Poster Composer William Bolcom
Composer William Bolcom
Peter Smith
Performance Today®

William Bolcom: Three Rags

In the 1960s, composer William Bolcom heard music by Scott Joplin. Bolcom became a huge fan of ragtime, and he wound up writing quite a few rags of his own. On today's show, we'll hear Bolcom's Three Rags for String Quartet, from a concert in Interlochen, Michigan.

Episode Playlist

Hour 1

Maurice Ravel: Le Tombeau de Couperin: Menuet
Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra; Hugh Wolff, conductor
Ravel: Ma Mere L'Oye, Le Tombeau de Couperin
Teldec 74006

Peter Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5, Op. 64: Movements 3-4
National Orchestral Institute Philharmonic; Manuel Lopez-Gomez, conductor
National Orchestral Institute + Festival, The Elsie & Marvin Dekelboum Concert Hall, Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, University of MD, College Park, MD

Jessie Montgomery: Records from a Vanishing City
Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra
SPCO, Ordway Concert Hall, Saint Paul, MN

Randall Thompson: Alleluia (Live)
Morehouse College Glee Club; David Morrow, conductor
IMC Intercollegiate Men’s Choruses Inc. 2012 National Seminar: The Morehouse College Glee Club (Live)
Soundwaves Recording NA

Moses Hogan: My Soul's Been Anchored
Morehouse College Glee Club; David Morrow, conductor
Bound for the Promised Land
Albany Records NA

Hour 2

Leonard Bernstein: Riffs from Prelude, Fugue and Riffs Movement 3
Peter Schmidl, clarinet; Vienna Philharmonic; Leonard Bernstein, conductor
Bernstein: The Best of All Possible Worlds
DG 11878

William Bolcom: Three Rags for String Quartet
Harlem Quartet
Interlochen Presents, Dendrinos Chapel and Recital Hall, Interlochen, MI

Leonard Bernstein: Symphonic Suite from On the Waterfront
Minnesota Orchestra; Osmo Vanska, conductor
Minnesota Orchestra, Orchestra Hall, Minneapolis, MN

Marin Marais: Pieces de viole, Livre 2, selections
Paul Holmes Morton, theorbo; Doug Balliett, viola da gamba
Chamber Music from Spoleto Festival USA 2019, South Carolina Public Radio, Dock Street Theater, Charleston, SC

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American Public Media’s Performance Today® is America’s most popular classical music radio program and a winner of the 2014 Gabriel Award for artistic achievement. The show is broadcast on hundreds of public radio stations across the country, including at 1 p.m. central weekdays on Minnesota Public Radio. More information about our stations can be found at APM Distribution.

Performance Today® features live concert recordings that can’t be heard anywhere else, highlights from new album releases, and in-studio performances and interviews. Performance Today® is based at the APM studios in St. Paul, Minnesota, but is frequently on the road, with special programs broadcast from festivals and public radio stations around the country. Also, each Wednesday, composer Bruce Adolphe joins host Fred Child for a classical musical game and listener favorite: the Piano Puzzler.

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