Your Classical Coffee Break Somers/Herron
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- Education
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Podcast by Somers/Herron
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Hello, We Must be Going
We're taking a brief hiatus, and hope to be back by June. You can still contact us at mauriceriverpress.com. Thanks for your support. Stay well.
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#155 What You Don't Know You Don't Know
This coffee break wraps up the discussion on hidden messages or symbols in music. In a whirlwind, we check out the music of Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Modest Mussorgsky, and Mr. Somers himself to investigate the story behind the music. Sometimes the message is an homage to another composer and sometimes it is a thumbing the nose to critics. We also check out some sudden and surprising endings. "Niagara Falls, slowly I turned, step by step..."
contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com -
#154 The Reflection of the Sacred - The Hidden Messages of Bach and Mozart
This coffee break circles back to Bach, always a wonderful thing, to explore additional hidden signatures in his Mass in B Minor. We listen to the Credo, Gloria, 0 and Et in terra pax to hear how the structure of the composition reflects his religious beliefs. Mr. Somers switches focus to The Magic Flute to dissect how the composition reflects Mozart's belief in Freemasonry. We sample Mozart's Symphony #39 and investigate the significance of this piece written in E Flat.
Contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com -
#153 Bach's Easter Eggs
This coffee break continues its discussion about composers hidden signals or messages (Easter Eggs) in their compositions. We take a close look at JS Bach and the Art of the Fugue and listen to his signature name in the piece. We question why he often used the numbers 14 or 41 as another way of identifying him as composer in St. Matthew Passion. Why was the note E so important to this piece? And why does he use the technique of "crossing voices" in the Passion? And what are all the hidden signifiers in his Mass in B minor? All questions will be answered...or at least some.
Contact the show at yccb@mauriceriverpress.com -
#152 Tchaikovsky's Hidden Message
Was there a message hidden in a phrase of Tchaikovsky's Symphony #6 in B Minor? Was there a connection with this hidden phrase and the composer's death only 9 days after he conducted the piece? This coffee break tries to answer those questions as well as investigate the unique signature hidden in Sibelius' Finlandia and Symphony #2. Take a listen to the Hi-Phi Nation podcast that spurred this discussion:
https://hiphination.org/season-3-episodes/s3-episode-9-the-illusionist-jun-8-2019/ -
# 151 The Opera Ain't Over Until ...
This coffee break wraps up our discussion on the challenges of appreciating opera. This time we listen to music which helps underscore the action and see how it adds another layer to the opera experience by listening to excerpts from Bellini's Norma. We briefly discuss Wagner's philosophy of the balance of the orchestra and singers' voices before we hunker down with an except from Brunhilde's Immolation. We wrap up with 5 operas that opera haters should check out.
Here's Renee Fleming in an aria from A Streetcar Named Desire.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGOgXaTgbCw
contact the show at YCCB@mauriceriverpress.com
Customer Reviews
Good show
I learn a lot and I enjoy the interactions of the hosts.
Music and musical insights
Classical music has many interesting 'back storie's. Paul and Paul strike a good balance between too esoteric and too obvious. I really enjoy the insights they bring to the music they select each week.
Hats off to Paul and Paul
High quality topics and analysis of classical music old and modern. Plenty of “meat” but still informal and good listening. Recent series has been fascinating: the role of geography, fate, and sometimes very non-musical factors on the life, opportunities, development, and careers of musicians. Could obscurity ever be beneficial, at least in the long run?? I’m thinking of all the “top shelf” minds that got sucked into trying to make atonality and serialism happen. What about the many performers who were marred by the demands and pressures of their own success (too much success or the wrong kind of success?). Always thought provoking topics and great discussions by the two Pauls.