Classical Classroom

Franz Schubert: man on a mission, champion of pinkies.

How did classical guitar - and therefore, all guitar as we know it - almost become extinct? Who was the hero who saved it from the brink of doom? Why aren't guitars an orchestral instrument? And why are guitarists nails so shiny? Classical guitarist Valerie Hartzell - member of the Presti Trio and director of the Classical Minds Guitar Institute - answers all of these burning questions and more in the big 5-0 episode of... Read More

How are the Black Keys and Beethoven alike? They both had the low-down dirty blues. JK! They both compose(d) music for two instruments! You've heard his symphonies. Now hear cellist Norman Fischer - of the Fischer Duo, the Concord String Quartet, and Rice University's Shepherd School of Music - talk about Beethoven's chamber works for cello and piano. Why did Beethoven create music for a new, tiny arrangement of instruments? Did he do it for... Read More

Since it's the end of National Chamber Music Month, we thought it would be fitting to give you a taste of our upcoming episode, featuring Norman Fischer. Norman plays cello in the Fischer Duo, and is on the Board of Directors at Chamber Music America, the group who invented National Chamber Music Month. The full episode will be coming your way Monday, June 2nd! Audio production by Todd "Totaled Todd" Hulslander with catering by Dacia... Read More

How, exactly, does one know that he is a "light lyric tenor" or a "Spinto tenor" or a "dramatic tenor"? Is there like, a Tenor Task Team? Two members of the Texas Tenors - JC Fisher and John Hagen - teach the types of tenor to us. We also learn about "classical crossover" music and why it is a gateway drug, turning innocent classical music newbies into addicts by the thousands. Audio production by Todd... Read More

Dacia Clay is either presenting a case to the Supreme Court or having a pint in Adams Morgan, I can't remember which. Anyway, she has not shown up to work, so we are going to re-run a previous show about chamber music. What's that? It is National Chamber Music Month? Well now, that just works out, doesn't it? Enjoy...  --Todd Chamber music, performing live as a group, and how movement informs music! In this episode,... Read More

Learn 100% more about the tuba in this episode than you've ever known! Norwegian tuba soloist and chamber musician Øystein Baadsvik is the only tuba virtuoso in the world to make a career exclusively as a soloist. He is also the only tuba player in the world to have a great story about touring with a punk band. He joins us all the way from Norway to tell us about this shadowy instrument: its size,... Read More

May is National Chamber Music Month! Oh, what? You're not excited? Maybe that's because you don't know exactly what chamber music is yet. Which means you should probably listen to this research presentation to find out more about it. Then you, too, can get excited about a form of music that's had an effect on everything from symphonies to garage bands. Whoo chamber music!! Audio production by Todd "T Bone" Hulslander with apoplectic paroxysms of... Read More

What do we mean when we say "classical music"? Sure, sure: it refers to a period of music, like "Baroque" or "Romantic". But we largely use the word as a sort of generic brand-name for a specific variety of sound. In this episode of Classical Classroom, genre-ignoring violinist Todd Reynolds attempts to define classical music. Does he succeed? Does he give up and just start talking about Prince instead? Maybe and maybe! Listen to this... Read More

That's not a violin - it's a woodbox! Daniel Bernard Roumain talks about creative appropriation in classical music. The Haitian-American composer's creative world was cracked open when he realized that everything - including the definition of "violin" - was ripe for reinterpretation. As a kid in garage bands, he took the decidedly uncool violin and made it his own. As a classically trained musician, he brings classical music together with hip hop, rock, bluegrass, and... Read More

The bass: classical music's strange, lonesome hero. In this episode, bassist and composer Michael Kurth gives us a glimpse into the Bizarro World of bass players. Then, he talks about why he started composing, and what inspires him - including the Pixies and ring tones. Listen, if you dare! Audio production by Todd "Toasty" Hulslander with happy whistles, clicks, and beeps from Dacia Clay. Music in this episode includes:- Music from Michael Kurth's website: www.reverbnation.com/michaelkurth-... Read More

Rachel Barton Pine, classical violinist, and member of the metal band Earthen Grave, has played with orchestras all over the world, and under the baton of many renowned conductors. But in this episode of the Classical Classroom, she comes back to a piece - over, and over, and over, and over - studied by every young violin player. Rachel shows us how Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E Minor has been interpreted by violinists across history... Read More

Coming at you this Friday, Rachel Barton Pine teaches all about the many different sounds of Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E Minor. Hear how violinists have interpreted the piece over the years, and learn why Rachel was dressed like a cowgirl. 

It's Women's History Month up in the Classroom! Houston Public Media's own Amy Bishop (see also, Episode 9: Tone Poems) teaches us all about female classical music composers, from the millennia-old ethereal sounds of Hildegard von Bingen, to the contemporary works of Jennifer Higdon. Why have so many women composed classical music but so few have become household names (yet)? We jiu jitsu that question and others in this episode! Audio production by Todd "von... Read More

Pattern preludes are enigmas inside of conundrums wrapped in a warm flour tortilla. No - wait. That's not right... Pattern preludes, according to composer Karim Al-Zand's website, are, "...pieces constrained by a single idea (usually a rhythmic or textural ostinato) through which a composer expresses a narrowly focused thought. Patterning is especially well-suited to preludes, which are by convention short, concise and introductory." Bach, Chopin, Debussy, and others wrote pattern preludes. These little pieces function... Read More