This podcast episode from the Sounds Interesting series takes repetition as its theme, a musical technique that has long served composers very well, time and time and time again.

Phrases of the Loon

Jan 24th, 2023 32m 13s

This podcast episode from the Sounds Interesting series spotlights music expressed through the prism of madness in a range of contexts, from the world of fantasy to the theatre of war.

18. Phrases of the Loon

Jan 12th, 2023

This podcast episode from the Sounds Interesting series spotlights music expressed through the prism of madness in a range of contexts, from the world of fantasy to the theatre of war.

You ditty rats!

Sep 7th, 2022 22m 49s

This episode takes rats as its theme, a topic that, perhaps surprisingly, has caught the attention of composers across the world and down the ages.

Found in Translation

Sep 7th, 2022 30m 25s

This episode examines how a musical composition can be pampered by alternative wardrobes, when an original is dressed in different presentations of style and instrumentation while retaining its core character.

Oxymoron for Orchestra

Jan 28th, 2022 31m 27s

This episode focuses on a selection of concertos written not for household-name soloists, but for the collective virtuosity of an orchestra's serried ranks.

Sounds disastrous

Jan 28th, 2022 28m 57s

This episode introduces a selection of classical music items associated with natural disasters, from Biblical times to modern eras.

Barbers of the Quill

Jul 30th, 2021 23m 45s

This episode introduces a selection of classical music items associated with male personal grooming experts, either by profession or name.

Alma: Her Life, Loves, Lieder

Jul 23rd, 2021 20m 46s

The life of Mahler’s wife, Alma, was as multi-faceted as her several talents, that ranged from competent composer to sizzling socialite. This episode peels back the intriguing layers beneath the common perception of her as simply the hard done

In the Wrong Place at the Wrong Time

Jul 16th, 2021 19m 41s

This episode spotlights a collection of unfortunate musicians who became hostages of war at the outbreak of the First World War and whose story is as inspiring as the music that sustained them. The setting is Ruhleben, a racecourse in Berlin.

From Winding Stairs to Whippoorwill

Jul 9th, 2021 18m 2s

An overview of the life, times and music of Czech composer Bohuslav Martinů, whose free spirit ranged both musically and geographically during the first half of the 20th century.

Leaving a Legacy

Jul 2nd, 2021 19m 41s

Composers can’t always hang around waiting for a visit by Euterpe, the ancient Greek Muse of music, to sow a seed of inspiration for their next composition. Commissioning agents have a long and much-appreciated record of standing in for when th

Going Gothic

Jun 25th, 2021 19m 38s

Gothic art feeds off deathly horror, and music from the Romantic period especially tapped into its creative possibilities. This episode contains a selection of extracts from compositions with literary, historical and architectural Gothic associ

A Witty Ditty

Jun 18th, 2021 16m 42s

This episode highlights some humorous lines from the pens of the past masters.

A Magnificent Seven

Jun 18th, 2021 21m 54s

This episode spotlights the contributions of seven composers who made significant, but neglected contributions to the heritage of American symphonic music.

Rainbows

Jun 4th, 2021 21m 4s

The rainbow. A beautiful natural phenomenon with its terminus of an illusionary pot of gold. A bridge to nowhere. Except in the imagination, that is. This episode looks at how composers have tackled the tricky task of recreating the concept of

Humming Bees

Dec 14th, 2018 16m 30s

With temperatures shifting unpredictably, the hibernating bee must occasionally get confused about when it’s time to rise from slumber and resume its pollinating routine. In many parts of the world, however, they’ll have long been about their b

Sleeping Beauties

Nov 30th, 2018 30m 15s

Did you know J. S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations were originally written to help alleviate a nobleman’s insomnia? Knowing few bounds, music is well placed to invoke lullabies, the onset of sleep, and its otherworldly, dreamy state. Nightmares add

From Mandalay to Tinseltown: an excursion with Rudyard Kipling

Nov 16th, 2018 23m 5s

This episode focuses on music inspired by the works of Rudyard Kipling, the celebrated journalist, editor, poet, and novelist. Kipling’s literary works continue to attract the attention of composers and filmmakers the world over, and this episo

Carlo Gesualdo – a chromatic scale of life.

Nov 2nd, 2018 21m 59s

He murdered his wife and her lover, then paid a price of torment for the rest of his life, the anguish often oozing from his searing harmonies. This podcast from the Naxos Sounds Interesting series recounts the colourful life and music of the I

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