Sticky Notes: The Classical Music Podcast

I’ve mentioned Ethel Smyth a few times in the past on this show. This is partly because of her music, and partly because she remains one of the most interesting people who ever lived. She was a composer of course, but she was also a conductor and an author, as well as a political activist. Specifically, she was a suffragette, fiercely advocating for the rights of women to vote in her home country of the UK. As a composer Smyth wrote dozens of works, all of which are starting to become better known as performers and administrators look to bring more music by female composers onto concert stages around the world. Smyth did not have it easy, constantly fighting for her place, battling conductors, other composers, and even her own father, all for the right to be a composer.  Today, after I introduce you to a bit more of Smyth’s amazing biography, we’re going to focus on her first orchestral work, her Serenade in D Major. This is a piece that certainly doesn’t sound like a first orchestral piece, and it is full of all of the qualities that make Smyth’s music so enjoyable to listen to - lush warmth, humor, raucous intensity, and the quiet passion that runs through the music of so many great British composers. Smyth’s Serenade in D is starting to be performed more, and I’m really proud to be using my own recording of the piece for the show today, which I made with the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra in 2021. It is only the second professional recording of the piece, and the recording has just been released on Claves Records. So today, we’re going to go through this wonderful piece and also spend some more time in the wild and unpredictable world of Dame Ethel Smyth. Join us!

Explore the history and emotional depth behind Dvorak's Cello Concerto, from the composer's initial doubts to the intricate structure of the piece. Dive into the challenges of balancing virtuosity and musicality in concertos, comparing Dvorak's emotive essence to other renowned composers like Brahms. Unveil the unique musical structure, emotional core, and technical intricacies of this captivating concerto, highlighting the struggles faced by soloists, conductors, and orchestras in performing it.

In this podcast, the host discusses Leonard Bernstein's Symphonic Dances from West Side Story. They explore aspects such as the use of tritone intervals and rhythmic techniques, the influence of American music pioneers, and the incorporation of Beethoven's fifth piano concerto. They also analyze Bernstein's portrayal of danger and terror in a scene from the musical, as well as the tragic ending of the Symphonic Dances and its plea for racial justice.

I had the great joy to do my first ever live edition of Sticky Notes last month with the Aalborg Symphony in Denmark. For this concert, I chose a piece that is extremely close to my heart, Dvorak's New World Symphony. The story of the New World Symphony is a fascinating one. The symphony was the result of an extraordinary series of events, with Dvorak coming to America in 1892, meeting the great singer Harry Burleigh, and falling in love with a totally new, to him, genre of music: Black American and Native American folk music. Listening to Burleigh and other voices around America, Dvorak had discovered a new “American” sound for his music, and even though he would end up staying in the US for just three years, in that time he composed two of his most popular pieces, the American String Quartet, and the New World Symphony But of course, the New World Symphony isn’t really an American piece. It is a piece written in America by a Czech composer, which means it embodies traits from both sides of the Atlantic.  Moments of Black American influence elide into Czech Slavonic Dances and back again with incredible ease.  All along the way, Dvorak infuses his highly traditional symphonic style with this "American" sound, a sound that enraptured the public from the very first time they heard it, and remains both incredibly popular and incredibly moving, today. Join myself and the Aalborg Symphony for this exploration of the symphony, followed by a complete performance. I'm extremely grateful to the Danish Radio for allowing me to use this performance for the show.

The podcast discusses the use of folk music in classical compositions, with a focus on Witold Lutoslawski's Concerto for Orchestra. They explore Lutoslawski's incorporation of Polish folk songs, his trademark sound, the frenetic energy in the piece, tempo changes, DSCH mode, and Bartok's influence. They also discuss Lutoslawski's rejection of the concerto and recommend other works by him.

Discover the journey of Robert Schumann in writing his Piano Concerto, inspired by his wife Clara. Learn about the challenges he faced in getting it published. Dive into the graceful and gentle middle movement and the surging and jaunty last movement. Explore the challenges of rhythm and the euphoric coda of the concerto.

Explore the complexity and beauty of Brahms' violin concerto, as well as the interpretive choices made by renowned violinists. Discusses the collaboration between Brahms and violinist Joseph Joachim, compares recordings by Heifetz, Oistrakh, and Ferras, and delves into the technical and musical aspects of the concerto.

The podcast discusses the topic of 'What Does Music Mean?' through the exploration of Beethoven's Eroica Symphony, Barber's Adagio for Strings, and Shostakovich's 5th Symphony. It delves into the challenges and significance of interpreting classical music, the subjective and objective approaches to understanding meaning, and the historical context and emotional elements in the compositions. The podcast also explores the personal associations that influence interpretation, the struggles faced by Shostakovich during the Great Purge, and the different interpretations of the ending of Schusterkovich's composition.

On October 29th, 1931, The Rochester Philharmonic presented the world premiere of a new symphony by the composer William Grant Still. A symphonic premiere is always something to look out for in musical history, but this one had an even greater significance. The premiere of Wiliam Grant Still’s First Symphony, subtitled  “Afro American,” was the first time a symphony written by a Black American composer was performed by a leading orchestra. William Grant Still was a man of many firsts, whether he was the first Black American conductor to conduct a major orchestra, the first to have an opera performed by a major company, the first Black American to conduct an orchestra in the South of the United States, and much more.  Today we’re going to focus in on Grant Still’s first symphony, a piece that Grant Still had long thought about, conceptualized, and dreamed of. It was also a symphony wrapped up in the roiling currents of Black America at the time, with the Harlem Renaissance in full swing and Alain Locke’s tract The New Negro sparking discussion and debate all over the country. It was a symphony that attempted to do something no one had ever done before, that is, to marry together the genre of the Blues with that of symphonic music. At the time of its premiere and afterwards, it was quite a success, and until 1950, it was THE most performed symphony written by an American composer. After 1950, the symphony practically disappeared from concert stages, but due to the explosion of interest in Black American composers of the past and present, this brilliant symphony is making its way back into the repertoire of orchestras all over the world. The way that Grant Still constructed this meeting of two genres of music was ingenious and innovative from start to finish, and so today on the show we’ll explore all of the historical context of the symphony, what Grant Still was trying to do with his monumental new endeavor, and of course, all of the music itself. I'm also joined today by the great writer and linguist John McWhorter, who discusses the 4 Paul Laurence Dunbar poems Grant Still added to each movement as epigraphs, as well as their cultural context. Join us!

This is another episode where I highly recommend listening to Part 1 from last week before listening to this episode! It was a great honor to speak with the critic and cultural historian Jeremy Eichler about his remarkable new book "Time's Echo." In today's episode, we speak about Richard Strauss' Metamorphosen, as well as the complicated and hotly debated questions about Strauss' activities during World War II. We also talk about Shostakovich and his 13th Symphony, entitled "Babi Yar," a piece of memorial for a place where no memorial had stood for decades. Finally, we speak about Benjamin Britten and his War Requiem. We talk about Britten's devout pacificism, about his visit to the Belsen Displaced Persons camp after World War II, and why his War Requiem seems to have more connection with World War I than with World War II. It was truly a joy to talk to Jeremy about all of these different great composers, as well as the memories they created with their works. Join us!