer new light on this hidden corner of art music. Ursula Le Guin and David Bedford - Funeral Procession from the “Space Opera” Rigel 9 Tod Machover - Valis, Pt. 1: We Appear to be Memory Coils Tod Machover - Valis, Pt. 1: You Know, I Have These Dreams of a Strange Place Tod Machover - Death and the Powers, Part 1: Simon and the System Jerry Goldsmith - Christus Apollo: Part III Ralph Lundsten - Alpha Ralpha Boulevard David Bedford - An Extract From 'Star's End’ Peter Pears performs David Bedford - The Tentacles of the Dark Nebula A radio show and podcast created and first aired at Free FM 89.0, a member of the Community Access Media Alliance Aotearoa/New Zealand. Supported by NZ on Air. freefm.org.nz and @freefm89 on Facebook and Instagram

Episode 117 picks up where we left off in episode 116, in search of the seldom heard music of South America. Much of the music in the episode dates from the mid-20th century and follows a pattern we find in North America, Australia, and Aotearoa NZ, composers seeking to blend the physical and cultural landscapes of their homelands with inherited European musical traditions. Anna Moffo performs Heitor Villa-Lobos - Brazilian Bachianas No. 5: Aria Jason Vieaux performs Julian Orbon - Danza Carlos Chavez - Xochipili (Imagined Aztec Music) Leo Brouwer - One Day in November Alberto Ginastera - Bomarzo, Op. 34: Act II: Scene 12: Song to the Minotaur. Alberto Ginastera - Bomarzo, Op. 34: Act II: Scene 12: Second Strophe of Song Clara Rodriguez performs Teresa Carreño - Basket of Flowers John Williams performs Agustin Barrios - La Cathedral Antonio Estevez - Noon on the Prairie Adam Kent performs Tania Leon - Homenatge

Episode 116 of the The Joy of Classical Music finds us strolling through rarely explored territories of South American music in search of the interesting and unusual. Gilberto Mendes - Motet in D minor Drink Coca-Cola Gilberto Mendes – Santos Football Music Cláudio Santoro - Ponteio Silvestre Revueltas - Sensemayá Alberto Ginastera: Five Popular Argentine Songs Tania Leon - In Motion: 5th Movement - Understanding Astor Piazzolla - Maria de Buenos Aires: Ballad for a Crazy Barrel Organ

I finished last week's episode by saying that next week's episode would have no grand themes, just a collection of bits and bobs, music for music's sake. As it turns out, it’s another themed episode, The Art of the Voice. There’s bass singers, tenors, countertenors, sopranos, contralto’s baritones and a choir. And there’s a very special guest, Terry Huggins, a basso profundo from Geraldine. Cleo Laine and the Nash Ensemble performing Drunk with Moon Light from Arnold Schoenberg’s Pierrot in the Moonlight Terry Huggins performs Jacques Ibert - La Chanson de la mort de Gemma Bertagnolli performs Ottorino Respighi - Musica in horto Philippe Jaroussky performs Francesco Cavalli – Ombra mai fu Enrico Caruso performs Gaetano Donizetti - A Furtive Tear Feodor Chaliapin - Song of the Volga Boatmen Lina Mkrtchyan performs Mikhail Glinka - A Farewell to Saint Petersburg: No. 10, The Lark Cleo Laine and the Nash Ensemble perform The Sick Moon from Pierrot Lunaire Dmitri Hvorostovsky performs Tolstyakov - Come To Me, All You Who Labour Jessye Norman performs Eric Satie - Je te veux. Terry Huggins performs Anton Rubinstein’s The Turbulent Waters of Kur. Choir of Claire College Cambridge perform Imogen Holst’s Welcome Joy and Sorrow Terry Huggins performs Beethoven’s In this Dark Tomb Marian Anderson - Deep River

Episode 114 examines something of the profundity many of us feel when we look up at the night sky and lock gaze with the blazing eyes of a billion stars. Eric Whitacre - Deep Field: 4 - Earth Choir Vaughan Williams: A Sea Symphony: II. On the Beach at Night, Alone Henry Dutilleux - Timbres, Espace, Mouvement (Starry Night): 1. Nebula David Bedford - Some Stars beyond Magnitude 2,9 Joaquin Rodrigo - In Search of What Lies Beyond Olivier Messiaen - From the Canyons to the Stars: 3 - What is Written in the Stars Olivier Messiaen - From the Canyons to the Stars: 6 - Interstellar Call

