Every week is concert week on Classical 101. Tune in to hear everything from Ravel to Bach with witty insight and conversation from hosts in-the-know. Here's a sneak peek of what's on the menu for next week, April 3rd-9th, 2016.
Sunday, April 3rd:
1:00 PM, Columbus Symphony Broadcast with Christopher Purdy
Brahms' Symphony No. 2 was composed during Brahms' visit to the Austrian Alps. The sweeping strings and subtle brass of the opening certainly depict the lush mountain countryside and its beauty. Here's a sneak peek courtesy of the Berlin Philharmonic with Maestro Karajan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UccOlCBcIs8
8:00 PM, Musica Sacra with Christopher Purdy
This week, Chris introduces us to excerpts from Handel's oratorio, Saul.
Monday, April 4th:
7:00 PM, Essential Classics: "Music you know you know, even if you don't know you know it."
Brahms' Variations on a Theme by Haydn consists of 25 variations and a fugue based on George Frideric Handel's Harpsichord Suite No. 1 in B-flat major gives us not one but two familiar pieces of music rolled into one massive compositional masterpiece.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZZ3cePHilc
Tuesday, April 5th:
7:00 PM, The American Sound with Jennifer Hambrick
American composer, Tom Vignieri's setting of Sara Teasdale's poem, "There Will Come Soft Rains."
Wednesday, April 6th:
7:00 PM, Fretworks with John Rittmeyer
Texas Guitar Quartet’s dramatic rendition of Beethoven’s Egmont Overture
Thursday, April 7th:
7:00 PM, Symphony@7 with John Rittmeyer
This week's selection, Beethoven's Symphony No. 6 'Pastoral', is perfect for a spring evening, and it is one of Beethoven's few programmatic works, and it's quite fun to image the scenes as the music "describes" them in sequence:
- Mvt. 1 Awakening of cheerful feelings upon arrival in the countryside: Allegro ma non troppo
- Mvt. 2 Scene by the brook: Andante molto mosso
- Mvt. 3 Merry gathering of country folk: Allegro
- Mvt. 4 Thunder. Storm: Allegro
- Mvt. 5 Shepherd's song; cheerful and thankful feelings after the storm: Allegretto
Friday, April 8th:
7:00 PM, The San Francisco Symphony
Conductor Michael Tilson Thomas leads the prestigious San Francisco Symphony in Bach's beloved Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G major.
Saturday, April 9th:
1:00 PM, Metropolitan Opera Broadcast
Verdi's Simon Boccanegra, while not as well-known, is no less Verdian than his other works. Of course, the singers of the Metropolitan Opera can handle these demanding roles just fine. The opera is set in the 14th-Century in Genoa during a conflict between the aristocracy and the plebeian political party. The opera has political intrigue, pirates, and of course, young couples looking for love.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEWsrUIc6kI
6:00 PM, The American Sound with Jennifer Hambrick
Stephen Caracciolo’s settings of four poems from William Blake’s Songs of Innocence is an incredible example of American choral music. This work is haunting and full of movement between placidity and immense vocal texture. Here's a sneak peek: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30w36mvCfbY
7:00 PM, Fretworks with John Rittmeyer
Australian born guitarist John Williams performs his own lovely Aeolian Suite.