Titles are funny things, and Paul Richards knows how to grab your attention with titles like “A Butterfly Coughs in Africa” and “Falling on Lobsters in the Dark.” But he holds your attention with a rich palette of innovative and engaging sounds. The Dallas Wind Symphony will perform his concerto “Snake in the Garden” in its next concert, and you’ll be tempted to become a Richards fan.
Works discussed: Paul Richards, Snake in the Garden
What’s this program about?
Carl Orff selected vivid poems from a Medieval manuscript and super-charged them with color and energy to create the mega-hit “Carmina Burana” in 1937. An innovative music educator and proponent of Eurhythmics, Orff poured his understanding of natural melody and rhythm into this theatrical work, a spectacle for ear and eye.
Works discussed: Carl Orff, Carmina Burana
What’s this program about?
The Dallas Wind Symphony performs a concert entirely of American music running the gamut from show music to patriotic tunes to new pieces from some of America’s leading wind-band composers.
Works discussed
Stephen Bryant, Stampede; Morton Gould, American Salute; John Gibson, American Anthem; Fisher Tull, Rhapsody for Trumpet and Symphonic Band; Ron Nelson, Passacaglia on B-A-C-H; Leonard Bernstein, Three Dance Episodes from On the Town.
What’s this program about?
There isn’t exactly a Top 40 for the Band World. But if there were, every piece on this concert would be high on the list.
Works discussed:
Clifton Williams, Fanfare and Allegro; Vaclav Nehlybel, Symphonic Movements; Holst, Second Suite in F; Milhaud, Suite Francaise; Persichetti, Symphony for Band, Op. 69; Varese, Integrales
What’s this program about?
Enter the musical world of Sir Malcolm Arnold, a world of brisk expression and energy, evocative soundscape, precise instrumentation, and winsome melody. A world of richly colored, well crafted, deeply satisfying sound.
Many people discover Malcolm Arnold through his sets of appealing dances and through his film scores, especially Bridge on the River Kwai.
What’s this program about?
Vienna drew musicians from all over Europe, 
luring them with Imperial support for the arts and a public eager for music. Mozart and Mahler came to work in Vienna more than a century apart, and both experienced success and frustrations in this opera-loving city so rich in architectural and cultural splendors. From the Turkish cultural influence to the passion of the waltz and operetta, Professor Carol surveys the musical history of Vienna and talks about Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5, Marriage of Figaro, and Mahler’s Fifth Symphony.
Works discussed: Mozart Violin Concerto in A Major, K. 219, Overture to Marriage of Figaro; Mahler, Symphony No. 5
What’s this program about?
Was it the great tunes, the snappy lyrics, or both? George Gershwin’s fabulous songs are a treasured part of American music. His Rhapsody in Blue, theater works American in Paris and Porgy and Bess, brought him celebrity status and changed the course of American music. After his premature death, his brother Ira carried on the legacy working with the Library of Congress to ensure that these musical treasures are ours today. Professor Carol surveys the life and works of Gerswhin.
Works discussed: Rhapsody in Blue, Songs, Three Preludes for Piano
Conductor and oboist Vladimir Lande talks with Professor Carol about the legacy of Evgeny Mravinsky and Soviet composers Shostakovich and Khachaturian, as well as the influence of folklore and the bells of the Orthodox Church on Russian composers. He discusses performances of music by John Corigliano, Gaetano Panariello, and Lorenzo Ferrero and his enthusiasm for performing contemporary music of 
In addition to his conducting career, Lande is a virtuoso oboist with the Poulenc Trio and the D’Amore duo. He began his career as principal oboist of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra (1984-1989), playing under such legendary conductors as Mravinsky, Mariss Jansons, Leonard Bernstein, Claudio Abbado, Valery Gergiev, and Yuri Temirkanov.
Lande has been awarded many prestigious prizes, including the First Prize of the Russian Republic Wind Competition. He was named principal guest conductor of the St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra in
What’s this program about?
Russian music has tremendous audience appeal. Its sources are the very cornerstones of Old Russian Culture: the Orthodox Church, Russian history, Russian fairy tales and folklore, and Russia’s position between West and East. Liturgical chants and bells reverberate in the music of Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov, Mussorgsky, and Rachmaninov. Russian history and literature inspire the operas Prince Igor and Khovanshchina.
Works discussed: Rimsky-Korsakov, Russian Easter Overture; Mussorgsky, Pictures at an Exhibition, Prelude to Khovanshchina; Borodin, Prince Igor, Polovtsian Dances.
What’s this program about?
Richard Wagner was, and remains, one of the most intense and controversial figures of all time. For those who love Wagner’s music, Wagner becomes an obsession. Wagner understood and glorified the sound of wind instruments, especially brass, and transcriptions of Wagner’s operatic music have made highly effective and enjoyable arrangements for wind band. That’s how Wagner became a band geek.
Works discussed: Wagner’s Rienzi, Lohengrin, Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, Siegfried, Götterdämmerung
This romp through music history (and many other historical topics) combines 13 hours of DVD video with a 3-disc listening set from Naxos and a 236-page course book.
From the birth of opera to the Leipzig coffeehouses frequented by Bach and Schumann, from the Orthodox cathedrals of Moscow to Tin Pan Alley, from scientific discoveries to bloody revolutions, spooky dramas and shoe styles, Carol chronicles it all with her unique commentary.