Musicologist Anna Andrushkevich: “Schnittke’s world puts the person who wishes to enter it to the test and does not admit everyone. But once one has understood this music, once one has submitted to its aim, it is impossible to return to one’s previous point of equilibrium.” Alfred Schnittke - The Glass Harmonica Suite: I. The Musician and the Carillon Alfred Schnittke - Faust Cantata: VI. False Consolation Alfred Schnittke - Concerto for Mixed Chorus: IV. This Work I Begin With Hope Alfred Schnittke - Life with an Idiot : Tango Alfred Schnittke - (Not) a Midsummer Night's Dream Alfred Schnittke - Declaration of Love Alfred Schnittke - The Faust Cantata: Be Sober and Watch Alfred Schnittke - Concerto for Piano and Strings

Episode 112 of the Joy of Classical Music revisits Episode 77, The Music of Ideology, Imperialism, Politics, Protest and Agitation and in part 2 we continue exploring a style of music designed to inflame our senses and arouse our passions. Hayley Westenra - God Defend New Zealand Risen from the Ruins - The National Anthem of East Germany Hans Eisler and Bertolt Brecht - The Solidarity Song Dmitri Shostakovich - Symphony No. 5, 1V Movement Giuseppe Verdi - Nabucco, Act III: Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves Undine Smith Moore - Before I'd be a Slave Aaron Copland - Fanfare for the Common Man Spyridon Samaras - The Olympic Hymn Hubert Parry - Jerusalem Tchaikovsky - 1812 Overture

Film scores have been a regular feature on this podcast since day one and with todays episode I’ve decided to explore the film music I usually leave out because well, very little of it is classical, though much of it was written by classically trained composers. Gene Wilder performs - Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse - Pure Imagination Anthony Newley Leslie Bricusse - Oompa-Loompa Doompa-Dee-Do Percy Faith performs Max Steiner - Theme from a Summer Place Miklos Rozsa - Dementia Miklos Rozsa - The Time Machine Waltz Tommy Reilly performs John Barry’s Harmonica Theme. Alexander Courage - Where No Man Has Gone Before The Danish National Symphony Orchestra performs - Ennio Morricone - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Ferrante & Teicher perform Maurice Jarre’s Theme From Lawrence Of Arabia The Ray Conniff Singers perform Maurice Jarre - Somewhere, My Love Takanobu Saito - Theme from Tokyo Story Henry Mancini’s arrangement of Nina Rota’s theme from Romeo and Juliet - A Time for Us Nino Rota - Theme from Fellini’s 8 and a Half Anton Karas - The Third Man Theme Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer - Moon River

The previous episode started out as Four Australian Women but ended up as three because I ran out of space for number four, composer, pianist, teacher and poet Miriam Hyde. In Episode 110 we catch up with Miriam along with a number of other composers whose music I’d selected for previous episodes but had to leave out because of time. Miriam Hyde - Five Solos for Flute and Piano: Beside the Stream Miriam Hyde performs The Fountain on Sunday Afternoon with Peter Ross ABC Australia (1991) Rachmaninoff plays Rachmaninoff – Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor. Mikhail Matyushin - Victory over the Sun Leonard Mark Lewis - Warm Summer Sun The Kronos Quartet performs Terry Riley - Sun Rings: One Earth, One People, One Love Jeremy Denk and Stephan Jackiw - Ives' Violin Sonata No. 2: II. In the Barn Heitor Villa-Lobos - String Quartet No. 12: 1 George Antheil – Symphony No. 5 Joyous: 1

Episode 109 of The Joy of Classical Music explores the music of three Australian Women: Dulcie Holland, Peggy Glanville Hicks and Anne Boyd. Jeanell Carrigan performs Dulcie Holland - Nocturne The Chamber Choir Kammerchor Stuttgart performs Anne Boyd - As I Crossed a Bridge of Dreams The Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra performs Peggy Glanville-Hicks - Sinfonia da Pacifica Anne Boyd - Goldfish Through Summer Rain Ronan Apcar performs Dulce Holland - Sonata for Piano A radio show and podcast created and first aired at Free FM 89.0, a member of the Community Access Media Alliance Aotearoa/New Zealand. Supported by NZ on Air. freefm.org.nz and @freefm89 on Facebook and Instagram

Episode 108 of The Joy of Classical Music is a special extra long edition dedicated to Cambridge born composer David Farquhar, and by Cambridge, I mean Cambridge NZ, the cultural and sporting epicentre of the bucolic Waipa District. In this episode we explore David’s life and work with a special emphasis on 1964’s Cambridge Ode, a work commissioned to celebrate the towns centenary. David Farquhar - Tom, he was a piper's son & Lavender's blue David Farquhar - Ode For Piano performed by Georgina Zellan- Smith The Auckland Youth Orchestra performs David Farquhar - Harlequin Overture Pianist Jian Liu and violinist Martin Riseley perform David Farquhar’s Ring around the Moon The Concord Brass performs David Farquhar - Homage to Stravinsky for Brass Quintet Gunter Herbig performs David Farquhar - Prospero Dreaming David Farquhar - Third Symphony: Remembered Songs The Alex Lindsay Orchestra performs David Farquhar - Ring Around the Moon

