The Renaissance
About this title: This program covers the patronage of the Dukes of Burgundy and the Kings of France, and the continued influence of the Church. It shows how music, like philosophy, moved away from the elaborate formality of the Gothic and, like arc...
The Revolutionary
About this title: This program covers Beethoven, the man who changed the course of music and aligned himself with the forces that changed the course of history. Movements or extracts from the Third, Sixth, and Ninth Symphonies, Quartets Opus 18 and ...
The Seasons and the Symphony
About this title: This program covers Vivaldi’s musical celebration of the seasons and the Italian countryside; Gluck’s transformation of opera into a dramatic as well as a musical experience; new ideas for symphonic composition at Mannheim; and...
The Romantics
The Romantic movement—a reaction against the orderliness of 18th-century classicism and 19th-century industrialization—strove above all for self-expression. The Romantics composed for themselves and the new bourgeois audiences that now frequente...
Vienna
About this title: This program covers Mozart in Salzburg; Mozart in Vienna; Mozart’s operas examined by Sir Peter Hall; the great Mozart symphonies and the Requiem Mass; and Schubert, his piano works, chamber music, and Lieder. Performers include ...
Vibrations and Pagan Rites
About this title: James Galway takes us backward through time to demonstrate how ageless and universal the human impulse is to make music. Working chronologically backward from Ligeti to Gregorian chant, Galway outlines the development of Western mu...
The First Secular Music
About this title: This program proceeds from the early music of the Eastern churches to the establishment of music as part of the Christian liturgy; the influence of Pope Gregory and the first composers for the Church; Notre-Dame de Paris and other ...
Nationalism and Revolution
About this title: The French Revolution ushered in a century of nationalism and political change throughout Europe; composers identified with causes and expressed them in music. Performances include Berlioz’ Requiem, conducted by Leonard Bernstein...