In 1933, Alan Hovhaness read Dante's Divine Comedy, including the line: "O human race, born to fly upward..." Those words sparked a lifetime of musical ideas, inspired by the idea of space travel. On Wednesday's Performance Today, hear "Star Dawn" by Alan Hovhaness, performed by the United States Marine Band.
When Emma Resmini was a young girl, she didn't come out and tell her parents that she wanted to play the flute, but she had some interesting ways of hinting at it. On Tuesday's Performance Today, flutist Emma Resmini performs 'Undine' by Carl Reinecke, at the New York Flute Club.
It's a musician's nightmare: Arriving for a concert only to find a prize instrument... broken. Guitarist Matthew Greif had it happen twice in one tour! On Monday's Performance Today, the story of back-to-back broken guitars, and we'll hear the LA Guitar Quartet from a concert in New York City.
Danish Composer Carl Nielsen's quartets helped define the national sound of Danish music by drawing inspiration from the Danish countryside. On Saturday's Performance Today, hear the Danish String Quartet play Nielsen's String Quartet No. 4, from a concert at Lincoln Center.
Amy Beach, nee Cheney, debuted with the Boston Symphony at the age of 17. She got married two years later, and her husband forbade her from having a public career on stage, so... Amy Beach became a great composer. A story of perseverance and the power of music, on Friday's Performance Today.
Between Iceland and Norway, there's a collection of small rocky outcroppings - the Faroe Islands. They're home to a system of caves... and a summer concert series. On Thursday's Performance Today, come along for a musical expedition, and hear music from inside the caves of the Faroe Islands.
Composer Carl Nielsen's quartets helped define the national sound of Danish music by drawing inspiration from the Danish countryside. On Wednesday's Performance Today, hear the Danish String Quartet play Nielsen's String Quartet No. 4, from a concert at Lincoln Center.
In 2006, Argentinian composer Osvaldo Golijov wrote a cello concerto for Yo-Yo Ma. A few years ago, we aired a much-loved performance of the piece (a PT listener favorite) but a recording of the concerto wasn't commercially available until 2016. On Tuesday's Performance Today, hear the anticipated recording of Osvaldo Golijov's "Azul", performed by cellist Yo-Yo Ma and The Knights.
In 1994, Irish composer Bill Whelan wrote a few minutes of music for a TV song contest. A couple of Irish dancers did some choreography to go with it and a massive global hit was born. On Monday's Performance Today, hear the Symphonic Suite, from "Riverdance" by Bill Whelan, performed by the RTE National Symphony Orchestra.
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