About this podcast
Five hundred years of incredible music. No expertise is necessary. All you need are ears. If you've ever been even slightly curious about classical music then this is the podcast for you.
Episodes
The newest 20 of 108 episodes
- Sviatoslav Richter - Part Two · 1 h 23 minThe pianist Sviatoslav Richter's life can somewhat conveniently be broken up into two parts… before he was allowed to tour outside the Soviet bloc in 1960 when he was in his mid…
- Longing · 1 h 16 minWe bring meanings to music that the composers often didn't intend. And this episode is going to be an example of that. There is something in some music that for me triggers a…
- Sviatoslav Richter - Part One · 1 h 14 minThe Soviet pianist Sviatoslav Richter, as I hope this and the following episode will illustrate, is one of the greatest musicians of the recording era… unsurpassed technical…
- Mozart Opera Overtures · 1 h 25 minWhy Mozart Opera Overtures? Well, whilst they were not really intended to be stand-alone pieces they have in many instances become favourites of concert programmers and…
- Film Music · 1 h 24 minWho knew that Camille Saint-Saens of 'Carnival of the Animals' fame wrote the world's first film score? Or that the Pulitzer Prize for music has been given to only one work for…
- Diving For Pearls – Part Two · 42 min[Please feel free to leap straight into this second part of the 'Diving for Pearls' episode but there's background information in the first half you might enjoy if by chance you…
- Diving For Pearls – Part One · 48 minHow did 'baroque', the French version of a very old Portuguese term for a misshapen pearl… which became an insult applied to complicated music… and was then rehabilitated as a…
- Night and Darkness · 1 h 7 minIt could be argued that Night and Darkness are sort of the same. The Night is Dark. That's kind of the point. But there are brightly moonlit nights and there are very dark…
- Frederic Chopin · 1 h 14 minI have been asking myself why it has taken close to a hundred episodes before I got around to one devoted to Chopin. When I was chatting with Claude about doing the episode he…
- Germans In Italy · 1 h 21 minLet's be fair, this is a deeply flawed title. Why? Well the idea is to play music written by German composers when they were living in or visiting Italy. But in the 18th century……
- Chamber Music Three + A Festival Conversation · 1 h 17 minIn two earlier episodes I have referred to Chamber Music as 'Music For Small Spaces'. But if you search more broadly for that term you will come up with very little. If you want…
- Felix Mendelssohn · 1 h 31 minIn the latest episode of the 'Classical For Everyone' podcast… Scottish caves and rescuing Bach, becalmed boats and banking intrigue, Shakespearean fairies and a garment sellers'…
- Music For The Very, Very Young · 46 minA good friend asked if I could do an episode of music for her very young daughter. So, welcome to a bit of a Classical For Everyone podcast experiment. On the plus side for the…
- Sunday Night Special … Camille Saint-Saëns' Symphony No. 3 (Organ Symphony) · 42 minThe name comes from the night of the week when for some of us, the frustrations of insomnia hit the hardest… and because my preferred antidote is getting lost in some music. Of…
- Neglected Beethoven · 1 h 5 minIs Ludwig van Beethoven neglected? No, not at all. But with the well-deserved emphasis on his symphonies, a couple of piano concertos and a handful of piano sonatas and string…
- Not Dead Yet - Two · 1 h 17 minWhen a podcast is about five hundred years of music, there is going to be a reasonable amount of music from people who are no longer with us. Now if you combine that with the…
- Winter · 1 h 24 minWinter... Now if you are in the northern hemisphere maybe think of this as a form of aural air conditioning. But if, like me, you are near the bottom of the planet then the music…
- Music For Pets · 1 h 5 minThere may have been wine involved when the decision to put together a show of music for pets was first discussed. But when I was presented with art for the episode featuring a…
- The Other Russians · 1 h 16 minWho are 'the other Russians'? Well, I've played a fair bit of music by Russian and Soviet era composers in the show. Tchaikovsky got two whole episodes and there has been…
- Sunday Night Special … Ralph Vaughan Williams' Symphony No. 6 · 39 minThe name comes from the night of the week when for some of us, the frustrations of insomnia hit the hardest… and because my preferred antidote is getting lost in some music. Of…
