From the category archives:

Music History

The Musical World of William Bolcom

April 3, 2010

American composer William Bolcom has made a lot of ears happy through decades of composing, recording, and performing.  A triple-Grammy winner and tireless advocate for American music, he’s helped to revive the American songbook, particularly in league with his wife, mezzo-soprano Joan Morris.  He was instrumental in restoring Scott Joplin’s music [...]

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Snakes, Lobsters, and Concertos

October 6, 2009

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 [...]

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A Modern Medieval Mega-Hit

September 3, 2009

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: [...]

Podcast: Download (Duration: 10:09 — 9.3MB)

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Americans We

November 11, 2008

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 [...]

Podcast: Download (Duration: 13:30 — 12.4MB)

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Band’s Greatest Hits

October 10, 2008

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

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The Musical World of Malcolm Arnold

April 10, 2008

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 [...]

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The Vienna of Mozart and Mahler

February 16, 2008

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 [...]

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A Gershwin Rhapsody

February 9, 2008

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 [...]

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An Interview with Vladimir Lande

February 6, 2008

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 [...]

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The Keys to Russian Music

December 12, 2007

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 [...]

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