Sticky Notes: The Classical Music Podcast

Beethoven often gets the reputation of being a composer of extreme seriousness, shaking his fist at the heavens while dealing with a litany of medical ailments and heartbreak, and there is some truth to that as well. But the 4th symphony, a very strange and mysterious introduction aside, is a piece of almost unadulterated joy. It is another side of Beethoven: bouncy, funny, silly, and quite simply, happy. How and why did he write such a happy symphony? How does music become "happy?" Join us to find out..

Two of the most famous chords in classical music propel us into this revolutionary, wild, and remarkable symphony. At the time, the Eroica symphony was the longest symphony ever written. At the time it was definitely the loudest symphony ever written! It delved into emotions that symphonies had studiously avoided in the past. Simply put, it changed the musical world forever. So how and why did Beethoven conceive of such a huge work? Is the piece really all about Napoleon? Join us to learn the story...

We continue the Beethoven cycle this week with his underrated 2nd symphony. Written at the height of Beethoven's despair over his increasing deafness, you might think that the symphony would be a dark and stormy one, but instead Beethoven writes one of his most relentlessly cheerful pieces. He even invented a whole new type of movement called a scherzo (joke) to heighten the mood. How do we account for this incongruity between life and art? We'll talk about all this and more as the journey continues..

Today begins a pretty massive project for Sticky Notes - a complete Beethoven cycle over the next few weeks! We start of course with Beethoven's 1st symphony. Some people tend to think of Beethoven's 1st as a cautious foray into the symphonic world, but I couldn't disagree more. It is a bold, confident leap into the genre, a genre that Beethoven would end up changing for good. All of the elements that make Beethoven's symphonies so fantastic are already present in this symphony, so let's begin the journey!

Imagine compressing a 3 or 4 hour opera into 8 minutes of music. You've just imagined an overture! Overtures are an integral and beloved part of the opera and concert experience, and the best overtures live on as separate pieces from the work they are attached to. These overtures feature music so wonderful that they become immortal miniature masterpieces. So today I'll take you through 10 of my favorite overtures, from William Tell, to Don Giovanni, to Candide, to Romeo and Juliet, and many more. Enjoy!

Bach's Cello Suites are now an indispensable part of the cello repertoire, but this wasn't always the case. After Bach's death, they were forgotten. But starting in the 1890s, a cellist named Pablo Casals began playing the Suites, and the rest is history. Bach left very few clues on how to play these suites, and so many cellists interpret the Suites extraordinarily differently. Today we're going to take a look at 6 cellists and talk about how they interpret these enigmatic, sacred, and inspiring pieces.

Have you ever wondered how music gets from the manuscript to the printed page? Today we're talking about Haydn, and a project by Henle Publishers to reissue all 55 of Haydn's piano sonatas with fingerings from 55 different pianists! I talked with the editor in chief at Henle, Norbert Müllemann, and also the brilliant pianist Stephen Hough, one of the 55 pianists chosen for this project. We talked about editing, putting fingerings in, and how interpretation is affected by these decisions. This is a fun one!

Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, Purcell, Monteverdi. These are some of the biggest names in the history of Western Classical Music, and they were all writing in one of the most innovative periods in musical history - the Baroque Era. Spanning from ca.1600 to ca. 1750, Baroque music is truly the bedrock of the Western Classical Music tradition all the way through the Romantic Era. We'll discuss the earth-shattering impact of this, along with all of the composers who led the way to a new way of thinking about music.

Acts III and IV of the Marriage of Figaro are complicated in many ways. They are difficult for the singers, for the conductor, and especially for the director. So in honour of the many experiments that have been made with the second half of this opera, I'm going to try an experiment as well. I'm going to take a performance of the opera, and play you the entire 3rd and 4th acts while doing live, unscripted commentary on it. Think of it as opera meets ESPN. Make sure to check out Part 1 first and enjoy!

Frederica Von Stade needs no introduction. She is one of the legends of our time, and one of the most beloved singers in the world. She has made over 60 recordings and has appeared with all of the world's great opera companies. She is also spearheading a new project called The People's Choir of Oakland, focusing specifically on the homeless population. We talked about the People's Choir, and also touched on her career, including her experiences with Bernstein, Karajan, Abbado, and more. This was a blast.