Episode 107 of The Joy of Classical Music is a celebration of all things Aotearoa NZ and besides some joyous and uplifting music, there’s a bit of nostalgia as well. John Clark - We Don’t Know Lucky We Are Jenny McCloud - A & P Show, the 3rd Movement from 1986 orchestral suite Celebrations The Tower Voices NZ performs David Hamiltons - Lux Aeterna. Ron Goodwin conducts the NZ Symphony Orchestra - Aotearoa (Land of the Long White Cloud) from his NZ Suite. Douglas Lilburn - Aotearoa David Farquhar – Ring Round the Moon Ron Goodwin and the NZ Symphony Orchestra - Milford Sound from his NZ Suite Henry Wong Doe performs Victoria Kelly - Goodnight Kiwi Kiri Te Kanawa - Hine e Hine

At the heart of David Mitchell’s 2004 novel Cloud Atlas is a composition called The Cloud Atlas Sextet. What would it actually sound like? We listen to The Cloud Atlas Sextet as imagined by the creators of the 2012 film adaptation then compare it to the composition as described by the book. From the Cloud Atlas Film Soundtrack - The Cloud Atlas Sextet for Orchestra. Alexander Scriabin - White Mass Leonard Bernstein and the Israeli Symphony Orchestra perform Igor Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring, movements 1 and 2 Maria João Pires performs Debussy - Clair de Lune Miwa Yuguchi performs Toshi Ichiyanagi - Cloud Atlas II Two Aquarelles - Music by Fredrick Delius, arranged for strings by Eric Fenby National Hungarian Radio Orchestra performs Alessio Elia - Dimensioni Nascoste

There are no overarching themes for Episode 105 of The Joy of Classical Music, just a bit of this and a bit of that, an eclectic mix of some of the music I’ve been enjoying and wanting to share with you. Ivor Cutler - Beautiful Cosmos Emily D’Angelo performs Freezing - Music Philip Glass, Words Suzanne Vega Allan Starrett - Berceuse Michael Habberman performs Kaikhosru Sorabji - Fantaisie Espagnole Carolyn Mills - Alkermes: I Alan Starrett - Romanza Ivor Cutler - Looking For Truth With A Pin. Peter McAleer - Funky Poly scherzo for orchestra

It is often said that the 1950s was an era of bland conformity as a war ravaged world sought healing through normality and in many ways the 1950s were just that but the undercurrents of unease were strong and everywhere creatives were looking for new ways to examine the shifting tides of a rapidly changing world and in this episode we’ll be exploring some of the musical trends and experiments that were redefining the world of formal art music in 1950. Leroy Anderson - The Typewriter Benjamin Britten - Lachrymae, Reflections on a Song of John Dowland Herbert Howells - I Heard a Voice from Heaven - The 5th movement from Hymnus Paradisi Aaron Copland - Old American Songs: Set I No. 4, Simple Gifts (the Shaker Song) Dawn Upshaw performs Samuel Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 Lou Harrison - Entrance of the Moon Bull from Solstice John Cage - Quietly Flowing Along (Summer) from String Quartet in Four Parts Henri Pousseur - 3 Sacred Songs Herbert Eimert - Klangstudie I Pierre Schaeffer and Pierre Henry - The Scherzo from Symphony for One Man Only. Dmitri Shostakovich - The People of Stalingrad Go Forth from Song of the Forest.

Episode 103 of The Joy of Classical Music - May the Sun Rise Up to Meet You is an ode to the brightness, warmth, wonder of the sun and the wild, enduring joy of living in its light. Mary Oliver’s poem The Sun Jospeh Haydn - Sunrise, the first movement from his String Quartet No.4 Westminster Williamson Voices perform The Spheres, the first movement from Ola Gjeilo's Sunrise Mass. Víkingur Ólafsson performs Debussy - The Girl With The Flaxen Hair John Luther Adams - Sky with Four Suns, the first movement from Canticles of the Sky Martha Argerich performs Maurice Ravel’s Fountains Peter Sculthorpe -Sun Song Max Richter - On the Nature of Daylight Fear No More The Heat o’ The Sun by William Shakespeare, read by Lyn Redgrave Einojuhani Rautavaara – Melancholy, the second movement from from Cantus Arcticus Jessye Norman and the Leipzig Symphony Orchestra perform Richard Strauss - At Sunset

