Classically Speaking

As composer Ludwig van Beethoven approaches his semiquincentennial birthday, we’re taking you through all nine of his symphonies. Nashville Symphony conductor Giancarlo Guerrero joins host Colleen Phelps for a quick look at each one, focused on the history and the music itself.

Birthday or not, Beethoven has come up quite often in Classically Speaking. So, in this episode we featured clips from previous conversations. In what turned out to be one of composer Christopher Rouse's last interviews before he died in 2019, Rouse connected the opening of his 5th symphony to Beethoven's 5th. That same short-short-short-long also started Mahler's 5th, a parallel drawn by Nashville Symphony conductor Giancarlo Guerrero. Pianists Yefim Bronfman, Stephen Hough, and Lara Downes also illuminate the influence that Beethoven has had on their work, and the canon of piano literature.

Since they were composed in 1741 JS Bach’s set of pieces known as the Goldberg Variations have been a favored musical puzzle for keyboardists of all varieties. Now musician Parker Ramsay has taken them on as a harpist on his debut album. From rising above the skepticism behind historically informed performance, to his hopes for the future of the instrument itself, and what we can bring from the past into today’s musical experience. 

If you’ve been riding a wave of insomnia for the last few months, you’re not alone. That’s why pianist Lara Downes put together The Bedtime Sessions, an album of lullabies. This collection of soothing music includes Downes’s signature expansion of the pianistic canon. Including music by Florence Price, William Grant Still, and Leonard Bernstein, all performed by Downes herself, as well as a piece by Margaret Bonds performed by Downes along with Rhiannon Giddens.

With a post-coronavirus return to music-making on the horizon for American orchestras, these institutions are bringing a renewed commitment to a healthier and more representative environment. We assembled three of the orchestra world’s superheroes to show us how it’s done. Jeri Lynne Johnson, JoAnn Falletta, and Mei-Ann Chen discussed their hopes and their priorities as their ensembles face the rest of 2020.

Composer Jennifer Higdon has music for just about any ensemble – orchestra, band, opera, choir… you name it. And her catalog of concerti is just as varied. Including her Concerto for Low Brass and Orchestra, the origin of which she describes in this episode of Classically Speaking. She also tells the story behind “Blue Cathedral,” and how she now feels that particular piece “belongs to the world.” Plus, why she’s helped many young band students remember to have a pencil on their music stand.

“Romeo and Juliet” is a tale of woe. And actually, so is “La Valse.” Conductor Joann Falletta paired these pieces together for a program of music by Sergei Prokofiev and Maurice Ravel. Two pieces with fascinating history and devastating stories are the subject of this Classically Speaking. Musical performances are by the Buffalo Philharmonic, the London Philharmonic, and the Nashville Symphony. 

  The biblical Seven Last Words of Christ are vulnerable and humanizing. That’s the same effect the seven last words of unarmed Black men who were killed in the last decade had on composer Joel Thompson. So, he set them to music. And performances of the piece have been starting conversations ever since. Hear from the Thompson and a panel of musicians, administrators, and clergy, on Classically Speaking. Find it wherever you get your podcasts, or on 91Classical.org        

While protests overnight in Minneapolis following the death of George Floyd, Garrett McQueen and Scott Blankenship had the task of getting to work and hosting overnight classical music on the radio in nearby St. Paul. The story of that night, plus music for the historic time where we find ourselves, and a look at Trilloquy – the podcast where Garrett and Scott challenge the definition of classical music.

Featuring: “Five O’Clock Waltz” by Cristina Spinei, “The Seven Last Words of the Unarmed” by Joel Thompson, Symphony No. 9 by Antonin Dvorak, “Grover’s Corners” from “Our Town” by Aaron Copland, Hip-Hop’s Love Ballad by Thee Phantom and Phoenix, “Confessions” by Sudanese Archives, “Scheherazade” by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, and “Lift Every Voice and Sing” arranged by Titus Underwood. Find Trilloquy at Trilloquy.org.

Doors are locked, auditoriums are empty, and no tickets have been sold. In the middle of an unprecedented concert hall closure, virtual music making is the only path forward for a while. Virtual choirs are putting forth the image of what they would do in person, while some of Nashville’s youngest musicians are making digital connections to senior citizens. Meanwhile, protests continue across the country. Classically Speaking is not going to ignore this moment, but first we wanted to spotlight the voices of two podcasts that feature Black creators. “Overture” to “Trilloquy” Season 2 includes a look at Joel Thompson’s “Seven Last Words of the Unarmed” plus host Garrett McQueen’s description of working just blocks away from Minneapolis protests. Also, “We Can’t Breathe…Again” is an episode of Delanie Harris and Katie Brown’s podcast “Classically Black.”