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.

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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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Professor Carol shows how composers use nationalist elements to take listeners on a journey across the Global Soundscape. She highlights colorful works by French, American, and Russian composers.

Works discussed: Francois Poulenc, Suite Francaise; Ron Nelson, Rocky Pointe Holiday; Carl Friedemann, Slavonic Rhapsody No. 1; Modest Mussorgsky, Pictures at an Exhibition

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Major Jim Keene took his musical training and talents into the Army, becoming conductor of the premier Army musical ensembles and now commanding the U.S. Army School of Music??in Little Creek, Virginia.?? Professor Carol spoke with her former graduate student when he returned to Dallas to conduct the Dallas Wind Symphony???s Fourth of July concert.?? Major Keene talks about musical life in the military, performances at state events, and the role of musical ensembles in supporting the troops and representing the United States throughout the world.

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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.

Technorati Profile

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Weimar combines the cultures of the Reformation (Luther), European Baroque (Bach and Herder), Classicism (Goethe and Schiller), and Romanticism (Liszt) with modern movements in the arts (Bauhaus), politics (Weimar Republic), and military history (Napoleon, Hitler and World War II).

After discovering Weimar in 1998, I helped create SMU’s Summer in Weimar program and co-directed the program for many years.?? During that time, I developed a deep admiration for one of our German guides, Dieter Kunkel.?? I asked Dieter to help me explain what makes Weimar so special.

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We think of West Side Story as Bernstein???s musical, but it needed director and choreographer Jerome Robbins, scriptwriter Arthur Laurents, and lyricist Stephen Sondheim to bring all of the elements together.?? West Side Story was a dividing line in each of the collaborators??? lives.?? It launched Sondheim???s career.?? Bernstein never again wrote anything like it.

???The chief problem,??? Bernstein wrote, was ???to tread the fine line between opera and Broadway, between realism and poetry, ballet and ???just dancing,??? abstract and representational.????? Featuring jazz and Latin forms, and songs too operatic for actors without trained voices, the collaborators agreed to preserve the ???kid??? quality by casting teens rather than seasoned professionals.

Works discussed: Bernstein, West Side Story

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We forget how young the idea of a public concert is.?? Until around 1700, the idea of people assembling to play music not as part of a theatrical presentation or church service, but rather purely for listening, was almost unknown.

Concerts in the 19^th Century included a lot of eating and drinking, gossip, and press reports on the personalities similar to today???s tabloids.?? Concerts were occasions for the hippest people to hear the newest, edgy music, filled with surprises and musical special effects.

Works discussed: Rimsky-Korsakov, Capriccio Espagnole; Sarasate, Zigeuenerweisen; Turrin, Fandango; Williams, Cowboys Overture; Brahms, Academic Festival Overture; Faur??, Elegie

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If you think opera is silly and outdated, you’ll have to rethink when the gavel smashes to open Peter Grimes. It’s a searing story of a rugged fisherman pitted against his community. The HD feed from The Met includes backstage interviews where you’ll meet key people and watch how talent and technology come together to create an unforgettable show.

Photo: Hastings Net Huts, FreeFoto.com

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I enjoyed my interview with conductor and virtuoso oboist Vladimir Lande so much, I decided to present highlights of it in a shorter program. Listen and enjoy as Maestro Lande talks about the legendary conductor Evgenii Mravinsky and about the powerful influence of the Russian Bells.?? Lande???s upbringing in the Soviet musical system, his many achievements, and his rich opportunity to learn from the greatest of Russian musicians, have given him wonderful insights into music and life.??

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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

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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

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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 Russia, America, and Italy at the St. Petersburg Musical Spring and Ravello Festivals.

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 Russia, as well as music director and conductor of the Washington Soloist Chamber Orchestra in Washington, D.C.

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Music ??? the revitalizing force that keeps life energized, toes tapping, and the soul young at heart.?? Young players take the stage as the Dallas Wind Symphony combines forces with the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra Wind Symphony to perform works by Paul Hindemith, Frank Ticheli, Charles Rochester Young, John Williams, and Percy Grainger.

