Land of Our Fathers
About this title: Nationalism soon led to a recognition of the classical value of folksong, and an attempt to express in music the language, landscape, and musical traditions of the composer’s own country. Contents include excerpts from: Smetana�...
The Golden Age
About this title: This program covers the wealth of music during the age of Elizabeth I in England and its spread from the Church and the courts to the middle classes; the emergence of opera in Italy and France; the celebration of St. Cecilia; Eliza...
The Mighty Fistful
About this title: Until the 19th century, fashionable Russian audiences preferred Western music. Then came Glinka, Balakirev, Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Borodin, Scriabin, and Tchaikovsky. This program covers the distance from folk tradition to th...
The Advent of Fashion
About this title: Music written for public performance in concert halls and theaters required composers to keep abreast of popular styles. Music of Handel, Couperin, Scarlatti, and Rameau is performed by the English Bach Festival, Huddersfield Chora...
The Turn of the Century
About this title: As we move into the 20th century, music is in transition from Romanticism to Modernism, from self-expression to Realism—or to the attempt to escape from reality to bygone eras. Performers include James Galway and the Vienna Philh...
Today and Tomorrow
About this title: Music of our time is harder to assess; we should remember that today’s war-horses were in their own time shockingly modern, and that contemporary audiences often spurned those whom we most venerate today. This program presents a ...
Luther and the Reformation
About this title: This program covers the impact of the Reformation on the history of music; the work of Johann Sebastian Bach; the importance of church organs and chorale singing. Music of Buxtehude and Bach is performed by James Galway, Peter Hurf...
War and Peace
About this title: In the period between the two World Wars, composers sought to express in music the jarring and discordant sense that civilization was giving way to barbarism. During the same time, jazz burst upon the international musical scene. P...
The Great Hamlets, Program 2
In this program Trevor Nunn probes the underlying dynamics of the play. He examines the psychological dynamics of Hamlet, the oedipal conflict and Hamlet’s madness, feigned or real. Nunn also explores the political questions that are raised in the...
The Great Hamlets, Program 1
In the first program, each actor comments on the major scenes of the play, and, through excerpts from productions that range from the silent film era to the modern stage, we see various interpretations of those scenes. Trevor Nunn then interviews ea...