Classical Classroom

Music and poetry go together like inhaling and exhaling, or like gasoline and matches, or like Sherlock and Watson, or like Parker and Stone, or like a hammer and a nail. Et cetera, et cetera. In this episode, composer Dale Trumbore talks about setting poems and prose to music, and about the relationship between poetry and music. There are exercises within, so get out your paper and your pencils.

Music in this episode:

• As Vesta was from Latmos Hill Descending (The King's Singers, Royal Rhymes and Rounds)
• The Road Home (Dale Warland Singers, Harvest Home)
• Threshold of Night (Conspirare, Threshold of Night)
• In the Middle by Dale Trumbore
• Timor et tremor (The Sixteen, The Earth Resounds)
• Spiritus Mundi, by Dale Trumbore

Audio production by Todd "Twitty" Hulslander with indispensable input from Dacia Clay and assistance by Mark DiClaudio.

The celebrated classical music composer Béla Bartók was really into folk music. I mean, really into it. Not like, hitchhiking-with-beat-up-acoustic-guitar, playing-open-mic-nights folk music. More like, invented-an-analytic-study-of-folk-music-and-created-the-field-of-ethnomusicology-in-general folk music. Hyeyung Yoon, Greg Beaver, and Jonah Sirota of the Chiara String Quartet talk about how Bartók brought the collection and analysis of folk music into his work as a classical composer. They also talk about why playing Bartók's music "by heart" was important on their latest CD.

All music in this episode from the Chiara String Quartet's CD, Bartók by Heart.

Audio production by Todd "Stranger Todds" Hulslander with Demogorgon slaying by Dacia Clay and assistance from Mark DiClaudio.

Welcome to part 2 of our holiday indulgence: a walk through the music of the Coen Brothers films with Craig Cohen of Houston Matters. We pick up our where our last conversation ended (with 1994's The Hudsucker Proxy), and move on to the sparse music of Fargo. Hear a little Mozart, a fake bluegrass band, wind used as an instrument, and even the vocal stylings of an X-Wing fighter pilot.

Music in this episode:

• From Fargo (the movie): Music by Carter Burwell
• From The Big Lebowski: Featuring Mozart's Requiem
• From O Brother Where Art Thou?: Soundtrack curated by curated by T-Bone Burnett, featuring the bluegrass stylings of fake band, the Soggy Bottom Boys
• From No Country for Old Men
• From A Serious Man
• From Inside Llewyn Davis: Soundtrack curated by curated by T-Bone Burnett, featuring vocals by Oscar Isaac, aka Poe Dameron

Audio production by Todd "A Serious Todd" Hulslander with talking in a Fargoaccent by Dacia Clay and assistance from Mark DiClaudio.

Okay, so it's a little bit of a departure from our typical classical music fare, but it's the holidays so we're indulging in some serious fun: Craig Cohen, host of our mothership's daily public affairs program, Houston Matters, walks us through the music of the films of Joel and Ethan Coen, better known as the Coen Brothers. In part 1 of our epic conversation, you'll learn about the musical mastermind behind the brothers' films, Carter Burwell. You'll also hear a little melodramatic Khachaturian, and, of course, some yodeling.

Music in this episode:

• From Blood Simple: Music by Carter Burwell
• From Raising Arizona: Featuring the yodel stylings of Mieczyslaw Litwinski and a banjo player who Carter Burwell claims may have been one of the Coen brothers' optometrists
• From Miller's Crossing: Orchestral score by Carter Burwell
• From Barton Fink
• From The Hudsucker Proxy: Featuring compositions by Aram Khachaturian, including "Sabre Dance"

Audio production by Todd "Fink" Hulslander with hula hooping by Dacia Clay and assistance from Mark DiClaudio.

Okay, so we are re-gifting this year's holiday episode from our 2013 collection. But it's only because we thought you'd like it! Please re-enjoy learning about this gorgeous, never-gets-old classic. And from all of us at Classical Classroom HQ: peace, joy, and ALL THE PRESENTS to you this year!

We all know The Nutcracker, right? Wrong! In this episode of Classical Classroom, Shelly Power (director, Houston Ballet Academy) and Michael Remson (executive director, AFA) blow your minds with the history of the ballet and a behind-the-scenes look at the massive undertaking that putting on the show entails every year.

All music in this episode from The Nutcracker:

• Score by Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky
• Original choreography by Marius Petipas and Lev Ivanov
• Libretto adapted from E.T.A. Hoffmann's story, The Nutcracker and the Mouse King

Audio production by Todd "Pas de Todd" Hulslander with sugarplum fairies dancing in her head by Dacia Clay.

