Learning and stuff.

Happy Thanksgivukkah everyone! That's right: the Julian and the Hebrew calendars have aligned this year to create a day even more amazing than Hanukkah and more delicious than Thanksgiving. There won't be another until the year 79811! To honor this rare occasion, Cantor Benjamin Matis of the Shelter Rock Jewish Center in Roslyn, NY in Long Island schools us on the history and music of Hanukkah.

A little history on this one: Listener John S. has written in a couple of times wanting to know why we weren't covering Beethoven!? When we posted last week's episode, I had a feeling I might hear from him. 🙂

Hey Dacia,
 
Congrats! I was so excited to find the Beethoven episode. And that was an excellent choice– the 7th symphony 2nd movement is very famous, and rightly so I think! I'm glad you were able to get a sense of Beethoven's depth, or profundity. I hope there will be many more– you have so much good music to get to know!!
 
Regards,
 
John S.
Galveston, Tx
PS– too bad you didn't have more time. The whole 7th symphony is full of wonderful melodies and rhythms, and the last few seconds are like pure joy.

Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring was so revolutionary that its alien sounds literally incited a riot at its premiere. Dr. Ana Maria Otamendi, Venezuelan pianist and professor at the University of Houston tells us why! And btw, we are aware that it's Fall. But we don't even care!

John Tavener, a classical music composer who recorded on the Beatles Apple label, passed away earlier this week.

Was Tchaikovsky's Symphony VI (aka "Pathetique", aka "Suicide Symphony") a suicide note or did he die of cholera as was the Official Word? You decide after this intweeging lesson with Rice University's Michael Webster!

Election day was yesterday. Results are still trickling in from some polling locations, and run-off elections are in motion. Candidate yard signs are everywhere. The news is chock full o' who won what office and who lost. It all makes me wonder: What would Beethoven do? Or Mozart? Or Tchaikovsky? What does classical music have to say about poltics? As it turns out, a lot. Check out these resources to find out more!

1, 2…1, 2 this is just a test… A classical music test! In this episode, Professor St. John Flynn gives Dacia an oral examination of terms she's (supposedly) learned in the last 26 episodes of Classical Classroom. Has she learned anything?? It's nail-biter!

How ragtime killed the classical star! Concert pianist and entrepreneur, Richard Dowling illuminates some of Chopin's pieces by "ragging" them on the piano. It's a lesson in classical music and ragtime all rolled up in one, topped with live performances, and served with a side of fries.

Leonard Bernstein, Glenn Gould, Aaron Copland, and Igor Stravinsky join us – from the Afterlife! – for this special Halloween edition of the Classical Classroom. Learn about these giants of classical music in a way never before possible, in this roundtable discussion.

Happy Halloweeeeen everyone! Here at Classical Classroom, we really get in to the holidays. We just love this time of year. Mostly because it is no longer 100 degrees outside and we can wear long sleeves again. But also because everybody gets so festive. It's so awesome to see everyone get into the spirit of things that it makes us want to listen to music! I found some great articles about spooky classical music for Halloween that will help you get your creep on. Check it out!

Chamber music, performing live as a group, and how movement informs music! In this episode, WindSync wind quintet talk about all of those things and about life as a touring group. Hotel rooms are trashed (okay, not really)! Miley Cyrus is discussed (very probably)! WindSync gets schooled by tango (definitely)!