CACOPHONY: GREAT CLASSICAL MUSIC

I played this over a week ago and still the tunes dance around inside my head - it's the jazz- and latin-fuelled brilliance of the Symphonic Dances from Leonard Bernstein's smash hit musical, West Side Story - perhaps the greatest musical there is? Let me know! Listening time 34 minutes (podcast 10', music 24')   Complete performances of the music on Youtube (filmed concert performance with The Or...

I'm no fan of horror films - too scary for me - but, in any case, nothing really scares us more than the thoughts in our heads! I do love scary music though and Béla Bartók wrote the best. Music for strings, percussion and celesta is unusual, gripping, terrifying and thrilling. It's also brilliant at clearing my mind of any 'unneccessary' thinking. Listening time 40 mins (podcast 11', music 29')....

When Haydn came to London he was treated like a superstar: wined and dined by the great and good, and his concerts were the hottest ticket in town. The 'Miracle' Symphony, no.96, was Haydn's first written for Londoners and is designed to win us over with its charms. Music to put a smile on our faces and a spring in our step! Listening time c32 mins (podcast 10', music 22')   Click here for complet...

A mix of grit, swagger and persistence help us to make it through in the big city. Shirley Thompson's Urban Livinggives us all this plus, perhaps, a tinge of fear and some pheonmenal piano sounds in 7 minutes of [mainly] self-assured city beats. The only performance of the music I can find is here, on Soundcloud,  played by the Shirley Thompson Ensemble. Listening time 12 mins (podcast 5', music 7...

I've come over all nostalgic at the prospect of returning to London in a few days, so here's a swaggering piece of escapism back to the heady optimistic days of the 1930s in Eric Coates London Suite. Listening time 21 mins (podcast 7’, music, 14’)     Music here on  youtube , Apple Music  or Spotify , conducted by John Wilson, who's unbeatable at this sort of thing, with the BBC Philharmonic Orche...

Bursting full of life, Ravel’s music for this everyday love story of shepherd meets goatherd meets Greek god of nature is dreamy, sensual, and downright thrilling, all delivered in glorious orchestral technicolor. Meet Daphnis & Chloé! Listening time: 25 mins (podcast 9', music 16 Complete music is here on Spotify or Apple Music played by the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France conducted by M...

Comfortably crossing cultural boundaries, composer Reena Esmail draws on both western and Indian traditions to write distinctive music that is at home in both. Darshan is a terrific solo violin piece which transports us to a timeless state and may even offer a glimpse of the divine! Listening time 21 mins (Podcast 9', Music 12')   Music on Youtube (video performance), Spotify or Apple Music ( Biha...

Shakespeare reaches people across the world with his insights into our shared humanity and his plays have inspired countless composers to write music - providing their own way for us to connect to Shakespeare, each other and ourselves. Tchaikovsky’s The Tempest overture gives us a torrential storm, a big love theme that beats Romeo & Juliet, and one of the most atmospheric, goose-bump-inducing beg...

How is it that when an artist shares their pain we can all feel it? And how does listening to music full of suffering make us feel better? I don't know how or why, but I know that it does. Dmitri Shostakovich knew all about war, loss, and suffering. His 8th string quartet is desperate but defiant and deeply moving, bleak but often beautiful and whilst it doesn't provide any answers it somehow give...

We've all got pieces of music that instantly remind us of special times and places in our lives. What are yours I wonder? (Tell me!) We're in Sri Lanka at the moment and, bizarrely, the piece of music we've heard more than any other in the last few months has been Beethoven's perfect little piano piece, Für Elise, but perhaps not as we're used to hearing it... Here's the story of why, and how it's...

Individual, passionate, soulful music rooted in the southern states, Florence Price's Symphony No.1 was the first by a black woman composer to be played by a major US orchestra back in the 1930s. A Moment of History, but those 'twin handicaps' [her words] meant that her music has hardly been played since and we've been missing out on really great music from a distinctive voice - it's time to put t...

Thrilling, chilling, but still somehow delighting in its brilliance, Dvořák's Noon Witch packs a punch and leaves you stunned. Also in this episode, free parenting advice and some musings on Dr Suess! Listen to the complete piece here on Apple Music , Youtube , or  Spotify , in fab live-in-concert recordings from the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor Sir Charles Mackerras. Unfortunately y...

One of music's ultimate mood improvers, Dvořák's "Slavonic Dances" put a smile on everyone's face. Not merely shallow dance tunes, this is music that shows us the warmest, most generous view of humanity. It's no wonder everyone loves them! Listening time 15-45mins (Podcast is 10.5', total music length is 35')   Listen to the music here on Spotify , Apple Music , or  Youtube  (this is harder to dip...

