The Classical Music Minute

Send us Fan Mail Description Vladimir Horowitz is considered one of the greatest pianists of all time. What is less known is that Horowitz was born in Kiev, the capital of modern-day Ukraine and at the time this was part of the Russian Empire. Join me, as we take a minute to get the scoop! Fun Fact Horowitz was acclaimed for his recordings of the Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3, and his performa...

Send us Fan Mail Description Sergei Bortkiewicz, a Ukrainian composer and pianist, was oppressed by the Soviets and the Nazis, a refugee and survivor of two World Wars, yet he composed wonderfully rich, appealing and colourful music. Join me, as we take a minute to get the scoop! Fun Fact The outbreak of World War I in 1914 changed Bortkiewicz's life: Being a citizen of the Russian Empire, he...

Send us Fan Mail Description Luciano Pavarotti was one of the most remarkable tenors of all time. Born into a humble working-class family, he attained worldwide fame, and eventually the honorific title of "King of the High Cs". Join me, as we take a minute to get the scoop! Fun Fact Though praised for his voice, Pavarotti was often criticized for his inability to read music well and was...

Send us Fan Mail Description Alexina Louie is one of my favourite Canadian composers of contemporary classical music. I first heard her work “Music For Heaven and Earth” in 1990, which was commissioned by the Toronto Symphony. This is one composer you should definitely get to know. Join me, as we take a minute to get the scoop! Fun Fact Alexina Louie settled in Toronto in 1980, and over the subseq...

Send us Fan Mail Description Esprit Orchestra is one of the few full-sized orchestras devoted to performing the work of living composers. Join me, as we take a minute to get the scoop! Fun Fact Conductor, Alex Pauk, is married to composer Alexina Louie . Over the years, both have collaborated on several film scores including Don McKellar's Last Night, which received a Genie nomination for Bes...

Send us Fan Mail Description Over the years 1825–1849, Frédéric Chopin wrote at least 59 Mazurkas for piano, based on the traditional Polish dance. But his unique style differed significantly from the original. Join me, as we take a minute to get the scoop! Fun Fact In 1921, Béla Bartók published an essay in which he said that Chopin "had not known authentic Polish folk music." Bartók su...

Send us Fan Mail Description There has been much debate over the years as to how Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died. What had he suffered from that had taken his life at the early age of only thirty-six? Join me, as we take a minute to get the scoop! Fun Fact Most of us have seen the movie Amadeus, and the scene with Salieri pestering Mozart on his deathbed. However, there is little evidence that Salier...

Send us Fan Mail Description There are a myriad of animations around the world that use classical music. Sometimes to support the action and other times to be the focal point. Here are three that I wanted to touch upon. Join me, as we take a minute to get the scoop! Fun Fact Another Japanese anime to consider watching is Your Lie In April. It is about Kōsei Arima, a child prodigy who became famous...

Send us Fan Mail Description If you are a Rachmaninoff fan, his Symphonic Dances are worth a listen to gain further insight into the many shades of this dynamic composer. Join me, as we take a minute to get the scoop! Fun Fact The Symphonic Dances combine energetic rhythmic sections, reminiscent of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring, with some of the composer's lushest harmonies. He also ma...

Send us Fan Mail Description Beethoven was both composer and businessman as he hustled to make a living on a daily basis, balancing writing with the necessity of giving private lessons and negotiating with publishers. Join me, as we take a minute to get the scoop! Fun Fact The publishing industry during Beethoven’s time was in its infancy, and as such, it was quite unreliable. People of ill repute...

Send us Fan Mail Description Shostakovich’s Leningrad Symphony was composed amidst significant upheaval during the “Great Patriotic War” which began in 1941. No composer before Shostakovich had ever written a symphony during a raging war, “and no composer had ever attempted to describe a future victory, in music, with such power and conviction.” Join me, as we take a minute to get the scoop! Fun F...

Send us Fan Mail Description On New Year’s eve, there are a handful of audience favourites that conductors around the world choose to perform. One such crowd-pleaser is the Die Fledermaus Overture by Johann Strauss II. Join me, as we take a minute to get the scoop! Fun Fact The first London performance of Die Fledermaus did not take place until 1895, "Twenty years after its production as a ly...

