Composer Peter Schickele invented the fictitious, forgotten son of J.S. Bach and writes music under that name. Schickele believes that a more lighthearted approach to classical music could expand the genre's audience.
For the composer, life is how the past and the future connect. Glass' new memoir, Words Without Music, looks back on his childhood, travels through Asia and when his music provoked violence.
Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz has a review of a new recording of composer Paul Hindemith conducting his own works with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. The composer died in 1963 and these recordings are live recordings from the archives of his Orchestra. (on the Orfeo label)
Trumpeter, composer, and arranger Gerald Wilson turned 88 years old Monday. He grew up in Mississippi, and got his start playing with Jimmy Lunceford's band in New York City. He later worked with Benny Carter's band and formed his own. As a composer-arranger, he worked for the Count Basie and Dizzy Gillespie bands. And he accompanied Billie Holiday on her tour of the South in 1949. He's arranged music for Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles, Sarah Vaughan, Bobby Darin, and Carmen McRae. His most recent CD was released last year, In My Time.
We continue our tribute to Sondheim by listening back to a 2010 interview in which he shared the stories behind some of his most famous songs and gave his take on other great lyricists.
We conclude our tribute to Sondheim by listening to archival interviews with collaborators and performers, including Stephen Colbert, James Lapine, Paul Gemignani and Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Astor Piazzolla died Sunday at the age of 71. He was an Argentinian composer whose updated tangos were a hybrid of classical music, jazz and rock. He was also a gifted player of the bandoneon, a kind of accordion that gives tango its distinctive sound. Piazzola had suffered a stroke nearly two years ago, from which he never recovered. We present a rebroadcast of our 1988 interview with him.
Dave Brubeck's quartet released the groundbreaking record Time Out, which introduced odd-time signature jazz music to a mainstream audience. He was recently commissioned to compose a Catholic mass.
Already an inductee in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as a duo with Art Garfunkel, next week he will be inducted into the Hall of Fame as a solo artist. As a solo artist, his albums include Still Crazy After All These Years, Graceland, and Rhythm of the Saints. His new album is You're The One.
Songwriter Hugh Martin co-wrote the Christmas tune that Judy Garland made famous in the 1944 classic Meet Me in St. Louis. Martin, who recently released a memoir, explains how he came up with his famous lyrics.
Philadelphia Vincent Persichetti a noted composer, especially for concert band. A new work of Persechetti, "Flower Songs," will be premiered at the Academy of Music by the Philadelphia Singers. The work includes poems by e. e. cummings. Persichetti joins the show to talk about how he knew he would be a musician by the age of three and the composer's "inner ear."
Lead singer and songwriter for The Kinks, Ray Davies started The Kinks in 1964 with his brother, Dave. They are said to be the pioneers of the rowdy garage band genre of rock music. Davies is now 61 and on tour for his first solo album, Other PeopleÂs Lives.
Musician and composer David Eyges is one of the few jazz cello players. In recent years, he has worked with Philadelphia saxophonist Byard Lancaster, with whom he recorded the album "The Arrow." The duo has now become a trio with the addition of Philadelphia drummer Sunny Murray. The group recently released the album "Crossroads." Eyges' music is part of a trend of blurring the lines between jazz and classical music.
Jazz pianist/composer Dave Brubeck. He turns 80 next year and has been recording for 50 years. There are several new collections of his work: "The Dave Brubeck Collection" (Columbia/Legacy) which reissues five of his classic out-of-print LPs, and "Dave Brubeck: Time Signature: A Career Retrospective"
Ellie Greenwich is a songwriter known for her pop songs of the 1960s like "Be My Baby" and "Do Wah Diddy Diddy." Greenwich worked with composers Leiber and Stoller, producer Phil Spector, and co-wrote many of her hits with her ex-husband Jeff Barry. During much of the 1970s, Greenwich wrote, produced, and performed commercial jingles before experiencing a career resurgence in the 1980s. A revue of her songs "Leader of Pack," premiered in New York and will go on a national tour.
Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews two new reissues of composer Igor Stravinsky conducting his own music: "Stravinsky Conducts Stravinsky: The Mono Years" (Sony) and "Stravinsky conducts Stravinsky: The American Recordings" (Pearl).
