Explore the Symphony

Marjolaine Fournier and Jean-Jacques van Vlasselaer discuss Jean Sibelius, his life, his struggle with depression, alcoholism, and his 3rd Symphony.

Marjolaine Fournier and Jean-Jacques van Vlasselaer discuss Jean Sibelius, his life, his struggle with depression, alcoholism, and his 3rd Symphony.

Marjolaine and Jeans-Jacques discuss Shostakovich, his life in the Soviet Union, and his 9th Symphony.

Jean-Jacques and Marjolaine give Sibelius's Symphony no. 4 the, "Explore the Symphony" treatment.

Marjolaine Fournier and Jean-Jacques van Vlasselaer discuss Prokofiev's stirring score, Alexander Nevsky. It was composed for Sergey Eisenstein's 1938 cinematic thriller and stands as a spectacular masterpiece for chorus and orchestra.

Marjolaine Fournier and Jean-Jacques Van Vlasselaer discuss Dmitri Shostakovich's life, from growing up in Saint Petersburg to political manoeuvrings in Stalin's Russia. Marjolaine and Jean-Jacques focus on his first symphony, which he wrote at the age of nineteen as a graduation piece for the Saint Petersburg Conservatory in 1926.

Marjolaine and Jeans-Jacques explore Carl Orff; his life in early 20th century Germany and his seminal work, Carmina Burana.

In this episode, Marjolaine and Jean-Jacques talk about Robert Schumann's life leading up to the creation of his second symphony.

In this Explore the Symphony, Marjolaine Fournier and Jean-Jacques van Vlasselaer talk about a truly singular Symphonic composer -- Edward Elgar -- THE shining star of British music, who's life spanned the era of romantic and post-romantic music while keeping his style completely his own.

The first of the 2011-12 season's "Explore the Symphony" podcasts examines the 4th Symphony of Tchaikovsky. From the quiet plucking of the strings to the bombastic brass in the finale, Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony, declared “semi-barbaric” by the New York Post in 1890, will leave you breathless.