Send us Fan Mail Description Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker is a staple of ballet stages worldwide during the holiday season. But how did it come to be? And was it a hit right off the bat? Join me, as we take a minute to get the scoop! Fun Fact In the original version of "Nutcracker and Mouse King" a little girl, Marie, worries about a beautiful nutcracker that's been broken. At night...

Send us Fan Mail Description Franz Schubert died at the early age of only thirty-one. For a number of years, he suffered from the crippling effects of syphilis, coupled with the effects of highly toxic mercury treatment. Yet, despite this, he composed three final solo piano sonatas which are said to reflect his psychological journey of isolation and alienation. Join me, as we take a minute to get...

Send us Fan Mail Description Flutes come in all shapes and sizes. But each one was created with a specific purpose in mind and marks a period in musical history. In Western music history, certain well-known composers such as Mozart, Beethoven, and Stravinsky utilized different flutes in their pieces, thus paving the way for future works. Join me, as we take a minute to get the scoop! Fun Fact Ther...

Send us Fan Mail Description Glenn Gould is best remembered for his remarkable interpretations of the keyboard works of Johann Sebastian Bach. But he is also fondly thought of as having been extraordinarily peculiar—in the most endearing way. Join me, as we take a minute to get the scoop! Fun Fact From an early age, Gould challenged the accepted norms of the “classical music biz.” After winning th...

Send us Fan Mail Description The Age of Enlightenment saw the dawning of a new era in music. Public concert halls were established, lower classes had access to music, and even music itself changed and grew. Join me, as we take a minute to get the scoop! Fun Fact The Age of Enlightenment considered the importance of an individual who can reason for themselves, the idea of equality under the law, an...

Send us Fan Mail Description The Renaissance was a period of European cultural, artistic, political and economic “rebirth” following the Middle Ages. Join me, as we take a minute to get the scoop! Fun Fact From about 1520 through to the end of the sixteenth century, European composers utilized polyphonic language to explore musical expression through the French chanson, the Italian madrigal, the G...

Send us Fan Mail Description Steve Reich is an American composer and leading exponents of Minimalism, a style based on repetitions and combinations of simple motifs and harmonies. Join me, as we take a minute to get the scoop! Fun Fact In commemoration of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center, Reich composed WTC 9/11: For Three String Quartets and Pre-recorded Voices (2010), in...

Send us Fan Mail Description John Cage’s music is loved by many and hated by some. After him, no one could look at a painting, book, or person without considering how they might sound if you listened closely. Join me, as we take a minute to get the scoop! Fun Fact In the 1970s, with inspirations like Thoreau and Joyce, Cage began to take literary texts and transform them into music. “Roratorio, an...

Send us Fan Mail Description Frédéric Chopin suffered from serious and chronic health problems throughout his life. This shaped many of the pieces he created as he searched for peace of mind and a quest for simplicity. Join me, as we take a minute to get the scoop! Join me, as we take a minute to get the scoop! Fun Fact Chopin generally bypassed the sketching process and proceeded directly from th...

Send us Fan Mail Description There was an overwhelming melancholy in Elizabethan times and composer John Dowland understood how best to capture this sadness. Dowland (1563 –1626) is best known for “ I saw my lady weep ,” and “ Flow my tears ” both of which capture the melancholy side of the early 17th century. Join me, as we take a minute to get the scoop! Fun Fact Dowland made his name on these c...

Send us Fan Mail Description The Metropolitan Opera is back after a long pandemic shutdown with a new season. It launched with Terence Blanchard’s “Fire Shut Up in My Bones,” marking the first time that a Black composer and a Black librettist have found their way to the Met. This is indeed a historic moment, fueled by recent events, and yet long overdue. Join me, as we take a minute to get the sco...

Send us Fan Mail Description Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons is a highly celebrated work. But did you know that poetry was also published along with it? You can check out the full poetry on the Charlotte Symphony website . Join me, as we take a minute to get the scoop! Fun Fact Vivaldi’s opera Giustino, which was also written in 1723, has similarities to The Four Seasons. In the middle of Act I, there’...

Send us Fan Mail Description Leonard Bernstein was one of the first American-born conductors to receive worldwide fame. A conductor, composer, and avid educator, his life cannot be captured in this podcast. But my hope is that if you didn’t know much about Leonard Bernstein, this snapshot may inspire you to learn more. Join me, as we take a minute to get the scoop! Fun Fact Leonard Bernstein'...