In the late 16th century, a new art form emerged, borne out of a desire to re-engage with Greek dramas of the past. This art form was incredibly ambitious; it would involve music, words, and dance, all written to entertain court patrons and their subjects. Soon, this new idea had a name: Opera. Today, we'll do a brief overview of how opera developed all the way up until Mozart's time. Then, I'm going to take you through Acts I and II of Mozart's opera The Marriage of Figaro, my desert island piece. Enjoy!

There are indelible images associated with the musical Renaissance period. This 200 year era saw an astonishing growth in productivity, an expansion of education, both musical and otherwise, and repeated religious upheavals. The music of this period existed both as a catalyst and as a reaction to all of these momentous events in history. We'll talk all about this fascinating 200 years of musical history in the 2nd of this ongoing series of each of the periods of Western Classical Music in 60 Minutes.

William Dawson is not a household name to classical music lovers. But for one week in 1934, he was the talk of the classical music world. The legendary Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra had chosen to program a new symphony by Dawson entitled "Negro Folk Symphony." It was broadcast nationwide and the audience reaction was ecstatic. But the piece soon disappeared and it is only in the past few years that it is performed more often. Today, I'll take you through this absolutely amazing symphony.

Clayton Haslop might not be a name that is familiar to all of you, but I bet you anything that you've heard his playing. He has appeared as concertmaster on over 1000 TV Shows and Movies, such as Titanic, A Beautiful Mind, The Matrix, Ratatouille, Star Trek, The incredibles, UP, and others. His story took on an extra resonance when he began suffering from Focal Dystonia. Taking a cue from the guitarist Django Reinhardt, Haslop relearned the violin with just two fingers. In this conversation, we talk about studying with Nathan Milstein, Neville Marriner, and Haslop's journey back to playing.

It might surprise, or even shock you, to learn that a piece that crackles with joy and excitement like Bartok's Divertimento was written in November of 1939. But the circumstances of the Divertimento are among the most unusual in the history of 20th century music. Bartok's Divertimento is a perfect amalgam of his style; a wholehearted embrace of folk music, old forms, and in the slow movement, a large dose of terror. This is a truly underrated piece that allows us to explore Bartok from every angle. Enjoy!

When we hear Medieval music performed live, it speaks to us in a different way than almost any other music. It seems to have just appeared, as is, from the earth itself. Medieval music was originally passed down by oral tradition but soon a desire for standardization led to musical notation, rhythmic notation, and the seeds of so much music to come. Medieval music might be the most mysterious of all the eras of classical music, so let's dive right in, with Medieval Music in (almost) 60 minutes.

December 23rd, 1806 should have been one of those dates etched into musical history; it was the premier of a new violin concerto by Beethoven, performed by one of the great soloists of the day. But the performance was a relative failure, and the concerto languished in obscurity for decades. Why did it fail? How did it get re-discovered, and how did it slowly become one of the most beloved pieces ever written? We'll explore all that today as well as every nook and cranny of this remarkable concerto!

Symphonie Fantastique, which was written just 3 years after Beethoven's death, redefined what music could portray. Its color, fire, narrative arc, vulgarity, descriptiveness, and drug-induced hysteria put it in a class of its own in the classical music world. As Leonard Bernstein said: "Berlioz tells it like it is. You take a trip, you wind up screaming at your own funeral." Today we'll get to know the story behind Symphonie Fantastique, and also talk about this piece and all of its brilliant innovations.

Welcome to Season 7 of Sticky Notes! I'm often asked: "I want to get into classical music, but where do I start?" Today is my attempt to answer that question! Western Classical Music is an umbrella term that stretches over 1500 years of music, and there is an infinite variety to choose from. Today, we'll take a quick look at all 6 "periods" of classical music, from the Medieval, to the Renaissance, to the Baroque, to the Classical, to the Romantic, and the Contemporary. This episode is meant for beginners as well as lovers of classical music!

The pianist Andras Schiff on Schubert: "There is a folk song like simplicity in Schubert's Music; his music is never crowded. He does not want to impress you or overwhelm you. He tells you a very simple story and invites you by very simple means to come and join him and share his thoughts." It's hard to describe an hour long piece as simple, but Schiff's description applies to this massive, majestic, and yes, simple(in the best way) symphony. This week, we'll talk all about this mesmerizing symphony.

