Attention to Detail: The Classical Music Listening Guide

Scene Breakdown: Mozart‘s Magic Flute

On this episode, we take a deep dive and look at one scene from Mozart's Magic Flute, the quintet from Act 1. We examine Mozart's unique ability to change musical charact

Opera SparkNotes: Mussorgsky‘s Boris Godunov

On this episode, we continue our opera SparkNotes series with a review of Mussorgsky's great Russian epic, Boris Godunov. We highlight all the great music from the opera,

Opera Sparknotes: Salome, Part 2

We continue our breakdown of Strauss's striking masterwork Salome, looking at the second part of the opera, including the Dance of the Seven Veils and the famous (or infa

Opera Sparknotes: Salome, Part 1

On this episode, we break down the first half of Richard Strauss' groundbreaking and controversial Salome, an opera premiered in 1905. Based on a play by Oscar Wilde, Sal

Top 10: John Williams Edition

On this episode, we look at the incredible film composer John Williams, ranking our favorite pieces from his body of work. We are joined by Josh Joyce, brother of Jacob,

A Hundred Episodes: A Musical Celebration

In celebration of 100 episodes of the podcast, we fashioned a fun musical quiz designed to test our hosts' and audience's knowledge of classical music! Jacob tries to ide

What to Expect in a Symphony: Fourth Movements

We conclude our series on what to expect from symphonic movements with finales! We look at the history of last movements, spanning from Mozart to Mahler, and listen to so

What to Expect in a Symphony: Third Movements

On this third episode in our mini-series on what to expect in standard symphonic movements, we supplement our breakdown of third movements with a fun game: Minuet or Sche

What to Expect in a Symphony: Slow Movements

On this episode we continue our breakdown of symphonic form, now looking at slow movements! We highlight some of the most common types of slow movements and trace their d

What to Expect in a Symphony: First Movements

On this episode, we begin a series where we break down the main characteristics of each movement of a standard symphony, starting with the first! We discuss what to expec

Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture: A July 4th Preview

After a long hiatus, we are back (!!) with a breakdown of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture. This piece is heard on July 4th concerts around the United States, and has a fascin

Returning to Live Concerts, Part 2: How to Prepare for a Concert

We continue our series on returning to live concerts with a discussion of how to prepare for attending a performance. Should you listen to the pieces beforehand, should y

Returning to Live Concerts, Part 1: Etiquette Q&A

As live concerts start to come back, we discuss some of the tricky questions surrounding the daunting world of concert etiquette. Many traditions of the classical concert

Mozart, Haydn, or Other?

On this episode, we are joined by violinist Kevin Lin and cellist Stephen Hawkey to play a game we are calling Mozart, Haydn, or Other! Kevin and Stephen listen to severa

A Musical Winter, Part 2: Schubert's Winterreise

On today's episode, we continue our exploration of winter-themed pieces with Schubert's dark and gloomy Winterreise. The quintessential unappreciated artist, Schubert's m

A Musical Winter, Part 1: Haydn's The Seasons

Winter is here! With many of us in the U.S. buried under feet of snow, we thought we would review some pieces of music inspired by winter, starting with Haydn's The Seaso

Why Is Classical Music Getting Faster?

Over the years, it seems that performances of classical music have steadily been getting faster. Why is this, and how does it affect the way we listen? Jacob and Hannah d

Re-Listening to Music

Today we explore the phenomenon of re-listening to music. All of us listen to certain songs over and over, which can help us relax, fuel a workout, or provide a nice back

Musical Blind Tasting, Part 2

On this episode of our Musical Blind Tasting series, we focus on music of the Baroque era! Hannah chooses four excerpts for Jacob to listen to and discuss, and then he at

A Listening Guide for the New Year

To usher out the challenges of 2020 and ring in what we hope to be a healthier and happier year, we put together a musical listening guide! Our guide consists of four sel