Samuel Barber composed his Adagio for Strings in 1936 as an intimate meditation inspired by a passage from Virgil's Aeneid. He did not write it for grief. And yet grief found it. On this 25th…
On September 4, 1907, Edvard Grieg died in Bergen, Norway, the same city where he was born. 119 years later, his music is still among the most recognized in the classical repertoire. In this episode,…
Everyone knows Kind of Blue. But the pianist at that session, Bill Evans, was quietly developing something extraordinary of his own. In this episode I put the spotlight on Portrait in Jazz, recorded…
Dolly Parton passed away this week at the age of 80. In this episode I add to the conversation about her music, hopefully by taking you on some of the backwoods roads rather than the main road of her…
What do Paganini’s dazzling Caprice No. 24 and one of the most beloved melodies ever written have in common? More than you might think. In this episode, I discuss the interesting path from Paganini’s…
In the late nineties I came across a compilation called Guitar Fingerstyle: A Narada Collection, and it has never really left my rotation. In this episode I reflect on the opening track, Little…
Bach wrote his Two-Part Inventions in 1722 and 1723 as teaching pieces for his eldest son Wilhelm Friedemann, who was twelve years old at the time. Fifteen short pieces, each built from a single…
Most people associate the harmonica with blues, folk, and country music. But in the hands of British virtuoso Philip Achille, the chromatic harmonica becomes something altogether different. In this…
This week’s episode is focused on singing together around the table. The Friday FIVE is a weekly five-minute podcast series from Musically Speaking that features five minutes of music commentary,…
This week’s episode is a fun story about Artificial Intelligence and music. The Friday FIVE is a weekly five-minute podcast series from Musically Speaking that features five minutes of music…
