How often have you listened to a piece of music and thought, "What on earth was the composer thinking when he/she wrote that?" Usually that reaction is reserved for something we don't like. But American composer Kevin Puts took on the question in a serious, thoughtful way. He started with the first movement of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony, and wondered what inspired him to write it. The result is an engaging new piece, "Inspiring Beethoven." We'll hear it from a concert in North Carolina.
Episode Playlist
Hour 1
Robert Schumann: Third movement from Symphony No. 3 in E flat, Op. 97 (Rhenish)
The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Riccardo Chailly, conductor
Enrique Granados: The Straw Man, from Goyescas: The Gallants in Love, Op. 11
Garrick Ohlsson, piano
Gilmore International Keyboard Festival, Kalamazoo, Michigan
Gaetano Donizetti: Ah! Mes Amis, from La Fille du Regiment (Daughter of the Regiment)
Juan Diego Florez, tenor, Vincenzo Scalera, piano
Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona, Spain
Vincenzo Ciampi: Tre giorni son che Nina, from Gli Tre Cicisbei Ridicoli
Juan Diego Florez, tenor, Vincenzo Scalera, piano
Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona, Spain
Robert Schumann: Symphony No. 4 in D Minor, Op. 120
The Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, Michel Tabachnik, conductor
Lucerne Summer Festival, Lucerne, Switzerland
Hour 2
Maurice Ravel: Epilogue from Valses Nobles et Sentimentales (Noble and Sentimental Waltzes)
The Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Yannick Nezet-Seguin, conductor
Bolette Roed: Improvisation on Ecossaise
Bolette Roed, recorder, David Hildebrandt, percussion
Music in Paradise Festival, Paradyz, Poland
Edvard Grieg: Anitra's Dance, from Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, Op. 46
The Glass Duo
International Chopin Piano Festival, Duszniki Zdroj, Poland
Domenico Scarlatti: Sonata in G Minor
Ana Belen Tejedor, mandolin, Yiannis Sofos, guitar
GRERT Radio, Athens, Greece
Kevin Puts: Inspiring Beethoven
The Winston-Salem Symphony, Robert Moody, conductor
Stevens Center, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Maurice Ravel: Le Tombeau de Couperin
The Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic, Philippe Herreweghe, conductor
The Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
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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.
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