Classics For Kids

In the final of three episodes about Rhapsody in Blue, Dr. Tammy Kernodle and Ana Smith discuss George Gershwin, the Cold War, and the various definitions of American Music.

In this second episode about George Gershwin, Ana Smith and Dr. Tammy Kernodle explore the musical themes of Rhapsody in Blue through the lens of American history.

In this first episode about George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, Ana Smith and Dr. Tammy Kernodle discuss the history of Jazz and American Music.

Drs. Kori Hill and Kristy Swift join Ana Smith to discuss the difference between Opera and Musical Theatre, and why Musical Theatre is so much more popular today.

Jack Bunch Listen as we are joined by cellist Joanna Frank and harpsichordist Maksym Mahlay as they discuss Baroque music and why it’s so important to not just classical music […]

Jack Bunch Listen as we are joined by Dr. A. Kori Hill, musicologist and professor at the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music, as she talks to us about […]

Trinity Le, CFK Intern Today we are joined by guest Marissa Kerbel, a fantastic pianist and teacher, and graduate of the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music! Here she talks about the […]

Trinity Le, CFK Intern Molly Stanford, DMA student and soon-to-be graduate at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, joins us today to talk about Clara Schumann. She was a piano child […]

St. Paul's Girls' School in London has a sign that says: "Gustav Holst wrote The Planets and taught here." Holst composed his St. Paul's Suite for the student orchestra at St. Paul's Girls' School. Many other composers wrote music for students to perform.

Astronomy is the science that studies the sun, moon, planets, and other objects in the sky. Astrology is not a science – it tries to show how objects in the […]

Born into a family of composers, Gustav Holst wanted to follow in their footsteps. His career included playing in orchestras and serving as head of music at St. Paul's Girls' School for almost thirty years while also composing. He liked music by earlier English composers, folk music and poetry, especially poetry from ancient India. The success of The Planets thrust him into the spotlight and enabled him to focus more of his time on what he loved, composing.

It’s December, and winter has officially begun. This is a program of music with wintery themes.

In celebration of the Christmas season, some classical compositions that have Christmas carols in them.

Ralph Vaughan Williams arrived on the scene just as a definite English classical music sound was being established. His three main teachers at the Royal Academy of Music were Arthur […]

Originally, a musical fantasy was a piece that instrumentalists made up as they went along. Eventually, fantasies evolved into pieces that composers built out of various melodies they liked — […]

Ralph Vaughan Williams was one of the most important 20th century English composers. He spent years traveling the country collecting English folk songs, writing them down, and publishing them. Many […]

Charles Ives loved to put hymns into his music. Several other composers borrowed hymn tunes; here are several examples from 20th Century American compositions.

The Country Band March has 12 recognizable popular and folk tunes in it. But Ives was not the only composer to put borrowed tunes in his music. Many classical composers […]

Charles Ives wrote the Country Band March about amateur musicians — people who make music for the love of it. In the Country Band March Ives combines a tune that […]

The music that Charles Ives wrote was greatly influenced by his father, George. From the time he was a kid, Ives heard his father experiment with sound. George Ives always […]

Appropriately spooky classical music for Halloween.

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov spent years as a professor at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. Many of his students became famous composers themselves: Anatol Liadov, Alexander Glazunov, and Igor Stravinsky. A lot of […]

To go with this month’s music from Igor Stravinsky's ballet The Firebird, some more music by composers who were playing with fire.

Igor Stravinsky based his ballet The Firebird on a Russian folk tale about an evil demon named Kashchei, who has thirteen princesses under his spell. A prince who wanders into […]

Russian composer Igor Stravinsky had a big hit with his first ballet, The Firebird. Stravinksy kept on writing ballets, followed by operas, and orchestral and choral music.

“Gigue” is the French word for jig — a lively dance in triple time. The jig started out as folk dance in Ireland, Scotland, and northern England, before finding its […]

Georg Philipp Telemann never studied composition – he taught himself how to write music. There are quite a few composers who taught themselves, including Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Edward Elgar, Francis Poulenc, […]

Georg Philipp Telemann composed during the Baroque period, which ran from about 1600 to 1750. Suzanne Bona, host of the National Public Radio program Sunday Baroque, talks with Naomi Lewin […]

Telemann loved to write. He wrote more pieces of music than any other composer, and he also wrote not one, not two, but THREE autobiographies.

Tritsch-Tratsch — the title of a polka by Johann Strauss, Jr. — is Austrian slang for “chit-chat.” A lot of composers used music to portray people making sounds: talking, laughing, […]

The waltz is a dance in 3/4 time that was very popular in Vienna, Austria in the 19th century. But the roots of the waltz go back to the German […]

Johann Strauss, Sr. had three musical sons: Johann, Jr.; Josef; and Eduard. Sometimes they worked together as musicians, but other times, there was bitter rivalry.

