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Shostakovich - Opinions - A Telling Opening Theme

Following its premiere there was widespread speculation—from an ‘official’ review by Alexei Tolstoy to Shostakovich’s son Maxim’s remarks many years later-—about just what Shostakovich was saying. Reading how others interpreted the music may help you decide what you think this controversial symphony means.

AIR-DATE
October 2009

COMMENTS
2

TAGS
20th Century, Shostakovich, Russia, opinions, Stalin

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Ives’s Memos

“—not memoirs—no one but the President of a nice Bank or a Golf Club, or a dead Prime Minister, can write ‘memoirs’. Many of these things are of no interest to anyone but a stray and distant cousin or so—or to me—sometimes.”

AIR-DATE
October 2009

COMMENTS
0

TAGS
march, tunes, Ives, techniques, experiments, George, Charles, Danbury, band, Yale, noise

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Tchaikovsky’s Story

This pictorial presentation of the key events in Tchaikovsky’s life, find out more about how his place in history was shared by his contemporary composers, and defined by world events.

AIR-DATE
June 2004

COMMENTS
0

TAGS
history, Tchaikovsky

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Beethoven: Revolutionary Ties

Discover more about 18th century Vienna and the events and influences that helped shape Beethoven and his music.

AIR-DATE
October 2006

COMMENTS
0

TAGS
history, Beethoven, political, patronage, Napoleon, Eroica

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Stravinsky: The Players Behind
The Rite of Spring

Of the Rite of Spring, Diaghilev’s ballet master Enrico Cecchetti was quoted as saying “I think the entire thing was done by four idiots.” Learn more about the four men behind The Rite of Spring – Stravinsky, the composer; Roerich, the designer; Diaghilev, the empresario; and Nijinsky, the choreographer.

AIR-DATE
November 2006

COMMENTS
0

TAGS
Stravinsky, Paris, dance, Rite of Spring, history

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Copland: Could it Be Modern?

A scrapbook timeline exploring the themes and roots of modernism in Copland’s early music.

AIR-DATE
November 2006

COMMENTS
0

TAGS
American, history, Copland, modernism

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Copland: In Search of the American Sound

See and hear a chronicle of Copland’s life—from his roots in Brooklyn, to the travels abroad, to the influences that shaped his music.

AIR-DATE
November 2006

COMMENTS
0

TAGS
American, history, Copland

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Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring: The Premiere's Story

May 29, 1913, a night that will be forever infamous as a night so chaotic, so outrageous that it incited a riot. Learn more about the events as they transpired at the première of Le Sacre du Printemps that night at Le Théâtre des Champs-Élysées.

AIR-DATE
November 2006

COMMENTS
0

TAGS
Stravinsky, Paris, Rite of Spring, history, riot

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Berlioz: Mémoires - The Idée Fixe

Drawn from Berlioz’s own Mémoires, learn more about Symphonie fantastique as told by the composer.

AIR-DATE
October 2009

COMMENTS
1

TAGS
Berlioz, Mémoires

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Berlioz: The Programme - The Idèe Fixe

IN THREE DIFFERENT VERSIONS of the program, we see that Berlioz changed his story in subtle ways. Some of these changes refer to Harriet. Do they reflect Berlioz’s own changing feelings for his heroine?

AIR-DATE
October 2009

COMMENTS
0

TAGS
Berlioz, Programme, fantastique