Poster Female composer standing on a balcony
Dame Judith Weir, composer
© Kate Johnson
Performance Today®

Judith Weir: 'Musicians Wrestle Everywhere'

In 1860, Emily Dickinson wrote a poem about how there is a deep metaphorical kind of music that is everywhere, all the time. It might be the spark of life, but we're often so caught up with activity that we don't hear it, yet when we stop and listen, that music is always there. On today's show, we'll hear music inspired by Dickinson's poem: 'Musicians Wrestle Everywhere' by Judith Weir.

Episode Playlist

Hour 1

Franz Schubert: Nacht und Traume, D 827
Carolyn Sampson, soprano | Joseph Middleton, piano
Album: Elysium: A Schubert Recital
BIS 2573

Silvestre Revueltas: Sensemaya
Houston Symphony Orchestra | Andres Orozco-Estrada, conductor
Album: Music of the Americas
Pentatone 619

Louis Moreau Gottschalk: The Dying Poet, Op. 11
Cecile Licad, piano
Seattle Chamber Music Society, Nordstrom Recital Hall at Benaroya Hall, Seattle, WA

Ralph Vaughan Williams: The Lark Ascending
Pekka Kuusisto, violin | Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra
SPCO, Ordway Concert Hall, Saint Paul, MN

Judith Weir: Musicians Wrestle Everywhere
Ensemble X | Mark Davis Scatterday, conductor
Album: Judith Weir: The Consolations of Scholarship
Albany 803

Hour 2

Johann Sebastian Bach: Cantata No. 208: Sheep May Safely Graze
Anderson & Roe Piano Duo
Album: The Art of Bach
Steinway & Sons 30033

Darius Milhaud: Suite for violin, clarinet & piano, Op. 157b
Frautschi-Manasse-Nakamatsu Trio
Syracuse Friends of Chamber Music, St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Syracuse, NY

Thea Musgrave: Phoenix Rising
Colorado MahlerFest Orchestra | Kenneth Woods, conductor
Colorado MahlerFest, Macky Auditorium, Boulder, CO

Leonard Cohen Arr. Anderson & Roe: Hallelujah Variations (Variations on a Theme by Leonard Cohen)
Anderson & Roe Piano Duo
Hugh Hodgson Concert Hall, UGA Performing Arts Center, Athens, GA

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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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