Sticky Notes: The Classical Music Podcast

In 1929, the conductor Nicolas Slonimsky contacted the American composer Charles Ives about performing one of his works. This was a bit of a surprise for Ives, since he had a checkered reputation amon...

Fundraiser link here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1026719635067?aff=oddtdtcreator On October 29th, 1931, The Rochester Philharmonic in New York State presented the world premiere of a new symphony b...

"It was on the train, with its steely rhythms, its rattle-ty bang, that is so often so stimulating to a composer – I frequently hear music in the very heart of the noise.... And there I suddenly heard...

During Bartok's life, the violin concerto we now know as Violin Concerto No. 2 was simply known as Bartok's only violin concerto. The reason? His first concerto, written when he was a much younger man...

In December of 1884, Dvorak wrote to a friend about the composition of a new symphony: "I am now busy with this symphony for London, and wherever I go I can think of nothing else. God grant that this ...

Shostakovich's 4th symphony is not for the faint of heart. It is a massive work, around an hour in length, and it calls for the second largest orchestra of any in Shostakovich's output. It is uncompro...

They are the most famous 8 notes in not only Western Music, but probably in all of music. If you walk down the street and ask someone to name a painting, they might say the Mona Lisa.  A movie?  Maybe...

This show is a bit different today. Last year I did a live video podcast on Mozart's Requiem for my Patreon subscribers. I've now edited that show into an audio-only version for everyone to be able to...

The history of classical music is littered with the stories of great composers who tragically died young. The composer I've been talking about for the last two episodes, Franz Schubert, died at 31. Mo...

There are a few tropes when it comes to Schubert's late music. The pieces are very long. They have four movements.  The first two movemnts are expansive, magisterial explorations of the human psyche, ...