Classical Breakdown

In the episode on Emilie Mayer's life and music, we briefly discussed her wonderful writing for cello, and we get to experience it firsthand in this bonus episode. Juilliard Graduate student, Grace Mockus, is working on publishing her critical edition of Emilie Mayer's Cello Sonata in D minor! After listening to this, you can find more performances of Grace Mockus on YouTube.

She didn't have a typical upbringing like other composers, and forged her own way with private teachers and determination. John Banther and Evan Keely explore the wide range of repertoire she composed, from symphonies to songs, and look at events that changed the trajectory of her life and career.

This, the only orchestral output from Clara Wieck, might be one of the few 19th-century concertos written by a teenager that still occupies the concert stage today, and its popularity is only increasing. Join hosts John Banther and Linda Carducci to explore its youthful origins, characteristics of her writing, the size of her hands, and her big concert premiere.

For a limited time, we can enjoy a recent live performance of Adolphus Hailstork's An American Port of Call. Ken David-Masur conducts the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra in this performance, and after this you can find more on the MSO YouTube page!

Hailstork has been writing music and teaching for over 5 decades, and his work has documented in music major American moments, from the bicentennial, 9/11, George Floyd, and even infrastructure. John Banther and Evan Keely explore his life, studies with Boulanger, his military experience, and look at 3 works from orchestral to choral that demonstrate his style.