Sticky Notes: The Classical Music Podcast

Last week I told you the story of the genesis of Shostakovich's 5th symphony. We talked politics, but we also talked about just the music itself. Today, I'll take you through the second half of the sy...

Shostakovich's life and career was so wrapped up with his relationship to the Soviet government that it is sometimes hard to appreciate that, all else aside, he was one of the great 20th century compo...

If you're not a violinist, you might not be familiar with the name Eugene Ysaye. But this violinist and composer was called "The King of the Violin" at the turn of the 20th century. Ysaye's biggest co...

This week, on part 2 of this look at Mahler 1, we're going to take a deep dive into the third and fourth movements of this massive and massively ambitious symphony. We'll talk about Frere Jacques, biz...

No one makes a grand statement quite like Gustav Mahler, and his first symphony, nearly an hour long, was one of the boldest statements ever made by a young composer. Today I'll take a look at the his...

There are composers whose influence outstrips their popularity. The Baroque composer Heinrich Schutz falls into this group, due to his total focus on writing sacred vocal music. But for those who know...

Bartok's Music for Strings Percussion and Celeste is a perfect encapsulation of Bartok's musical output. Each movement provides us with a magnifying glass into some of the qualities that made Bartok o...

Arrangements of Bach's music have been happening essentially since his music was "rediscovered" by Mendelssohn in the 19th century. But Mozart and Beethoven arranged Bach's music too, and Bach himself...

Mendelssohn was only 20 years old when he wrote to his friend Karl Klingemann: "...I am going to Scotland, with a rake for folk songs, an ear for the lovely, fragrant countryside, and a heart for the ...

Rachmaninoff's music is often described as many different kinds of chocolate cake, but this piece, if it's chocolatey at all, would be that 85% dark chocolate - more bitter than sweet. It might be Rac...