Johann Strauss, Jr. was the son of a very successful violinist and orchestra leader. Eventually, Johann, Jr. was in competition with his father, conducting an orchestra of his own. When […]

Opera singer Denyce Graves talks with Naomi Lewin about what it’s like to be an international opera star.

Giuseppe Verdi composed Aida for a new opera house in Cairo, Egypt that opened around the time as the opening of the Suez Canal. Aida is the story of an […]

An opera is like a play in which the characters sing all their lines. Opera singers do not use microphones — their voices are trained, and can fill a whole […]

Guiseppe Verdi — “Joe Green,” in Italian — was a great opera composer and Italian patriot. His music became part of the Italian fight for independence and unity.

From the time Frédéric Chopin was a child, audiences loved to hear him play the piano. A lot of composers were famous as keyboard players, too: Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Liszt…

In his Military Polonaise, Frédéric Chopin uses the piano to imitate the drums that accompanied armies marching into battle. A lot of composers have put battle sounds into their music.

The polonaise is a dance that was fashionable in the Polish court. Since Polish nobility used to like to speak French, the name “polonaise” is French. Eventually, the polonaise caught […]

Frédéric Chopin was one of the greatest pianists of his day. Every single piece of music he wrote used the piano. The name Chopin doesn’t sound very Polish because Chopin's […]

Benjamin Britten was asked to compose music for a film that explained the instruments of the orchestra to children. Britten borrowed a tune by one of his favorite composers, Henry […]

Benjamin Britten was asked to compose music for a film that explained the instruments of the orchestra to children. Britten borrowed a tune by one of his favorite composers, Henry […]

Pizzicato is the Italian word for “plucked” — it tells string players how to play their instruments at a given spot in the music. A lot of musical “traffic signals” […]

Benjamin Britten composed his Simple Symphony when he was twenty, but he based it on music that he’d written much earlier — some of it when he was only 10! […]

After studying at the Royal Conservatory of Music in London, Benjamin Britten got a job writing film music. Then he went on to compose choral music, chamber music, songs, and […]

A program featuring acclaimed conductor JoAnn Falletta, who talks about her early love of music, how seeing her first symphony concert inspired her to become a conductor, and all the […]

There are many women composers these days, and this program introduces some of them: Caroline Shaw, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, Anna Thorvaldsdottir, Lera Auerbach, Kaija Saariaho, Chen Yi, Jennifer Higdon, Libby […]

Though many societies either forbade or looked down on women who wanted to be composers, many persevered. This show highlights Francesca Caccini, Élizabeth Claude Jacquet de la Guerre, Louise Farrenc, […]

How women in world history – Cleopatra, Queen Elizabeth I and Queen Elizabeth II, Aphra Behn, Joan of Arc, Emmeline Pankhurst, Susan B. Anthony, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Sojourner Truth, Rosa […]

Music by composers with all kinds of hyphens to their African heritage: African-French, French-Cuban, African-English, and African-American.

Lots of movies use classical music. Sometimes, that music is such a big part of the movie that the two become linked forever.

Ragtime music is truly African-American music. It combines rhythms that were brought to this country by slaves, with musical forms brought over to the United States from Europe. Ragtime uses […]

From a very early age, Scott Joplin supported himself as a performing pianist. Eventually, he earned a living selling his compositions, too. Thanks to Joplin’s Maple Leaf Rag, the most […]

Many countries around the world have national anthems and other patriotic songs that were written by classical composers. Haydn, Elgar and Verdi are just a few you’ll explore here.

The minuet is a dance that started in the 1700’s in the French court. Gradually, the minuet began to be used for non-dancing purposes, as a musical form — especially […]

Every year, when the weather turned nice, Prince Esterhazy — Franz Joseph Haydn’s employer — moved his entire household to his summer palace. When it turned cold again, everyone moved […]

Franz Joseph Haydn never had any children, but the musicians who worked for him liked him so much they called him Papa Haydn. And Haydn is also known as the […]

Franz Joseph Haydn spent over thirty years working as music director for the Esterhazy family. By the end of his life, Haydn was both rich and famous, and he had […]

George Frederick Handel’s Messiah wasn’t written for Christmas — it was first performed in April. Hear some other pieces of classical music that traditionally get played during the Christmas season.

Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Nutcracker is based on a story by German author E.T.A. Hoffmann. In The Nutcracker, a Christmas present — a nutcracker — comes to life as a handsome […]

Ballet is a theatrical performance that tells a story using music, costumes, sets, and dance. Victoria Morgan, artistic director of the Cincinnati Ballet, talks with Naomi Lewin about ballet and […]

Some composers in Tchaikovsky’s day didn’t think his music sounded “Russian” enough, but Tchaikovsky was Russian through and through. Tchaikovsky wrote symphonies, operas, songs, chamber music — and of course, […]

Leonard Bernstein grew up in the Boston area. Here are some more composers who spent time in and around that city.

