Marvin Hamlisch
In this November 1980 edition of This is My Music, Lloyd Moss interviews composer Marvin Hamlisch about his musical career on both coasts. Hamlisch discusses his creative process, his days as a student...
View ArticleBenny Goodman
The actual date of this episode is 1981-02-21. For technical reasons, it shows up incorrectly above.Lloyd Moss goes to Benny Goodman's apartment to talk to the jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and...
View ArticleJudith Jamison
Lloyd Moss interviews dancer, choreographer and singer Judith Jamison about her life and career. Ms. Jamison discusses the musical selections of her choosing.
View ArticleBehold the Power of the Oud Featuring Yemeni Musician Ahmed Alshaiba (Video)
If you ever find yourself in a position in which you need to bring music appreciators and history buffs together, all you need to do is mention the oud.The instrument is basically a living textbook...
View Article10 of the Coolest Musical Mentors Throughout History
We just passed the centenary of Juilliard professor and music educator Dorothy DeLay, who taught some of the world's finest violin masters. It got us thinking about other notable — and sometimes...
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History of Muzak: Where Did All The Elevator Music Go?
Of Muzak, Professor Gary Gumpert of Queens College, in a 1990 interview for Britain’s Channel 4, said: “[it’s] a kind of amniotic fluid that surrounds us; and it never startles us, it is never too...
View ArticleEpisode 14 - Henry Threadgill: Dirt, and More Dirt
1967, Fort Riley, Kansas. Henry Threadgill is 23 years old. Knowing he’s going to be drafted into the military, he joins the Army Concert Band, hoping to focus on his passion: writing music. As he...
View ArticleWhy Is the Orchestra Seated That Way? An Explanation
Why don’t the oboes and tubas sit in the front of the orchestra? Why don’t flutes and first violins swap positions, or — in what would be the coolest configuration, let’s be honest — bass trombones and...
View ArticleWatch: Stravinsky Recalls 'The Rite of Spring' Riot
Le Sacre du Printemps ("The Rite of Spring") is one of Igor Stravinsky’s best-known works. And, because of its quite literally riotous 1913 Paris premiere, it also boasts one of the most infamous...
View ArticleHow Many Movements Are There in a Symphony?
“What are the four movements of a symphony?” is a weird question. Not a bad question, but certainly a weird one. That’s because it assumes that there are always four movements in a symphony. There are...
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A Brief History of Circus Music
For nearly a century and a half, the likes of floppy-shoed clowns, bicycling poodles in diamanté boleros, and slinky highfliers of bottomless gumption ran helter-skelter beneath the Ringling Brothers...
View ArticleHistory Clashes With Culture Over Roman Rock Opera 'Nero'
The rock opera Divo Nerone (“Divine Nero”), a massive spectacle of musical theater, premiered this weekend in Rome. But while the show and it’s all-star direction stopped at nothing to wow the...
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How Was Musical Notation Invented? A Brief History
Imagine a piece of music. No, not the music, but the written score or sheet. Some of us look at it, and immediately begin translating those symbols into sounds. Others among us might not be able to...
View ArticleExplainer: Why Conductors Change Classical Music Scores
In April 1962, a 29-year-old pianist named Glenn Gould joined Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall for a performance of Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 1. The interpretive...
View ArticleIs the Piano a String or Percussion Instrument?
Labels are limiting. It’s hard to truly define something or someone by one word or another. But as humans, we can’t seem to give it up. And so we get caught up in trying to classify the piano as a...
View ArticleWhy Do Orchestras Tune to an A-Note Pitch at 440Hz?
The sound of an orchestra tuning is instantly recognizable. As soon as you hear it, you know exactly what’s about to happen. But there is a simple reason why a whole lot of tuning orchestras sound...
View ArticleWhy Is It So Hard to Find Saxophones in the Concert Hall?
You cannot deny that the saxophone is the odd-one-out in orchestral ensembles. Some reference books or encyclopedias (hi, Grove!) will include entries that present the saxophone as an instrument like...
View ArticleComposer Chevalier de Saint-Georges, Jack of All Trades and Master of All of...
Mastery of any craft requires focus, dedication to perfection, reception to criticism and the willpower to stay in on many a Saturday night. It’s difficult to excel, and most of us can call ourselves...
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Weird Classical: The History of Black Death Music Parties
Are music and the Black Death, an outbreak of the bubonic plague, related in any way? Music expanded in new directions as Europe’s mid-14th century society collapsed in the face of the plague....
View ArticleMy Body as Me: Kamala Sankaram Shows Us How to Keep the Look Loose
The Brooklyn Youth Chorus' Silent Voices project – which premiered at the Brooklyn Academy of Music this past May – was one of the most socially aware artistic events in New York this year. The project...
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