In this episode of The Joy of Classical Music we visit with composer Charles Ives, his contemporaries, friends and those who were influenced by his work and uplifted by his encouragement and largesse. Leonard Bernstein talks about Charles Ives 1908 composition The Unanswered Question. Charles Ives - The Unanswered Question performed by the New York Philharmonia, conducted by Leonard Bernstein. Henry Cowell - The Trumpet of Angus Og. Sound engineer Mary Howard talks about recording Charles Ives in her New York recording studio. Charles Ives performs They Are There! Pianist John Kirkpatrick performs Charles Ives: Sonata No. 2 "Concord" - The Alcotts. Leonard Bernstein talks about Charles Ives, his art and influence. The New York Philharmonic conducted by Leonard Bernstein perform Charles Ives - Central Park in the Dark. Lou Harrison - At The Tomb Of Charles Ives. Elliot Carter - From A Mirror on Which to Dwell. Bernard Hermann talks Charles Ives and Carl Ruggles. Carl Ruggles - Angels. Charles Ives - The Cage.

Episode 101 of The Joy of Classical Music takes his cue from episode 100 where I used an algorithm to select the music, in that case YouTube’s algorithm, but in this episode were taking a step up with the much more sophisticated ChatGPT whose brief was the topic of Transformation. Beethoven - Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67: I. Allegro con brio Daniil Trifonov performs Bach: The Art Of Fugue, BWV 1080: Contrapunctus Claude Debussy - La mer 1: From Dawn to Noon on the Sea Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Swan Lake: Finale Igor Stravinsky - The Firebird: Finale Gustav Mahler - Symphony No. 2: Finale. Pascal Rogé performs Erik Satie - Gnossienne No.1 Philip Glass – Glassworks (Opening) Vivaldi – The Four Seasons: Spring

An endless repository of treasure, YouTube has been an invaluable music discovery tool through the course of this series, so for episode 100 of The Joy of Classical Music, I decided to throw my fate to the winds and let YouTube's algorithm choose the music for me. The results are both surprising and pleasing. Michael Habermann plays Kaikhosru Sorabji’s piano transcription of Prelude to the Night, the first movement of Maurice Ravel’s Spanish Rhapsody. Kiri Te Kanawa with the St Paul’s Cathedral Choir performing JS Bach - Jesus, Joy of Man’s Desiring Hildegard of Bingen - Holy Spirit, The Quickener Of Life Jeremy Denk plays Aria from J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations Edward Elgar - Nimrod, the 9th movement from the Enigma Variations Tchaikovsky - Waltz of the Flowers from The Nutcracker Suite Yo Yo Ma and Marlon Williams - Te Whakaroha Nui Brahms - Molto passionato, ma non troppo allegro, the second part of 2 Rhapsodies Sergei Rachmaninov. - Great Ektenia Kaikhosru Sorabji - The Poplars Arvo Part - Spiegel im Spiegel, for Viola & Piano

I try and do an episode on the composers and musical artists Aotearoa at least once every ten or so episodes and here we are again and as usual, it’s a diverse and interesting cross-section that speaks to the deep talent that inhabits these far away lands. Briar Prastiti - White Red Black Briar Prastiti - Pegasus for Symphony Orchestra (available on Soundcloud) Oscar Natzka performs Tchaikovsky’s Pilgrims Song Igor Stravinsky conducts the National Symphony Orchestra of NZ - Finale from The Firebird Suite (1961) Alan Starrett - In Memory of One Who Wished to Forget (from 2023 album Anamneses - available on Bandcamp) NZ String Quartet performs Brahms String Quintet No. 2 in G Major (from the 2019 Naxos album Brahms String Quintets Numbers 1 and 2)

In this episode of The Joy of Classical Music we are listening to preludes, overtures and arias from Italian Opera with a couple choruses and an intermezzo thrown in for good luck! Giacomo Puccini - Un bel dì vedremo from Madame Butterfly Giacomo Puccini - The Humming Chorus from Madame Butterfly Giuseppe Verdi - La Traviata - The Opening Prelude Giuseppe Verdi - La Traviata - Sempre libera Giacomo Puccini - Manon Lescaut - the intermezzo between Act 2 and 3 Claudio Monteverdi - Pur ti miro from The Coronation of Poppea Gaetano Donizetti - O my Fernand from La Favorite Ruggero Leoncavallo - The Bell Chorus from Pagliacci Vincenzo Bellini - Casta diva from Norma Gioachino Rossini - The Overture from William Tell

A radio show and podcast created and first aired at Free FM 89.0, a member of the Community Access Media In Episode 87 - The Language of Film Music Part 2, I touched on the work of lauded film composer Bernard Herrmann but it hardly did him justice so in this episode I am digging a little deeper and taking in some of his non-film work with the focus on 1941’s Symphony No. 1. Renee Fleming performs - I Have Dreamt, an aria from Bernard Herrmann’s 1951 opera Wuthering Heights Bernard Herrmann - Berceuse from Wuthering Heights. Bernard Herrmann - For the Fallen (1943) Bernard Herrmann - Symphony No. 1 (1941)

