There’s no way around the fact that this entire corner of classical music is generally known by the term ‘chamber music’ but please don’t let that stop you from experiencing some incredible music… even if you find the term, as I do, just plain odd. This is music originally intended for smaller performance spaces… sometimes even just a dining room… and by virtue of that the connection between players and audience is more ‘intimate’. The music in the episode is by Phillip Glass, Ludwig van Beethoven, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Johannes Brahms and Paul Stanhope.
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1:02:30
Stanley Kubrick’s Music… The impact of a well-placed tune.
No other filmmaker has used classical music to better effect than the American director Stanley Kubrick (1928-1999). Whilst composers did score some of his films, Kubrick frequently used existing classical pieces… in particular for 2001: A Space Odyssey, Barry Lyndon & The Shining. Kubrick’s choices are fascinating and did a lot to get classical music to new audiences. And, besides, how else could I get Schubert, Handel, Ligeti, Penderecki and two Strausses into the one episode of Classical For Everyone?
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1:27:42
Antonio Vivaldi… So much more than changes in the weather.
If you have hit play for this episode then that means you are in that part of the population who have not been entirely turned off Vivaldi by the overuse of his deservedly popular set of violin concertos… ‘The Four Seasons’. I am glad you are going to join me for an hour of exquisite music… a concerto for two violins and cello, a mandolin concerto, a song from his semi-opera Andromeda liberata, a cello sonata, a section from his Stabat Mater for solo voice and small ensemble, and because it has to be done… a concerto for violin that is all about ‘Winter’
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1:10:39
The Guitar… From Spanish Courts to Global Stages.
This first adventure with the guitar on Classical For Everyone features quite a bit of music from Spain.. probably the country that was most closely identified with the instrument until companies in America popularised the electric guitar. But as well as Spain there’s music from Austria-Hungary, Italy and Brazil with works by Albeniz, Mudarra, Haydn, Granados, Rodrigo, Scarlatti, Villa-Lobos and Falla.
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1:05:54
Happiness… Music to make you feel good.
Sometimes music can just be for pleasure and if that is the composer and the performers’ intention, then good for them… and good for us listeners. If most music is created to make you ‘feel’… then some music can just be to make you feel good. And from time to time happiness can be in short supply… and if that is the case then I hope the music I am going to play you over the next hour can at least give you a smile. In service of that objective… in this episode will be music by Beethoven, Rossini, Bach, Schubert, Westlake, Bizet, Mozart, Gershwin and Vivaldi. Enjoy.
Five hundred years of incredible music. No expertise is necessary. All you need are ears. If you’ve ever been even slightly curious about classical music then this is the podcast for you.
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