This week, we hear four rags by living composers, use them as an opportunity to learn what distinguishes ragtime from classical traditions and jazz that followed, and generally discover that they're awesome.

Two tales of seizing opportunities and making the most of them: a flight from Soviet Russia to an unknown place, and overcoming injury to become a world-renowned composer.

He can delight us, and he can throw us into darkness with these short keyboard pieces. But what brings them together, how do they shed light on his music? These are the questions we'll be exploring today as we listen to and learn about three more brilliant miniatures of Bach's.

This week, we get personal, with a look at the very first piece that captivated me, and how it fits in the set of pieces of Bach wrote for his eldest son. As compelling for me today as they were when I was a child, you'll hear what makes these pieces great, and get the details on one of them in particular.

A Serial parody, dueling pianos, and a unique look at the collaboration of performer and composer, all wrapped in a history of one of the most beautiful Christmas carols. Guest artist Ralitza Patcheva returns with a rousing performance.

From Thanksgiving until Christmas day, we're barraged with holiday-themed music, but so much of it is bland, generic and worn. In this episode, we listen to some Christmas music that's really worth getting excited about, and find out what distinguishes it from the seventeen versions you'll hear in the supermarket in the next couple of weeks. Featuring excerpts from Gabriela Montero and Oscar Peterson.

In this episode, we listen to Chopin's great C minor nocturne, with short excerpts from different pianists. You'll learn about how pianists navigate the challenges of Chopin's music and get to know one of his finest miniature masterpieces.

In this episode, we listen to the popular terzetto from Mozart's Cosi fan Tutte, and talk about how opera fits in (perhaps not so seamlessly) to the culture of classical music today.

In this episode, we look at Contrapunctus 9 as a microcosm for Bach's compositions more generally, and begin to see how he perfectly balances repetition with unpredictability in his music.

In this episode, we learn about the counterfugues from the Art of Fugue, about how Bach's inclusion of the French style affects the piece on the whole, and about the relative advantages of the harpsichord and the piano.