Sticky Notes: The Classical Music Podcast

For a long time I've received emails and messages from people asking, and sometimes demanding, that I explore the solo piano repertoire. Other than a look at the Goldberg Variations of Bach, I've basi...

H.C. Robbins Landon, the great musicologist, once wrote about Mozart that his music was "an excuse for mankind's existence and a small hope for our ultimate survival." I couldn't agree more, especiall...

My first interaction with the musical term modes was Leonard Bernstein's brilliant Young People's Concert, also called What is a Mode? In that show, Bernstein showed how modes are an essential part of...

In 1857, Brahms wrote to his friend Joseph Joachim about his first Piano Concerto, saying, " "I have no judgment about this piece anymore, nor any control over it."  Brahms first began sketching his f...

Very often, when I tell people that I'm a classical musician, I am told, "wow, I love classical music! It's so relaxing!" I think almost all classical musicians have heard that before, and you know wh...

There has always been a debate about "The Great American Symphony." By the time most prominent American composers got around to writing large scale symphonic works, the symphony had very nearly gone o...

Klezmer music has always been very close to my heart, even as a classical violinist. During the pandemic I attempted to learn Klezmer clarinet, and soon I began collaborating with the great Klezmer(an...

In 1850, Robert Schumann accepted a position as the new Music Director in Dusseldorf. This job had a lot of responsibilities, including conducting the city orchestra. Schumann, along with his wife, th...

In 1806, the 36 year old Beethoven received a commission from the Russian ambassador in Vienna, Count Andreas Razumovsky. Razumovsky wanted a set of string quartets for what would soon be his house st...

I've mentioned Ethel Smyth a few times in the past on this show. This is partly because of her music, and partly because she remains one of the most interesting people who ever lived. She was a compos...