Episode 96 of The Joy of Classical Music is nothing but the legendary Hungarian composer and staunch anti-fascist Bela Bartok. While the focus is on his last great masterpiece, 1943’s Concerto for Orchestra, we have just enough time to fit in a few snippets of other works. Béla Bartók - 4 Slovak Folksongs for Mixed Choir (1917) Zoltán Kocsis plays Evening in Transylvania from Ten Easy Pieces. Bella Bartók - Music for Strings, Percussion & Celesta, IV. Allegro molto - The Berlin Philharmonic Bela Bartok - Concerto for Orchestra conducted by Fritz Reiner Chicago Symphony Orchestra 1955.

This episode features music from composers whose work isn’t easily pigeonholed. The best description might be ‘genre fluid’ or ‘boundary defying’. On the menu is music by Moondog, Frank Zappa, Meredith Monk, Harry Partch, Joan La Barbara, Blue Gene Tyranny and La Monte Young. Moondog - High on a Rocky Ledge Frank Zappa - I Don't Know If I Can Go Through This Again Meredith Monk - Travel Dream Song Harry Partch - Eight Hitchhiker Inscriptions from a Highway Railing at Barstow, California. Joan La Barbara - Poems 43, 44, 45 Blue Gene Tyranny - 13 Detours Moondog - Single Foot La Monte Young - The Well Tuned Piano

Episode 94 of The Joy of Classical Music is a potpourri of bits and bobs, all manner of interesting works from the renaissance to the cutting edge of modernity. On the menu: The Swingle Singers performing Johann Sebastian Bach’s Fugue in D Minor Aaron Copland - Heart We Will Forget Him Edgard Varèse - Tuning Up Chico Marx - I’m Daffy over You Andrea Gabrieli - Jubilate Deo Stewart Greenbuam - Études for Daydreamers: IV. 7 or 8 to be in before 9 Peggy Glanville Hicks - Three Gymnopédies Alice Sara Ott performs John Field: Nocturne No. 9 in E Minor Harpo Marx - Lullaby Doll The Danish National Symphony Orchestra performs Angelo Badalamenti’s Twin Peaks Theme Nkeiru Okoye - African Sketches: IV. Drums Calling Nadine Sierra performs Floresta do Amazonas by Heitor Villa-Lobos Robert Muczynski - Sonata for Alto Saxophone and Piano

Sometime I run out of time and don’t get to play everything I’ve selected for an episode so for this episode, we’ll be listening to the leftovers, music I wanted to play but couldn’t. Charles Ive’s Runaway Horse on Main Street performed by “The President's Own" U.S. Marine Band Richard Farrell plays Liszt Rigoletto Paraphrase. William Kapell plays Chopin’s Mazurka, Op. 6, No. 2 in C-Sharp Minor Kurt Weill - Four Walt Whitman Songs Gerald Finzi - Introit in F Major Barbara Hannigan performs Henri Dutilleux - Correspondances for Soprano And Orchestra

Episode 92 of the Joy of Classical Music is wall to wall piano and among the many delights is Kiwi pianist Richard Farrell, a celebrated international concert pianist who died in a car accident in1958 at the tender age of 31. The featured pianist is Chinese Kiwi Jain Liu with Douglas Lilburn’s 1949 work, Sonata. Daniel Trifonov plays Igor Stravinsky’s Serenade in A for Piano: I. Hymn Arthur Rubinstein plays Manuel De Falla’s Ritual Fire Dance Martha Argerich plays Chopin’s Scherzo No. 2 Anna Zassimova plays Nikolai Medtner’s Canzona Matinata Vladimir Horowitz plays Drammatico from Alexander Scriabin’s Piano Sonata No3 in F-Sharp Minor Richard Farrell plays Brahms - Klavierstucke Op. 119 No. 1 Jeremy Denk plays William Byrd’s A Voluntarie, for my Ladye Nevell Jian Liu plays Douglas Lilburn’s Sonata