A few years ago, I was at a performance of the Rite of Spring. Sitting behind me were some rather conservative audience members. As one particularly violent section of the piece blasted away, I heard one of them say, "If they keep playing this modern music I'm cancelling my subscription." How does a piece remain modern for so long? In Part 2 of the Rite this week, we explore this question, as well as dig into how Stravinsky builds a narrative that results in the sacrifice and the beginning of Spring.

It's possible that the Nutcracker is the most recognizable Western Classical Music in the world, so what could one say about this ubiquitous piece? Well, from the adaptations of the original story, to the composition process, to the premiere, to the music itself, and to what the Nutcracker means to classical institutions, there's a lot here! At the end of the show, I also make a plea on behalf of ballet companies worldwide, and look forward to next year, when we can all enjoy this wonderful classic again.

You might be surprised to know that the famous riot at the premiere of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring was by no means the only disturbance at a classical concert in history. But it is the most famous. This week, we'll explore the who, what, when, where, and WHY of this riot, and go through Part 1 of the Rite of Spring. We'll talk about folk music and Stravinsky's use of it, rhythm, orchestration, color, and much more as we grapple with a piece that sounds just as revolutionary in 2020 as it did in 1913.

Welcome to the Season 6 Finale of Sticky Notes! Mahler titled the last movement of his 3rd symphony "What Love Tells Me." This movement is my favorite movement of any Mahler symphony. It is a profoundly heartfelt chorale that traverses peaks and valleys of ecstasy and despair in equal measure. We'll talk all about this emotionally complex movement and how it relates to the other 5 movements in the symphony. At the end of the show, I took a moment to reflect on the previous year of shows. Please join me!

The middle four movements of Mahler's 3rd symphony were central to his mission - that is, to portray the entire world in one symphony. And when I say entire world I really mean it. In these movements, Mahler musically portrays what the flowers, nature, man, and angels tell him. These are some of the most colorful, kaleidoscopic, fascinating, and difficult movements in all of Mahler, and we'll talk all about them. We'll also try a new experiment where I take you through how I study a piece like this - enjoy!

For this Thanksgiving week we're doing another re-upload from the archive! Today we'll look at Copland's Appalachian Spring, a ballet that has captured the imagination of listeners worldwide and seems to be the marker of the "American" sound in Western Classical Music. We'll look at some of the differences between the two versions of the piece, talk about why it sounds so American, and listen to some fascinating rehearsal footage with Copland himself! This is one of my favorite past episodes - please enjoy!

This week I spoke with Harry Christophers, who wears many different hats in his jobs as Artistic Director of the Handel and Haydn Society, and as the Founder and Director of The Sixteen, one of the world's most renowned choirs. I spoke with Harry about A Choral Odyssey, a new program debuting TONIGHT on thesixteen.com. The show explores great choral repertoire while exploring the venues in which it was first created. We also talked about choral conducting vs. orchestral conducting, and much much more.

Mahler on his third symphony: "Just imagine a work of such magnitude that it actually mirrors the whole world—one is, so to speak, only an instrument, played on by the universe. . . . My symphony will be something the like of which the world has never yet heard! . . . In it the whole of nature finds a voice." As one of the grandest symphonies ever written, Mahler's 3rd symphony truly does embrace the world of nature in every possible way. This week we discuss the first movement, a 36 minute long colossus!

Jessie Montgomery is an acclaimed composer, violinist, and educator. Her works are performed frequently around the world by leading musicians and ensembles. Her music interweaves classical music with elements of vernacular music, improvisation, language, and social justice, placing her squarely as one of the most relevant interpreters of 21st-century American sound and experience. We had a great conversation touching on her upbringing, improv in classical music, her wide range of works, and much more!

First of all, if you're American, I hope you're listening to this while standing in line to vote! Western Classical Music does not have the reputation for political activism that other kinds of music have, but that doesn't mean composers haven't made political statements all throughout history with their music. Today we'll go through some of the most politically charged pieces in Western Classical Music History, all the way from the music of Joseph Haydn to the music of today. Don't forget to vote!!

This week continues my project of reuploading seasons 1-5 in new and improved sound quality! The opening of Mozart's 40th symphony is one of the most recognizable tunes in the whole repertoire, but to this day we don't know what it is about or even why Mozart wrote it. But even though it can be frustrating to not know these answers, it's also exciting and potentially rewarding to go searching for answers on our own! Today we'll talk all about this dramatic piece, and all of its many twists and turns.

