Duration: 23 minutes | Composer: Maurice Ravel A French composer who collected tiny clockwork toys and miniature treasures created one of the most famous piano pieces ever written. This episode explores how…
Duration: 21 minutes | Composer: Erik Satie Erik Satie owned twelve identical gray velvet suits and was known as Paris’s quietest, strangest composer. This episode explores his mysterious life and the beautiful,…
Tchaikovsky secretly shipped a mysterious wooden crate from Paris, refusing to let anyone see what was inside. The hidden treasure was a magical new instrument that would create the enchanting sound of…
Duration: 28 minutes | Composer: George Gershwin A young Gershwin transforms the clickety-clack of train wheels into one of America’s most famous pieces of music. This episode reveals how everyday sounds inspired…
Duration: 30 minutes | Composer: Richard Wagner Wagner discovered that musical themes could tell stories like magic spells, creating “leitmotifs” that gave every character and object its own musical signature. This episode…
When Mozart’s opera characters face trials by fire and water, their true natures are revealed through the magic of music. This episode explores how different voice types tell us who to trust…
Duration: 22 minutes | Composer: Bedřich Smetana Deep beneath the mountains, two springs bubble up to begin an incredible journey—joining together to become the mighty Moldau River. Smetana painted this entire voyage…
Duration: 28 minutes | Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach Young Bach walked 250 miles through cold German forests to hear the master organist Dietrich Buxtehude play. This episode explores that legendary journey and…
Composer Antonín Dvořák crossed the ocean to America but couldn’t stop thinking about his homeland. His homesickness and wonder at the New World inspired his most famous symphony, filled with train rhythms…
Mussorgsky composed a musical tour through an art gallery, with a special walking melody that changes mood as listeners move from painting to painting. This episode explores how different instruments paint vivid…