Episode 91 of The Joy of Classical Music: The Voices of Women, features some of the 21st centuries leading sopranos and mezzo-sopranos performing a variety of works from a diverse selection of composers. Barbara Hannigan performs Alexander von Zemlinsky’s Empfangis Fatma Said performs Joaquín Nin’s Minué Cantado Lisette Oropesa performs Ernesto Lecuona’s Mulata Infeliz Barbara Hannigan performs Arnold Schoenberg’s Erwartung Emoke Baräth performs Claude Debussy’s Nuit d’étoiles Lisette Oropesa performs Gioachino Rossini’s Que Vais-je Devenir Rosa Feola performs Ottorino Respighi’s Quando Nasceste and Venitelo a Vedere Nadine Sierra performs Douglas Moore’s The Willow Song Barbara Hannigan performs Igor Stravinsky’s Three Little Songs Recollections of My Childhood, The Magpie, The Rook, The Jackdaw. J’Nai Bridges performs Carlos Simon’s Near the Cross Natalie Dessay performs Michel Legrand’s Between Yesterday and Tomorrow Barbara Hannigan performs John Zorn’s Liber Loagaeth Fatma Said performs Maurice Ravel’s Asie.

Episode 90 of the Joy of Classical music explores the work of one of the 20th centuries foremost musical innovators, Kurt Weill. “Kurt Weill was a great musical communicator. He had something to say and he said it in the most simple and direct terms, in the surface language of each country in which he lived, but also in the universal language of that world beyond worlds to which all human souls are related. Some people contend that when Kurt Weill worked in the vein of the popular theatre he became commercial. I contend instead that he became universal” - Langston Hughes Kurt Weill - Speak Low Kurt Weill - The Eternal Road, Act II Scene 20: The Heavenly Host Delivers the Commandments to Moses Kurt Weil - Kiddush Kurt Weill - ‘Jennie Waiting for Brack’ from Down in the Valley Kurt Weill - Klops-Lied Kurt Weill - The New Orpheus Kurt Weill - Propaganda Songs: 1. Song Of The Free Kurt Weill - Oil-Music Kurt Weill - Mack the Knife Kurt Weill - Street Scene, Ain't it Awful, the Heat? Kurt Weill - Lost in the Stars

All the music in Episode 89 of the Joy of Classical Music was created in Aotearoa NZ and we open and close with glorious arrangements of two of the nations most treasured waiata, Pokarekare Ana and Pō Atarau. Jane Curry and Owen Moriarty - Pokarekare Ana David Farquhar - Prospero Dreaming Lyell Cresswell - Invocation Lyell Cresswell - Acquerello Victoria Kelly and Sam Hunt - Requiem Peter Pritchard - Bay of Islands David Hamilton - Willow David Hamilton - Karakia of the Stars Douglas Lilburn - A Birthday Offering Ron Goodwin and the NZ Symphony Orchestra - Po Atarau

Episode 88 of The Joy of Classical Music is all about space, time and electronica and the featured work is Karl Birger Blomdhals 1959 2 act opera Aniara - An Epic of Space Flight in 2038 A.D. The earth is in ruins but a group of colonists escape. On the way to Mars they are knocked of course and are flung from the solar system. Existential crisis follows. Dimitri Shostakovich - Odna Jerry Goldsmith - Planet Of The Apes Edward Artemiev- Solaris Edward Artemiev - Stalker Hans Zimmer - Interstellar Jerry Goldsmith - Alien Jóhann Jóhannsson - Arrival Karl-Birger Blomdahl - Aniara: An Epic of Space Flight in 2038 A.D.

Episode 87 of The Joy of Classical Music picks up where episode 86 left off. Film technology is evolving rapidly and so is the music. The romanticism that dominated the first 40 or so years of film scoring was being challenged by modernism. Klaatu's Speech - The Day the Earth Stood Still Bernard Hermann - The Day the Earth Stood Still Bernard Hermann - Vertigo Bernard Herrmann - Psycho Bernard Herrmann - Murder from Psycho John Williams - Jaws John Williams - Lost in Space John Williams - Star Wars John Williams - E T The Extra Terrestrial John Williams - Superman Hans Zimmer - Man of Steel Louis & Bebe Barron - Forbidden Planet Arthur Bliss - Things To Come

A film score can set the mood for a scene, can provide cues to the viewer about what's going to happen and how the characters are feeling. A score can add depth of emotion, create urgency and indicate the setting while reflecting the cultural and thematic elements of the film's story but the choices in this episode are more than just compositions written in support of visual elements, the best scores that stand as works in their own right. Opening with a few words from Al Jolson in the first ‘talkie’, 1927s The Jazz Singer, episode 86 of The Joy of Classical Music dips into the first 40 years or so of film music. Al Jolson - the Jazz Singer 1927 Camille Saint-Saëns - The Assassination of the Duke of Guise 1908 Joseph Carl Breil - Birth of a Nation 1915 William Axt and David Mendoza - Don Juan 1926 Erich Korngold - The Adventures of Robin Hood 1938 Max Steiner - Now Voyager 1942 Max Steiner - Gone with the Wind 1939 Alfred Newman - The Song of Bernadette 1943 Alfred Newman - How Green Was My Valley 1941 Franz Waxman - The Bride of Frankenstein 1935