This week I got to cross off a Sticky Notes bucket list item by interviewing the best-selling author and critic Alex Ross. We talked about his incredible new book Wagnerism, discussing Wagner's influence on just about every artist/thinker of his time and into the future, his anti-semitism, and more. We also talked about how people understood Wagner, and how they understand him today. Talking to Alex Ross allowed me to understand how one composer's music could create so much beauty, and so much destruction.

Today is the beginning of a new project to re-upload older episodes in new and improved sound quality! First up is a story I can't believe Hollywood hasn't told in decades - the story of Johannes Brahms and Clara Schumann. Perhaps it's because of its complex, ambiguous, and unsettled ending, but for whatever reason, it has been a story somewhat lost to history. So today we'll look back at the lives of Johannes and Clara, accompanied by pieces they both wrote during the time that they knew one another.

In one of the most famous reviews in this history of Western Classical Music, Eduard Hanslick torched the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto, saying that the violin was "beaten black and blue." This review wounded Tchaikovsky to his core, and he wasn't sure if his concerto would ever see the light of day again. Luckily for him, and for us, the piece continued to get performed, and it is now one of THE most beloved pieces in the whole repertoire. Today we'll talk through this extraordinary concerto - join us!

Bruckner's symphonies are a world unto their own. They are epic works that are also full of a trademark humility that is present in the work of no other composer. Bruckner's 4th Symphony, the "Romantic," has remained one of his most popular and beloved works. We'll talk through the "Bruckner Problem" that has plagued this symphony since it's premiere, but mostly we'll talk through this majestic symphony, from the solo Horn that begins it, to an ending that "rises in solemn quiet above all earthly desiring."

In 1919, the impresario Sergei Diaghilev came up with the idea of having Stravinsky write a ballet inspired by 18th century music by composers like Pergolesi. The result, Pulcinella, began a transformation of Stravinsky's music. Stravinsky would later say: "Pulcinella was my discovery of the past, the epiphany through which the whole of my late work became possible." Today we'll talk through Pulcinella - a brilliant and funny piece that shows Stravinsky in a totally new light. Get ready for a fun ride!

William Grant Still was a man of firsts. He was the first African American to to conduct a major symphony orchestra in the United States. In 1931, his first symphony became the first complete symphony ever performed by a major orchestra, and until 1950, that symphony was the most performed American symphony by ANY composer. Still's music reflects a remarkable breadth of styles, structures, and orchestral colors, and it's a great pleasure to take you through some of his most emblematic works today.

In 1783, Mozart wrote a letter to his father. He wrote, in part: "On Tuesday, November 4th, I am doing a concert in the theatre here and, as I have not a single symphony with me, I am writing a new one at break-neck speed, which must be finished by that time." The date of that letter was October 31st. In 4 days, Mozart completed one of his most beloved symphonies, the "Linz." We'll talk all about this brilliant work and how Mozart was able to write such a coherent and beautiful piece in such a short time.

This week I had the huge honour to speak with the composer, vocalist, violinist, and producer Caroline Shaw about her music and her performing career. Caroline is one of the most exciting composers around these days, and it was a special thrill for me to try to get inside of her compositional head in this conversation. We talked about her meteoric rise as a composer, her beginnings as a musician, how it feels for her to have her work performed, and the fascinating connection between speech and song.

I'm sharing today's mini episode for two reasons - the first is that I wanted to show all of you who are not subscribed on Patreon what I put up there every week. Every Thursday, I do a sort of deep dive on a specific passage that I didn't have time to get to in the main show. Sometimes its a specific passage or orchestration that I particularly love, or sometimes it's looking at a specific movement, like today's episode on the 25th Variation of the Goldberg Variations. I really enjoy doing these episodes, as they really allow me to get right into the nuts and bolts of how a passage is put together. The second reason I'm sharing this episode today is that I need to make the announcement, the happy announcement, that I am very likely to be beginning to conduct again after a period of 5 months. In September the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra and I are planning a Beethoven Cycle where we play all 9 symphonies in 11 days, the perfect way to shake the rust off! But the partial resumption of my conducting schedule means that I will no longer have time to make two episodes a week. SO we're going to return to the pre-pandemic schedule of a new show every Thursday BUT I'm also going to continue making these mini-episodes, so if you would like to check those out, do check out the Patreon page at patreon.com/stickynotespodcast.