Works discussed:?? Young, Tempered Steel; Ticheli, Blue Shades; Hindemith, Symphonic Metamorphosis

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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.

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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 Walk??re, Siegfried, G??tterd??mmerung

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In today???s classical music world, there are not many composers who can stir up the excitement that might have accompanied the premiere of a new work by Brahms.?? But John Mackey is a composer who can.?? He has a popular following from all over the world.?? The Dallas Wind Symphony collaborated with a group of wind bands to commission Mackey???s new Concerto for Soprano Sax and Wind Ensemble.?? Mackey dedicated the work to Don Fabian, principal saxophonist of the Dallas Wind Symphony, and Professor Carol talks to Fabian about the upcoming premiere.

Works discussed: John Mackey???s Concerto for Soprano Sax and Wind Ensemble

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In popular usage, ???classical??? means anything that lasts and is passed down from generation to generation.?? It also refers to the particular style of music, rich in contrast, that flourished in late 18^th-century Vienna.?? Professor Carol talks about classicism from Mozart to Brahms to Prokofiev.

Works discussed: Brahms: Symphony No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 68; Prokofiev: Symphony No. 1 in D Major, Op. 25, ???Classical Symphony,??? Lieutenant Kij?? Suite, Piano Concerto No. 1 in D-Flat Major, Op. 10.

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The 9-part series in The New York Times is available online with images and interactive features.

Visit the Steinway & Sons site to learn more.

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Can musical works actually paint magic into sound??? Or are the sounds magical only because we know the stories behind them??? Professor Carol looks at magic in music, from E.T.A. Hoffmann to John Williams??? Harry Potter score.

Works discussed: Berlioz???s Symphonie Fantastique; Manuel de Falla???s El Amor Brujo; Dukas??? Sorcerer???s Apprentice; Saints Seans??? Danse Macabre; Stravinsky???s Firebird Suite; Wagner???s Magic Fire Music; John Williams??? Harry???s Wondrous World

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Works discussed: Respighi’s Roman Festivals, Pines of Rome, Fountains of Rome, Laud of the Nativity

The Respighi Foundation
The Resphigi Society

Further reading: Elsa Respighi. Ottorino Rspighi. His Life-Story Arranged By Elsa Respighi. Translated by Gwyn Morris. London: Ricordi, 1962.

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Works discussed:?? Aaron Copland, Appalachian Spring; John Corigliano, Promenade Overture and To Music; Antonin Dvorak, Symphony No. 9 “From the New World”

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What’s this program about?
Rossini, the master of bel canto opera, retired young, rich, and famous. Decades later, in old age and ill health, Rossini returned to composition and crafted a liturgical mass as his final work, a work both spiritual and theatrical, Petit Messe Solonnelle.

Works Discussed: Rossini’s Petit Messe Solonnelle

Where you can find:
Petit Messe Solonnelle

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What’s this program about?
Tchaikovsky’s music holds a sacred place in Russian culture. Dmitri Shostakovich said, “Without Tchaikovsky we could not endure our sorrows.” Professor Carol examines his Fifth Symphony and considers his life, his personal struggles, and his professional successes.

Works Discussed: Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5, Symphony No. 4, The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, The Queen of Spades

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What’s this program about?

Works Discussed: Leonard Bernstein: Mass; Aaron Copland: The Tender Land; Randall Thompson: “Alleluia”; Choral works by David Conte, Hubert Bird, Ned Rorem, William Billings, Stephen Paulus

Where you can find:
Bernstein Mass
Copland The Tender Land
Randall Thompson “Alleluia”

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What’s this program about?

Works Discussed: John Gibson’s “Mockingbird Sings”

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What’s this program about?

Works Discussed: Hindemith Kammermusik No. 7; Walton “Crown Imperial”; Guilmant Finale from Sonata in D Minor

Where you can find:
At the Meyerson
Mary Preston plays Marcel Dupre
Pomp and Pipes

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What’s this program about?

Works Discussed: Bach-Busoni Chorale Preludes; Beethoven Sonata No. 21, Opus 53 (”Waldstein”); Chopin Sonata No. 2; Debussy “Children’s Corner”

Where you can find: