Poster Composer Erik Satie
Composer Erik Satie
Wikimedia Commons
Performance Today®

Erik Satie

Claude Debussy offered his friend Erik Satie a little advice - he said "Your music needs structure and shape." On Wednesday's Performance Today, listen to Erik Satie's humorous response to his friend's advice: "Three Pieces in the Form of a Pear," a collection of SEVEN short, nearly structureless pieces for piano.

Episode Playlist

Hour 1

Jean Sibelius: Suite Mignonne: Movements 2 & 3
Gerard Schaub, flute; Kenneth Wihlborg flute; Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra; Neeme Jarvi, conductor
Sibelius: Spring Song, The Bard, etc
DG 4764211

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony No. 35, K. 385 "Haffner"
National Festival Chamber Orchestra; Robert Gibson, conductor
The University of Maryland, The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, College Park, MD

Erik Satie: Three Pieces in the Form of a Pear
Anna Petrova, piano; Josu de Solaun, piano
Virginia Arts Festival, Miller Studio, Sandler Center for the Performing Arts, Virginia Beach, VA

Jean Sibelius: Violin Sonatina in E major, Op. 80
Frank Huang, violin; Orion Weiss, piano
Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival, Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church, Bridgehampton, NY

Hour 2

Isaac Albeniz: Torre Bermeja
Jason Vieaux, guitar
Sevilla: The Music of Isaac Albeniz
Azica 17224

Leo Weiner: Suite for Orchestra, Op. 18 (Hungarian Folk Dances)
Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra; JoAnn Falletta, conductor
Kleinhans Music Hall, Buffalo, NY

August Klughardt: 5 Schilflieder for Oboe, Viola, and Piano, Op. 28
James Austin Smith, oboe; Daniel Phillips, viola; Pedja Muzijevic, piano
Spoleto Festival USA 2015; Bank of America's Chamber Music Series, Dock Street Theater, Charleston, SC

Angel Barrios: Arroyos de la Alhambra
Pepe Romero, guitar
Hugh Hodgson Concert Hall, UGA Performing Arts Center, Athens, GA

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Latest Performance Today® Episodes

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Latest Performance Today® Episodes

Missy Mazzoli: These Worlds in Us

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1:59:00
PT Weekend: Lost and found Webern

PT Weekend: Lost and found Webern

In 1945, Austrian composer Anton Webern and his family fled Vienna. Most of Webern’s valuables, mementos, and manuscripts were placed in a lock box, which they buried in the backyard. Sixteen years later, the box was recovered with the manuscripts inside. On today's show, we'll hear one of those 'found' pieces: Im Sommerwind (In the Summer Breeze) by Anton Webern. Plus, Bruce Adolphe has this week’s Piano Puzzler!

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A notable recovery

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In 1945, Austrian composer Anton Webern and his family fled Vienna. Most of Webern’s valuables, mementos, and manuscripts were placed in a lock box, which they buried in the backyard. Sixteen years later, the box was recovered with the manuscripts inside. On today's show, we'll hear one of those 'found' pieces: Im Sommerwind (In the Summer Breeze) by Anton Webern.

1:59:00
Just Another Climb

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1:59:00
Nathalie Stutzmann and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra

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Three hundred years ago, Johann Sebastian Bach began his role as the music director at St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, a position for which he was only the third choice. To impress his uncertain employers, Bach composed ambitious new cantatas every week during his first few years, including the one we will hear today: the Sinfonia from J.S. Bach's Cantata No. 42, from a concert featuring conductor Nathalie Stutzmann and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.

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PT Weekend: Stravinsky's Ebony Concerto

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Marin Alsop on an American icon

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Jessie Montgomery

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About Performance Today®

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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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