A few years back my Mum got me to buy her this for Christmas and I've finally got around to 'discovering' it for myself. It's powerful, intense and profound: Schubert's Fantasy for piano duet. I think you'll love it. [Listening time 25 mins - podcast 6', music 18')   Listen to the complete piece on  Youtube , Apple Music or  Spotify  performed by the wonderful Maria João Pires and Ricardo Castro,...

One of my favourite things on TV in recent years has been Wolf Hall. Debbie Wiseman's haunting and memorable music captures all the tension, mood and atmosphere.   Music here on Youtube  or Spotify  both taken from the official soundtrack which you can buy at lots of places.   What do you think? I really want to know, so please tell me with a comment at Cacophonyonline.com .   You can support Caco...

Everyone knows and loves Silent Night, right? But you probably haven't heard it sound quite like this. It probably won't actually give you nightmares, but it will certainly stay with you (Listening time 7mins: podcast 3', music 7'). And despite the bleak music, I do wish you a happy Christmas!   Music here with pictures,  played by Starikov Stepan and Nail Mavliudov:  or on Spotify or Apple Music...

If you want a change from Christmas pop, Christmas baroque is the way to go - here's a sparkling little gem from Arcangelo Corelli - a great 15 minute way to reset, reflect and energise - it manages all these things! (17 mins: podcast 3', music 14')   Music here on Spotify or Youtube  with pictures. Officially it's Concerto Grosso in G minor op.6 no.8 "Fatto per la notte di Natale" Happy Christmas...

A bold statement from composer Carl Nielsen, that music IS life, who demonstrates it with a breathtaking symphony of awesome power and overwhelming optimism. The perfect piece for Cacophony's 100th episode. (50 mins: podcast 15', music 35') Music here with pictures from the terrific Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia conducted by Dima Slobodeniouk - and check out the lovey smile and wink from the oboe...

For Cacophony episode 99, I wanted to explore something deeply personal. Mahler's Symphony No.4 is one of the first pieces I discovered for myself and it moves me like very little else. Sometimes pained, sometimes playful, but most often sublime, the third movement takes you all the way to heaven, just by opening your heart. Listening time 33 mins (podcast 11', music 22')   Music here, on Youtube...

It's inexplicable to me, but Anton Bruckner's music has been dividing opinion since he started writing around 140 years ago. He goes in search of the meaning of life and comes back with... Marmite! Personally, I love it. There are few better noises than the transcendental climax of a Bruckner symphony. In this episode, it's the thrilling end of his 3rd. (Podcast 8', Music 13') Music here with vide...

One of the closest [classical] things to electronic dance music, John Adams's Shaker Loops is one of my favourite things. Dreamy and reflective music mixed with thrilling dance music that leaves us ecstatic, maybe even transcendent! Music here on Spotify or Youtube  with the London Chamber Orchestra conducted by Christopher Warren Green in the classic recording I was given by my best school mate,...

Freethinking, inventive - quiet and mysterious one moment, giddy and playful the next, Debussy's préludes - short pieces for piano - are great escapes for your imagination! Listening time 26 mins (podcast 9', music 17')   Music here on Spotify or Youtube  with the excellent Jean-Efflam Bavouzet. The pieces on the play list are: 1. Danseuses de Delphes (Dancers of Delphi) 5. Les collines d'Anacapri...

Powerful and moving, Lili Boulanger's cry From the Bottom of the Abyss (Psalm No.130) shows her deep commitment to her faith, and to her music-writing, in the face of major illness. Diana Ambache, long-time champion of women composers, joins me to talk about Boulanger's short life, major talent and this subtle masterpiece for huge choir and orchestra. Listening time: 42 mins (18' podcast, 24' musi...

The intensity, joy, heartbreak and thrills of great sporting moments are almost unmatchable... except by those in great music. The magic of the Olympics is transformed by the alchemist John Williams into four minutes of musical, life-affirming perfection. Olympic Fanfare and Theme is one of my favourite Williams pieces, and that's really saying something! Music here, on Spotify  or Youtube  in a t...

Celebratory music from Haydn that's pretty perfect and sure to leave you in a good mood and feeling happy!   Music here on youtube  or spotify Listening time 34 mins (podcast 7', music 27')   What do you think? Let us know with a comment at Cacophonyonline.com   If you like it, why not buy a download? You can get that here for less than a pound, or elsewhere. Cacophony doesn't make and money from...