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My Classical Podcast

My Classical Podcast

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WQXR's Jeff Spurgeon hosts this unique classical music podcast which introduces a featured classical recording in each episode.© WQXR Música
Episodios
  • Download Schumann’s 'Spring' Symphony No. 1 in B flat major, Op. 38

    Download Schumann’s 'Spring' Symphony No. 1 in B flat major, Op. 38
    Apr 6 2015

    Symphony No. 1 in B flat major, Op. 38 "Spring" Robert Schumann Philharmonia OrchestraRiccardo Muti, ConductorAvailable on Arkivmusic.com

    When it’s winter, we long for spring. So it makes sense that great music about spring would be written in winter, when we need it most. Maybe spring fever was part of the reason Robert Schumann was able to sketch out his Symphony No.1, the “Spring” Symphony, over just four days in January of 1841. And he did all the orchestration in a three-week space that February. Something we know inspired Schumann was a poem by German writer Adolph Böttger. How inspiring was this poem? Here are two lines from the last stanza of Böttger’s poem: “O wende, wende deinen Lauf/Im Thale blüht der Frühling auf!" (“O, turn, O turn and change your course/In the valley, Spring blooms forth.") But listen to how those German words and the opening notes of Schumann’s symphony go together. Schumann scored those words, didn’t he? Schumann gave spring-themed titles to each of the four movements in this symphony: “The Beginning of Spring,” “Evening,” “Merry Playmates” and “Spring in Full Bloom.” He took the titles out before the symphony was published, but the work remains Schumann’s “Spring” Symphony. Here is the first movement, played by the Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted by Riccardo Muti.

    Episodes of My Classical Podcast are available for download through the WQXR App. Download it for IOS and Android Devices.

    • How to use the WQXR App. This recording is provided courtesy of Warner Classics/Erato

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    14 m
  • Felix Mendelssohn's 'Spring Song,' Performed by Pianist Daniel Adni

    Felix Mendelssohn's 'Spring Song,' Performed by Pianist Daniel Adni
    Apr 3 2015

    'Frühlingslied' ('Spring Song')Felix Mendelssohn Daniel Adni, pianoAvailable on Arkivmusic.com

    Among all the great works written by Felix Mendelssohn are five dozen piano pieces with sort of a weird title: Songs Without Words. Now, is that some kind of game of fill in the blank? If they’re without words, why not put words to them? Well, it turns out that Mendelssohn answered that question.

    In a letter, Mendelssohn said that some people complain that music is unclear to them; they don’t understand its meaning, and words would make the meaning clearer. But Mendelssohn said this: “What the music I love expresses to me, is not too indefinite to put into words, but too definite.” (Pretty deep!) Something to think about, though – a meaning too definite to put into words.

    Now, the most famous of Mendelssohn’s Songs Without Words, does have, at least, a title: "Frühlingslied" ("Spring Song"). And you know this song, too. You’ve heard it a million times in cartoons and movies, but it’s almost always used to make fun of something. The tune has become a joke, a cliché, and I think that’s unfair. I think this "Spring Song" deserves a little reprieve. So here’s the whole thing. And as you listen, put aside whatever silly images come into your head, and just let the song be itself. And maybe the definite, wordless meaning will be as clear to you as it was to its composer. This performance is by pianist Daniel Adni.

    Episodes of My Classical Podcast are available for download through the WQXR App. Download it for IOS and Android Devices.

    • How to use the WQXR App. This recording is provided courtesy of Warner Classics/Erato
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    4 m
  • Frederick Delius's 'On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring,' Played By Halle Orchestra

    Frederick Delius's 'On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring,' Played By Halle Orchestra
    Apr 1 2015

    On Hearing the First Cuckoo in SpringFrederick DeliusHalle Orchestra; Sir John Barbirolli, conductorAvailable on Arkivmusic.com

    We all look for signs of spring. Some, such as daffodils and crocuses in bloom, are welcome. Others – the watery, itchy eyes from all that pollen, and the sound of your car hitting all those potholes – not so much. One of the good sounds of spring is birdsong. The song of the cuckoo is a particularly significant spring totem. Has been for centuries. There are all kinds of legends about hearing the first cuckoo of the year. Depending on where you are or what you’re doing, the first cuckoo’s song is supposed to be able to tell your fortune, including how many years you have left to live.

    We don’t know why the cuckoo has all that power. Maybe it’s because it’s a little bit mysterious. Cuckoos are easy to hear, but not very easy to spot. Frederick Delius accorded the cuckoo a special honor by writing a symphonic poem about it. Delius was born in England to German immigrant parents. He wrote this piece when he was living in France, and based some of the music on a folk song from Norway that Grieg had arranged. German roots, French residence, Norwegian tune – but when Delius adds them up, they turn into something that sounds very English. Listen for the cuckoo in this piece. You won’t even hear him coming, but when he arrives, it’ll be a nice surprise, like any other welcome sign of spring. John Barbirolli conducts the Halle Orchestra.

    Episodes of My Classical Podcast are available for download through the WQXR App. Download it for IOS and Android Devices.

    • How to use the WQXR App. This recording is provided courtesy of Warner Classics/Erato
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    9 m
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