Poster lion
lion roaring
Eric Kilby
Performance Today®

The Sounds of Nature

The first musical instruments, back in the caveman days, were percussion instruments. Discarded bones, hollow logs covered with animal skins. A battery of noisemakers designed to instill fear in one's enemies and keep evil spirits at bay. Today, we'll meet a percussion instrument that would have fit right in in those early times, the lion's roar. Jerry Junkin and the Dallas Wind Symphony put the lion's roar to good use in a set of Renaissance dances. Plus, a couple of woodland sketches and one of the greatest musical sunrises ever, the opening of Edvard Grieg's Peer Gynt Suite.

Episode Playlist

Hour 1

Edvard Grieg: Summer Evening and Remembrances, from Lyric Pieces, Book 10, Op. 71
Leif Ove Andsnes, piano

Carl Maria von Weber: Overture to Silvana, J. 87
The RTE National Symphony Orchestra, John Finucane, conductor
National Concert Hall, Dublin, Ireland

Antonin Dvorak: Silent Woods, from Ze Sumavy (From the Bohemian Forest), Op. 68, B.133
William Wolfram and Andrew Armstrong, piano
Seattle Chamber Music Society Winter Festival, Seattle

Georg Philipp Telemann: Concerto in E Minor for Flute, Violin, Strings, and Basso Continuo, TWV 52:e3
REBEL
International Handel Festival, Gottingen, Germany

George Frideric Handel: Bourree from Water Music Suite in D , HWV 349
REBEL
International Handel Festival, Gottingen, Germany

Edvard Grieg: Til Varen (To Spring), Op. 43, No. 6
Juho Pohjonen, piano
Music@Menlo, Palo Alto, California

Edvard Grieg: Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, Op. 46
The Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Damian Iorio, conductor
The Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Hour 2

Percy Grainger: Rufford Park Poachers, from Lincolnshire Posy
The Dallas Wind Symphony, Jerry Junkin, conductor

Orlando di Lasso: Aurora Lucis Rutilat
The Sixteen, Harry Christophers, conductor
Ealing Abbey, London, England

Nick Drake: Northern Sky
Christopher O'Riley, piano

Bright Sheng: First movement from Northern Lights for Cello and Piano
Alisa Weilerstein, cello, Inon Barnatan, piano
Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, New York City

Tielman Susato: Selections from the Danserye
The Dallas Wind Symphony, Jerry Junkin, conductor
Meyerson Symphony Center, Dallas

Didier Benetti: Piazzolino 1
The Schwetzingen Festival Percussion Ensemble
Schwetzingen Festival, Schwetzingen, Germany

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Performance Today® features live concert recordings that can’t be heard anywhere else, highlights from new album releases, and in-studio performances and interviews. Performance Today® is based at the APM studios in St. Paul, Minnesota, but is frequently on the road, with special programs broadcast from festivals and public radio stations around the country. Also, each Wednesday, composer Bruce Adolphe joins host Fred Child for a classical musical game and listener favorite: the Piano Puzzler.

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