Classical Classroom

It's getting close to midnight. Something evil's lurking in the dark… AAACK! It's a special Halloween edition of Classical Classroom! Last year for the holiday, we exhumed some composers from the dead. This year, we kidnapped a living composer, violinist, and maker of scary movies and forced him to introduce us to spooky tunes. Then, we ordered him to tell us why it is that creepy music creeps us out. Jerry Ochoa of Houston's Two Star Symphony does a wicked good job of explaining it, too. Which is why, at the end of the episode, we let him go*.

Audio production by Todd "Terrifying" Hulslander with snargling from Dacia Clay.

Music in this episode:

By Two Star Symphony

– "Goblin Attack", from Love and Other Demons

– "Feast", from Titus Andronicus

– "Dawn Dipple", from Love and Other Demons

By others

– Camille Saint-Saens: Danse macabre, Op. 40, played by the New York Philharmonic

– Modest Mussorgsky: Night on Bald Mountain, played by the London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus

– Bernard Hermann: Psycho Suite

– Franz Liszt: Totentanz, played by the Boston Symphony Orchestra

– Bela Bartok: Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta, played by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

For more about Two Star Symphony: www.twostarsymphony.com

*No Jerry Ochoas were harmed in the making of this episode.

Composer Peter Boyer goes deep into the core of Symphony No. 1.

Why do composers write symphonies? What goes into writing a symphony? If it has three movements, is it still a symphony? I mean, really: What IS a symphony anyway?! Grammy-nominated composer and conductor Peter Boyer answers all of these questions and more by taking us deep into his Symphony No. 1. From making dots on a page, to recording the piece with the London Philharmonic Orchestra at Abbey Road Studios, this is a tell-all of one composer's creative process. Come along, won't you? Goood. Goood…

Audio production by Todd "Twitchy" Hulslander with quasi-spiritual guidance from Dacia Clay.

Music in this episode: – Peter Boyer, Symphony No. 1. Played by the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Naxos 8.559769.

For more about Peter Boyer: www.propulsivemusic.com

This episode does double duty: teaches you all about the trumpet and trumpet playing, while carrying out the secondary mission of Classical Classroom, i.e., the humiliation of the show's host. Trumpet players George Chase and Jason Adams of the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra teach host and former trumpet player, host Dacia, a trumpet lesson. Along the way, they say all kinds of important things about the history of the instrument. Plus, there are duck calls!

Varieties of trumpet and mutes. Photo by Dacia Clay.

Audio production by Todd "Ah!" Hulslander with running and hiding by Dacia Clay.

Music in this episode: – Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F Major Mvt. 3 -Bach played by the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra – Duo No. 1 by Chris Gecker played by George Chase and Jason Adams

For more about the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra: www.rocohouston.org For more about George Chase, check that very same link. For more about Jason Adams: www.trumpetowner.com

But wait! There's more! In case you didn't get enough trumpet in Episode 63, this short is for you! Trumpet players George Chase and Jason Adams tell what the daily life of the trumpet player is like, and bring out the gadgets: Mutes and trumpet varieties galore.

Oh, but we're not done yet: You can see video – yes, video! – of George and Jason giving Dacia a trumpet lesson right here! Special thanks, by the way, to videographer Troy Schulze for his help with this outtake.

Trumpet players George Chase and Jason Adams give Classical Classroom host, Dacia Clay, a trumpet lesson.

Article thumbnail image: (L-R) Trumpet players George Chase and Jason Adams. Photo by Dacia Clay.

Like an Around the World and Back snap, Bach's Suite in B Minor for Flute and Strings takes the listener pretty much everywhere. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll dance fast and slow, you'll wonder if you're Polish or French, yet feel German. But don't worry: Rice University's Shepherd School of Music professor and flutist Leone Buyse will be your guide on this musical (spiritual?) journey.

Flutist Leone Buyse. Photo by David Long. Courtesy of leonebuyse.com.

Audio production by Todd "Tobias" Hulslander with Fünke by Dacia Clay.