There are no grand overarching themes in Episode 85 of The Joy of Classical Music, just a bit of this and a bit of that, a collection of pieces that had caught my interest and have been piling up in a folder patiently awaiting an airing. Wild UP - The Edge of Forever Scene 1: Procession of Scribes. "Heart of Sky, Heart of Earth" Wu Man with the The Kronos Quartet - The Round Sun and Crescent Moon Brad Mehldau and Renée Fleming - I Love the Dark Hours of My Being Fred Rzewski and Charles Dickens - Flowers Stuart Dempster - Conch Calling Elmer Bernstein - Theme from "To Kill a Mockingbird” Brian Daubney - Brendon Hill William Grant Still - Three Visions Reynaldo Hahn - A Chloris Arthur Bliss - Rout

The Brass Band is a British innovation that dates from the early 19th century when brass instrumentation was undergoing a profound series of changes thanks to a slew of new innovations. This new generation of brass instruments caught on and by 1860 there were 750 brass bands in England alone and most were affiliated with the companies the players worked for. Factory and mine owners encouraged bands as a way to keep employees distracted from political issues like rights, terms, conditions and wages. Episode 84 of The Joy of Classical Music features a range of brass music, everything from the traditional to the cutting edge. Charles Ives - The Circus Band Arthur Bliss - Call to Adventure Imogen Holst - The Unfortunate Traveller Jack Bewley - Overture Jan Van der Roost - Fantasia Helvetica John Philip Sousa -The Stars and Stripes Forever William Byrd - Earl of Oxford's March Ralph Vaughan Williams - English Folk Song Suite: III. March Folk Songs from Somerset Charles Ives - Variations on "America" Peter York -The Shipbuilders (Suite for brass band)

Episode 83 of The Joy of Classical Music picks up where we left off with episode 82 - the English Pastoralists, except this time WW1 is in the mix. Seeking to create a uniquely English sound, the English Pastoralists were most active through the first four decades of the 20th century and many of these composers were inextricably caught in the disaster of the first world war. Some died, others were broken and those that survived often struggled with PTSD, using their music to examine the experience. Ralph Vaughn Williams - In Dreams George Butterworth - The Banks of Green Willow Arthur Bliss - Morning Heroes Frederick Septimus Kelly – Elegy (In memoriam Rupert Brooke) Michael Head - Over the Rim of the Moon: I. The Ships of Arcady Ivor Gurney - A Gloucestershire Rhapsody

The English school of Pastoral Music was an informal movement of early 20th century English composers who were concerned with creating a uniquely English style of music. Less generous critics described it as the ‘cow pat school’ or the music of ‘buttercups and hedgerows, nevertheless it has produced some of the most iconic music in the English classical repertoire. In this this episode we are listening to music from some of the composers most identified with the tradition, Harold Darke, Vaughn Williams, Gustav Holst and Frank Bridges. Harold Darke - In the Bleak Midwinter Harold Darke - Fantasy in E Major Vaughan Williams - English Folk Song Suite: 3. March: Folk Songs from Somerset Vaughan Williams - The Lark Ascending Gustav Holst - Morris Dance Tunes: Trunkles Gustav Holst - In the Bleak Midwinter Gustav Holst - Somerset Rhapsody Frank Bridge - 3 Sketches.

We featured New York based Puerto Rican composer Gabriel Vicens in a special spot that sat between episodes 43 and 44. He returns to curate this episode. “I’ve curated a selection of pieces that explore approaches concerned with repetition, dissonance, stillness, space, and introspection. I’m interested in how we experience the flow of time when listening to music and how silence or perhaps quietness creates intimacy, evoking thoughts, memories, and emotions”. Maurice Ravel - Gaspard de la nuit, M. 55: II. Le Gibet Claude Debussy - Preludes/Book 1, L. 117: 6. Des pas sur la neige Arnold Schoenberg - 6 Kleine Klavierstücke Op. 19 Anton Webern - Three Pieces for Cello and Piano, Op. 11 Galina Ustvolskaya - Trio For Clarinet, Violin And Piano: 2. Dolce John Cage - Two2: No. 2, 1'55.635 and No. 4, 5'23 György Kurtag - Játékok VI, 50-51, In memoriam András Mihály Harold Budd - Veil of Orpheus Peter Garland - Nostalgia for the Southern Cross Morton Feldman - Palais de Mari