Leonard Bernstein’s “Candide” is an operetta. An operetta is like an opera, with one big difference. In opera, everything is sung, but in operetta, there are spoken lines between the […]

When he was growing up, Leonard Bernstein loved to put on operas and other musical shows with his friends. That interest in musical theater continued all through his life, and […]

American-born Leonard Bernstein became famous all over the world as a composer, a conductor, and a pianist. In addition to writing classical music, composed classic Broadway musicals, including West Side […]

Appropriately spooky classical music for Halloween.

Incidental music creates a mood, or illustrates the action for what is going on in a play, movie or television show.

Music by composers from the three official Scandinavian countries — Norway, Denmark and Sweden — and a couple of unofficial ones — Finland and Iceland!

“In The Hall of the Mountain King” is part of the incidental music Edvard Grieg wrote for Henrik Ibsen’s play Peer Gynt. Hear the story of the play as you […]

Edvard Grieg was from a music-loving Norwegian family. In addition to becoming the leading Scandinavian composer of his day, Grieg became a big supporter of Norwegian arts and culture.

Dance is very important in Spain, and Spanish dance forms have made their way all over the world. They’ve even turned into music that was never meant for dancing. Listen […]

La danza es muy importante en España, y las formas de danza españolas se han hecho camino en todo el mundo. Incluso se han convertido en música que nunca fue […]

After Christopher Columbus made his first trip across the Atlantic Ocean, Spain and other European countries began to colonize the Americas. Spanish music had a big influence on Latin American […]

Después de que Cristóbal Colón hizo su primer viaje a través del Océano Atlántico, España y otros países europeos comenzaron a colonizar las Américas. La música española tuvo una gran […]

In the 16th century, “conquistadores” – soldiers from Spain – sailed to Mexico, and took over the country from the Indigenous people who lived there. The Spanish brought their language, […]

‘En el siglo XVI, los "conquistadores" – soldados de España – navegaron hasta México, y se apoderaron del país de los indígenas que vivían allí. Los españoles llevaron su idioma, […]

When composers use their country’s folk songs, dances, and rhythms to paint musical pictures of local places and legends, it’s called musical nationalism. Hear how composers like Isaac Albeniz, Enrique […]

‘Cuando los compositores usan las canciones, danzas y ritmos folclóricos de su país para pintar cuadros musicales de lugares y leyendas locales, se llama nacionalismo musical. Escucha cómo compositores como […]

¡Bienvenidos! Listen and explore the music of some of Spain’s most influential composers and players, from King Alfonso X (a.k.a. “Alfonso El Sabio”/Alfonso the Wise) to Francisco Tárrega, known as […]

¡Bienvenidos! Escucha y explora la música de algunos de los compositores e intérpretes más influyentes de España, desde el rey Alfonso X (también conocido como “Alfonso El Sabio”) hasta Francisco […]

Zoltan Kodály developed a method for teaching music. It is still used by teachers around the world today. Jill Trinka, who teaches the Kodály Method, talks with Naomi Lewin.

Zoltán Kodály was not the only composer to use folk tunes in the music he wrote. Here are some others.

Kodály’s opera Háry János is about a real person who told real whoppers – big, fat lies. If you listened to him, you'd think he defeated Napoleon's army all by […]

Zoltán Kodály was born in a small town in Hungary. His father worked for the Hungarian railroad, so the family moved around a lot. This meant that as a kid, […]

“Rhapsody” is an ancient word that means “songs stitched together”. The Greeks used to write long poems in praise of their heroes, and then take bits and pieces of those […]

In his day Franz Liszt was most famous as a pianist. So, were Mozart, Beethoven and a lot of other composers.

Franz Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsodies were greatly influenced by gypsy, or Romani music. Brahms, Telemann and Verdi are among the many composers were attracted to this distinctive music.

Inspired by violinist Niccolo Paganini, Franz Liszt became a piano superstar. Many classical music superstars followed, including Jan Paderewski, Jenny Lind, Van Cliburn, Enrico Caruso, Yo-Yo Ma and Lang Lang.

Franz Liszt was a pianist, composer, conductor and teacher who came up with musical innovations in all those fields. He was the first of the virtuoso performers and invented the […]

From the late 1800’s to the early 1900's, professional bands toured all over the United States, and many towns in this country had their own amateur bands.

The United States Marine Band is this country’s oldest military band. Each branch of the U.S. Armed Forces has its own band, and song. Captain Don Schofield, associate conductor of […]

John Philip Sousa’s The Stars and Stripes Forever is the official march of the United States of America. Sousa composed his most famous march in his head when he was […]

John Philip Sousa — the most American of composers — was the son of immigrants to the United States. Because of his love for bands and band music, John Philip […]