Music in this episode: – J.S. Bach – Suite in B-Minor for Flute and Orchestra as played by Barthold Kuijken and Emmanuel Pahud (respectively)

For more about Leone Buyse: www.leonebuyse.com

Take a tour through music history – from chant to present day – through the lens of the motet. What's a "motet", you ask? Is it real, you ask? We are not entirely sure. Composer Mark Buller, whose music has been performed worldwide, and who has been commissioned by organizations like Houston Grand Opera, will be your tour guide. Get on board the great Classroom coaster. We have cupholders and a great soundsystem.

Audio production by Todd "Tween" Hulslander with insightful insight from Dacia Clay.

Music in this episode:

• Adam de la Halle: "Mout me fu grief li departir/Robins m'aime/Portare", Tonus Peregrinus/Anthony Pitts
• Philippe de Vitry: "Garrit gallus flendo dolorose/In nova fert animus/Neuma" Sequentia
• Palestrina, "Osculetur me osculo oris sui" from Canticum Canticorum, The Hilliard Ensemble
• Thomas Tallis, "If ye love me", The Sixteen/Harry Christophers
• JS Bach: Lobet den Herrn, alle Heiden, Monteverdi Choir/John Eliot Gardiner
• W.A. Mozart, Ave verum corpus, The Sixteen/Harry Christophers
• Richard Strauss: Deutsche Motette, Choir of Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge, Choir of King's College/David Trendell
• Morten Lauridsen: O Magnum Mysterium, 1994, Vasari Singers/Jeremy Backhouse
• Mark Buller: "O nata lux" from Five Motets, Chamber Choir/John Hudson; Mark Buller, piano

For more about Mark Buller, go to www.markbuller.com.

A small step in the evolution of the trumpet. "Ear Trumpet 1". Photo by Eknath Gomphotherium, used with permission.

How did the trumpet morph from a simple horn that announced kings and queens, in to the sophisticated, nuanced instrument it is today? Monumental Brass Quintet trumpet player, public school music teacher, and inventor of the Buzz Clip brass player training tool, Mark DiClaudio tells how Haydn's Trumpet Concerto and a guy named Anton Weidinger literally poked holes in the instrument and changed it – forevah! Also, thoughts on music education, and SO MUCH MORE.

Audio production by Todd "Tiny" Hulslander with belated but no less meaningful birthday wishes from Dacia Clay.

Music in this episode: Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra in E Flat Major, by Franz Joseph Haydn. Played by Wynton Marsalis and the National Philharmonic Orchestra.

For more about Mark DiClaudio: www.diclaudiostudios.com

In this episode, Classical 91.7's Saturday Morning Music host and contra dancer extraordinaire, Amy Bishop takes Dacia on a journey with Smetana, Strauss, and Gershwin to learn about tone poems, invoking a surprising number of mermaids and mimes.

Audio production by Todd Hulslander with "insightful" suggestions from Dacia Clay.

Music used in this episode includes:

• Smetana's "The Moldau" from Tchaikovsky/Smetana, Chesky CD65
• Richard Strauss' "Death and Transfiguration" from Metamorphosen, Tod Und Verklarung, Deutsche Grammophon 410 892
• Gershwin's "An American in Paris" from Rhapsody in Blue, RCA 68792

In this episode, conductor Brett Mitchell — Assistant Conductor for the Cleveland Orchestra, man of too many accolades to mention, and former Assistant Conductor of the Houston Symphony — talks about John Williams' use of leitmotif in the score to the original Star Wars movie. Listen, you must.

Audio production by Todd "Tatooine" Hulslander, with use of the Force by Dacia Clay.

For more about Brett Mitchell: www.brettmitchellconductor.com

Think you know your classical tunes? Play along in this host-humiliating "drop the needle" quiz show! Test your skills while listening to quiz master, Opera Cheat Sheet host, and Classical 91.7 program director St. John Flynn point and laugh at Dacia. Good luck! Send us an email to let us know how you do: [email protected].

Classical 91.7 program director St. John Flynn with Whoopee cushion. Photo by Dacia Clay.

Audio production by Todd "Test Mastah" Hulslander with a really good try by Dacia Clay.

The human voice is (very probably, we're pretty darn sure) the first classical music instrument. Grammy-nominated producer, choral and orchestral instructor, and artistic director of Grace Song, Inc., Keith Weber takes us on a journey through the evolution of choral work. He also explains why choir singers are generally in way less peril than opera singers.

Audio production for this episode by Todd "Tasty" Hulslander with smart-mouthed comebacks from Dacia Clay.