Classical Sprouts Interlochen Public Radio

Was that a bird or a violin? Fluttering wings, scratching feet, pecking beaks: Italian composer Ottorino Respighi captured these sounds and more in his piece for small orchestra called "The Birds" (or, in Italian, "Gli Uccelli").

Her music was played at Queen Victoria’s funeral, she composed an opera, multiple works for orchestra, was an accomplished pianist herself, and wrote a very famous concertino for flute. We’re learning about French composer Cécile Chaminade and that famous flute concertino this week on Classical Sprouts!

Yo-Yo Ma has been playing the same Bach cello suite since he was only 4 years old, right as he started learning the cello. Now, he's using his fame (and performances of that same cello suite) to promote what he believes in.

Composer Amy Beach was a lot of "firsts" - the first woman to have a symphony performed by a major orchestra, one of the first composers to train exclusively in the United States and more.

It's chord progression appears in countless pop songs, it's played at tons of weddings and repeats the same 8 notes over and over again… what is it? It’s Pachelbel’s Canon! We’ll get into what makes this piece so popular, and how to spot it in the wild this week on Classical Sprouts.

It was the only movement of Camille Saint-Saens' "Carnival of the Animals" that he allowed to be performed while he was still alive. "The Swan" depicts a majestic bird gliding along the water and is now standard repertoire for cellists!