As of 2016, the Emerson String Quartethas been around for 40 years. For comparison, here is a brief list of other awesome things that have been around for 40 years: Benedict Cumberbatch, The Muppet Show, the movie Rocky, the Blues Brothers, Big Red Gum, the game Whack-a-Mole, VHS tapes, and the Ramones' debut album. In this episode, Emerson violinist Eugene Drucker talks about what it means to play for that long with the same musicians, about what has changed over the years, and about Emerson's new 52-CD box set.

Music in this episode (all from Emerson String Quartet – Complete Recordings On Deutsche Grammophon):

• String Quartet No. 14 in D Minor. Franz Schubert.
• String Quartet No. 11 in F Minor. Ludwig van Beethoven.
• String Quartet No. 1. Béla Bartók.
• String Quartet No. 17 ("The Hunt"). Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
• Symphony No. 15. Dmitri Shostakovich.
• 3 Madrigals. Bohuslav Martinů.
• Lyric Suite. Alban Berg.
• String Quintet for 2 violins, viola & 2 cellos in C major. Franz Schubert.

Audio production by Todd "The Arthropod" Hulslander with assistance from Mark DiClaudio and blitzkrieg bopping from Dacia Clay.

Jason Vieaux and Julien Labro both play instruments that have had historically complex relationships to classical music. Even today, the classical guitar and the bandoneon are a little unorthodox in that world. Maybe that's why Jason and Julien – and their instruments – are such an obvious fit together. Without easy paths to follow, they've made their own and they've subsequently both become uniquely musically versatile. They're also both brood-y and wear sunglasses at night (one imagines). Learn about the classical guitar and the bandoneon, their histories, their repertoires, and what kind of trailblazing Vieaux and Labro are up to on their new CD, Infusion.

If you like what you hear in this episode, go see Jason Vieaux in concert with Da Camera of Houston on December 9th! More details here.

Music in this episode:

• "Escualo" by Astor Piazzolla
• "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" by Tears for Fears
• Tres Danzas Concertantes – I. Allegro by Leo Brouwer

Audio production by Todd "Tablature" Hulslander with Dacia Clay doing the Madison and assistance from Mark DiClaudio.

Immortality might be writing a piece of music that is so cool, so archetypal, that hundreds of years later, it's still used in media that its creator never could have imagined existing. Case in point, Beethoven's 7th Symphony, which was used to amazing effect in the dystopian world of the Emmy award-winning USA Network show, Mr. Robot. Or Beethoven's 9th Symphony, recently used in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. This old gold episode from the Classical Classroom vault, featuring independent producer Wesley Horner, focuses on the former. Hear Wesley's theories about what makes an immortal piece of music tick.

Music in this episode:

• Ludwig van Beethoven, Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92, 2nd movement

Audio production by Todd "Toddtastic" Hulslander with deep, brooding glances from Dacia Clay.

Holy 150th episode, Batman! Because we are so stoked to have reached this milestone, we bring you not one, but two treats: A new Classical Classroom show intro, and the comedic stylings of violinist Jennifer Koh. Jennifer was Musical America's Instrumentalist of 2016 and recently put out an album of Tchaikovsky's complete works for violin and orchestra. Some of Tchaikovsky's pieces are commonly referred to as, "…the most daunting works in the violin repertoire." Jennifer explains why a composer would write something that musicians consider intimidating to play, and why musicians like her have fun feeling the fear and doing it anyway. Also in this episode, bear witness to astonishingly inept sports talk, and the best story about a violinist playing softball ever.

All music in this episode from Jennifer Koh's CD, Tchaikovsky's Complete Works for Violin and Orchestra.

Audio production by Todd "Birthday Boy" Hulslander with assistance from Mark DiClaudio and parkour by Dacia Clay.

Many thanks to our listeners for all the love and listening so far! You guys rawk.

This episode brought to you by the following fake organization:

Before you get all excited, no: the Cypress String Quartet has not reunited. It's just that we at Classical Classroom have been so busy that we're a wee bit behind the times. By like…5 months-ish. This episode was originally recorded back in June of 2016, 3 days before the quartet's last performance after 20 years together, and just after the release of their CD Beethoven: The Early String Quartets. CST members Jennifer Kloetzel (cello) and Tom Stone (violin) talk about how Beethoven's music brought the group together, and about mastering his music from end to beginning. Learn about Beethoven's periods and how his music toys with listeners' emotions like a bad BF (Beethoven friend). Then learn who broke up the band!

Music in this episode (all Beethoven performed by the Cypress String Quartet):

• String Quartet in B-flat Major Op.130 Grosse Fugue

• String Quartet No. 1 in F Major, Op. 18 No.1: II. Adagio affettuoso ed appassionato

• String Quartet No. 8, Op. 59 No.2 "Rasumovsky": II. Molto Adagio

• String Quartet No. 8 Op. 59 No. 2 "Raumovsky": III. Allegretto

Audio production by Todd "Middle Period" Hulslander with marginal help from Dacia Clay and assistance from Mark DiClaudio.