In 1741, Bach published a piece called "Aria with diverse variations." Little did he know that the piece would become one of the most beloved and nearly mythical works in all of Western Classical Music. The piece I'm talking about is now referred to exclusively as "The Goldberg Variations." Today we'll talk through these remarkable variations, and as a special bonus, I was joined by Jeremy Denk, Mahan Esfahani, Inon Barnatan, and Vivian Hornik Weilerstein for a virtual panel discussion about the Goldbergs.

This week I had the pleasure of speaking with Annik Lafarge, author of "Chasing Chopin," a book being released Tomorrow, August 11th, wherever books are sold. This is really a wonderful book and you'll hear in this interview all of Annik's abiding enthusiasm about Chopin which comes through so beautifully in the book. We talk about Chopin's pianos, Chopin as a symbol of Poland, the famous Funeral March, Georges Sand, and traveling to places that Chopin lived and worked. In essence, this is an immersion into Chopin and his music, and I'm sure you'll enjoy this fascinating interview - Chopin's debut on Sticky Notes!

In February of 1865, Johannes Brahms received a letter from his brother saying: "If you want to see our Mother again come at once." Brahms rushed off to Hamburg but was two days too late. He had long thought about composing a requiem but this seemed to be the catalyst for him to finally write one. And it is a requiem like no other. Selecting biblical but secular texts himself, Brahms created what he called a "Human Requiem," a piece that is a balm and a comfort to the living as they mourn the dead.

Dalia Stasevska is a wonderful conductor whose career has skyrocketed in the past few years. She is the Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC Symphony and is the incoming Chief Conductor of the Lahti Symphony in Finland. We had a really great talk about getting into music, learning conducting from two legends in the field, Jorma Panula and Leif Segerstram, and about the sometimes lonely life of a conductor. Dalia is one of my favorite people to talk to in the music world and I'm sure you'll enjoy this!

I had the great pleasure of speaking with my friend Yundu Wang about her doctoral thesis exploring the connections between language and music. This research gets into thorny questions about the relationship between national origin and the way we interpret music, and also into questions of identity, stereotyping, and prejudice. I find this research particularly compelling and fascinating, and I hope you will too! Yundu's wonderful blog can be found here: https://blog.yunduwang.com/2020/05/12/an-introduction/

Mahan Esfahani is a world-renowned harpsichordist who has said that it is his mission to rehabilitate the harpsichord as an instrument for modern audiences. In this conversation, we talked about Beethoven, playing modern music on the harpsichord, and nearly starting a riot over the music of Steve Reich! We also discussed the battles WITHIN the early music movement over performance practice. Mahan is one of the most fearless and outspoken voices in classical music so I think you'll really enjoy this one!

Albert Camus once wrote: "when I describe what the catastrophe of man looks like, music comes into my mind—the music of Gustav Mahler." The last movement of Mahler 6 is a symphony within a symphony. It is a difficult movement to understand, and even the way it ends is full of the emotional complexity that marks Mahler's music. I'll take you through this movement today, through its peaks and valleys of ecstasy and despair all the way to the hammer blows that cut our hero down as he strives ever upward.

It was such a pleasure to welcome back the great John Heiss to discuss more encounters with some of the greatest composers of the 20th century. We started off with a survey of Schoenberg's music and how best to approach each period of his life. John is one of the premiere experts on Schoenberg so don't miss this! We then talked about his personal experiences with Shostakovich, Varese, and Berio. Talking with John was like going back to class again - a class I'm so thrilled to share with you here today.

There are few controversies like the ones surrounding the order of the inner movements of Mahler 6. Musicologists and conductors battle with each other about what Mahler meant and what his wife knew, and they also are at each other's throats about which order WORKS better logically in the symphony, regardless of Mahler's intentions. There's an answer to the first part, but not to the second, and that's just one of the things we'll explore today as we look at the inner workings of these remarkable movements.

Ryan Bancroft is a conductor who has seen a meteoric rise ever since winning the Malko Competition for Conductors in 2018. In this conversation, we talked about programming post-pandemic, and also about our common entry into the conducting world, and all of the pressures and joys of that kind of rocket boost to your career. At the end of the show, we discussed the absolutely amazing and underrated Negro Folk Symphony of William Levi Dawson. This was a such a fun conversation and I hope you enjoy it!