As a child Antoine-Joseph Sax was so accident prone that his mother predicted an early death. She was wrong, he made it to age 80 having survived among other things, an assassination attempt by a jealous rival. As for his invention, it was much mocked upon it’s release...... the rest is history. This episode of The Joy of Classical Music is all about the saxophone and most of the music you’ll be hearing comes from France and Belgium, the first territories to fully embrace the potential of this first reed driven brass instrument. Jean-Michel Damase - Vacances Jean-Baptiste Singelée - Premier Quatuor: I. Andate Alain Crepin - Sax in the City Henri Tomasi - Ballade Moondog & The London Saxophonic - Bird's Lament H. Villa-Lobos - Fantasia for Sax Soprano Robert Clerisse - Sérénade Variée Paul Creston - Sonata for Alto Saxophone and Piano

Some 2000 years BCE, a group of explorers left the island now known as Taiwan and began one of histories most technically challenging migrations. By the time European explorers stumbled across them, the Polynesian people as they would become known, had explored and settled the sparse 300,000 square km of land sitting in the vast 36 million square km of the Southern Pacific Ocean. This episode is an idiosyncratic exploration of the sounds of the Polynesian Triangle. Imenetuki Mangaia (Cook Islands). Traditional Music of the South Pacific - Recordings by David Fanshawe Mahani Teave plays Chopin’s Barcarolle in F sharp, Op. 60 Brigham Young University Men’s Chorus - Tahiti Sarah Vaughn - Bali Ha’i Tralala Song (Fiji) - Traditional Music of the South Pacific - Recordings by David Fanshawe Poulima Salima - Aleluia, ua toe tu mai! Choir Of Western Samoa Teachers' Training College, Apia - Fa'afetai I Le Atua Leilehua Lanzilotti - On Stochastic Wave Behavior: Part 4 Nalukai Pene Pati sings Puccini’s Nessun Dorma Mahani Teave - I he- a Hotumatu Ia, in E-Flat Douglas Lillburn - Aotearoa Overture. Queen Lili`uokalani - Ku’u Pua i Paoakalani.

There a whole genre on YouTube arguing against contemporary art music and it seems like you could scroll forever and not run out of people telling you how bad it is and why you shouldn’t be listening to it. They are misguided. Tom Waits reads Charles Bukowski’s poem The Laughing Heart Jake Runestad - Nyon, Nyon Erkia Haase plays No.7 and No.2 from György Ligeti’s Music Ricercata. Unsuk Chan - Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" from 'Alice in Wonderland David Lang - Press Release Karl-Birger Blomdahl - The Yurg, The Mimarobe Gavin Bryars - Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet

Episode 77 explores the 1930s and on the way you’ll hear the voices of FDR, Michael Joseph Savage, Groucho Marx, Winston Churchill, W C Fields among others. 1938 Kurt Weill - September Song 1930 Ruth Crawford Seeger - Three Chants Part 1: To An Unkind God 1933 George Gershwin - Variations on I got Rhythm for Piano and Orchestra 1934 Dimitri Shostakovich - Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District, Op. 29, Act 1 Scene 1: "Akh, nye Spitsa Bol’she 1934 Kurt Weill - I am Waiting for a Ship 1938 Arnold Schoenberg - Violin Concerto, Op. 36 - I. Poco Allegro 1939 Jānis Ivanovs - Varavīksne

The Joy of Classical Music Episode 76 - Young Composers All the music in episode 76 of The Joy Of Classical Music is by young composers and by young I was going for under 30 but 40 offered a little more scope. Ahead is an hour of exciting, challenging, warm, hopeful, funny and joyous music. New Calliope Singers - Corinna's going a-maying Andy Akiho - Hammers Héloïse Werner - Lullaby For A Sister Bethan Morgan-Williams - Parti Di-ffiniau Robert Anton Strobel - At Peace from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein Robert Anton Strobel - Chapter for Opening the Mouth from Spells for the Afterlife Jack Bewley - Mr Speaker Michael H. J. van der Sloot - Ricercar Sai Natarajan - We Yearn to Tell Stories

Episode 75 of the Joy of Classical Music picks up where I left off with Episode 71, visiting with some of my favourite composers from the first 70 episodes and as with episode 71, I’m throwing caution to the wind and playing pieces of music that I’ve never heard before. Johnny Greenwood, The Phantom Thread Score - Sandlewood 1 Vaughan Williams - 5 Mystical Songs: No. 1, Easter Lou Harrison - Suite for Symphonic Strings: 2. Chorale - Et in Arcadio Ego Heitor Villa-Lobos - Melodia Sentimental Federico Mompou - Impresiones Intimas Charles Ives - Son of a Gambolier Nikolai Medter Forgotten Melodies - Danza Festiva Florence Price - Adoration Lili Boulanger - Le Retour Franz Schreker The Infants Birthday - Dance, The Marionettes. Douglas Lilburn - Four Canzonas for String Orchestra