
- Program List
Below are many of the more than 200 five-hour 'weeks' of Exploring Music that have been created since 2003. The first seven minutes of every program are free to sample. Several entire 5-hour programs are also free to listen (marked 'free' below). For complete access to all of the shows, click here to become a subscriber. To sort through the shows by composers Click Here. To see the Playlist for a given show, click on the show and then on the 'playlist' button beneath any of the five one-hour programs.
AAmerican Masters, Part I American Masters, Part II American Masters, Part IIIAmerican Masters, Part IVAmerican Masters, Part V An Intelligent Conversation: String Quartets Arias & BarcarollesArtists in Exile, Part IArtists in Exile, Part II Autumn Leaves Autumnal Masterpieces BBach Sleeps in on SundaysBach to Beethoven Bach's Christmas Oratorio Bach's Not-So-Minor B-Minor MassBallad of East and West Baltic MusicBarber, SamuelBartok, BelaBeethoven and that Danged MetronomeBeethoven and the PianoBeethoven at Parnassus, Part IBeethoven at Parnassus, Part IIBeethoven Piano Sonatas (FREE)Beethoven Quartets Berlioz, HectorBernstein, LeonardBill's Keepers Boulanger, NadiaBrahms, Johannes, Part IBrahms, Johannes, Part II Britten, Benjamin Bruckner, Anton CCall for ScoresCarnegie Hall, Part 1 (FREE)Carnegie Hall, Part 2 (FREE)Cello Concertos Child's PlayChopin, FredericClash of the Titans Clowning AroundCopland, Aaron Corigliano, JohnCzech out those Bohemians DDebussy, Claude Demons, Spooks and Other Things That Go Bump in the NightDirector's ChoiceDistant Neighbors Don't Shoot the Piano PlayerDvořák, AntoninDvorak, Tchaikovsky & Borodin String Quartets EElgar, EdwardEmotion and Meaning in MusicEnescu, GeorgesEspanaFFamilies of Instruments Family Matters: All in the FamilyFauré, GabrielFit for a KingFour SeasonsFranck, CésarFrom This Mighty River: Music of the Children of J.S BachGGame of Pairs, Part I Game of Pairs, Part IIGershwin, GeorgeGet the PictureGitana: Gypsy Music and Its InfluencesGreen and Pleasant Land Grieg and SibeliusHHandel, George FridericHaydn and Mozart QuartetsHaydn SymphoniesHidden Gold, Part IHidden Gold, Part IIHHindemith, PaulHit or MythHoliday CelebrationHomageHow Strange the Change from Major to Minor, Part IHow Strange the Change from Major to Minor, Part IIII Didn't Know About YouI Hear a Rhapsody I Hear America Singing I Lost it at the MoviesIn a Family WayIncidentally SpeakingIntimate Conversations: Conversations with Samuel Rhodes and David FinckelInvitation to the Dance, Part IInvitation to the Dance, Part II Invitation to the Dance, Part IIIIt Takes Two to TangoIt Was a Lover and His Lass Italian SouvenirsJJanáček, LeošKKeyboard SmorgasbordLLatin CarnivalLes Cinq PlusLes SixLife Among the Dead: Requiem MassesListener's Choice, Part IIListener's Choice, Part III Liszt, FranzLittle Night Music Little Traveling Music, Please London, The Music of, Part 1London, The Music of, Part 2MMaestro, Part IMaestro, Part IIMagnificent MagyarsMahler, Gustav, Part IMahler, Gustav, Part IIMaiden Voyages Mendelssohn, FelixMendelssohn, Schumann and Brahms String QuartetsMerrie EnglandMozart at his ZenithMozart Piano ConcertosMozart's Birthday BashMozart: Bright Lights, Big CityMusic for the MassesMusic from the Magic Box Music in 19th Century Paris: Waterloo to Bismarck Music in the Time of WarMusic of ScandinaviaMusical CryptogramsMusical LandscapesNNationalismNew Releases, Part INew Releases, Part IINew Releases, Part III, week 1 of 2New Releases, Part III, week 2 of 2 New Wine in Old Bottles Nielsen, Carl Ninth SymphoniesNobody Ever Builds a Statue to a CriticOOrpheus in the New World Outward BoundPPastoral SymphoniesPiano ConcertosPolandPorts of Call, Part I Ports of Call, Part II Poulenc, FrancisProkofiev, SergeiProud Tower, Part I (FREE)Proud Tower, Part IIRRachmaninoff, SergeiRavel, Maurice Respighi, OttorinoRimsky-Korsakov and His PupilsRoaring 20's Russian Five: The Mighty Handful SSchool DaysSchubert String QuartetsSchubertiade, Part ISchubertiade, Part IISchuman, WilliamSchumann, Robert Shakespeare Shostakovich, Dmitri, Part I Shostakovich, Dmitri, Part IISlipped Through the Cracks Sounds of the City of Lights SoundtracksSpanish SchoolSpring is Here St-Saëns, Camille St. Matthew PassionStrauss, RichardStravinsky, IgorString Quartets from Fibich to SibeliusStrings Plus OneSweet Home Chicago Symphony, Part 01Symphony, Part 02Symphony, Part 03Symphony, Part 04Symphony, Part 05Symphony, Part 06 (French)Symphony, Part 07 (Russian)Symphony, Part 08Symphony, Part 09Symphony, Part 10Symphony, Part 11TTchaikovsky, Peter, Part I (FREE)Tchaikovsky, Peter, Part II (FREE)The Big Five I: Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Part IThe Big Five II: New York Philharmonic, Part IThe Big Five II: New York Philharmonic, Part IIThe Gathering Storm: Music from the Great Depression to WWIIThrough the Mail SlotTo the Finland Station, Part ITo the Finland Station, Part IITone Poems Too Darn BigTriple PlayTudor MusicTwo Very Different Worlds Delius and HolstUUnder the Hood, Part IUnder the Hood, Part II Unfinished Symphonies VVariationsVaughan Williams, RalphVenice: The Glories ofVerdi, Giuseppe, Part IVerdi, Giuseppe, Part IIVienna, Part IVienna, Part II ViolaViolin Concerto Virtuoso, The World ofVoices from the East WWagner's Ring CycleWagner, RichardWalton, WilliamWater MusicWhat Else Ya Got?Wind QuintetsWunderkinder, Part IWunderkinder, Part IIYYin and Yang: The Play of Opposites, Part 1Yin and Yang: The Play of Opposites, Part 2You and the Night and the Music
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St. Matthew Passion Purchase Now
Composed in 1727, it’s one of two surviving J.S. Bach accounts of the last days of Jesus. Bill begins by examining the history of the Lutheran church in Germany and the early musical representations of Christ’s last days, including Bach’s earlier St. John Passion. Before the week is over we will also sample Haydn’s Seven Last Words of Christ and Osvaldo Golijov’s La Pasión Según San Marcos.
St. Matthew Passion is considered one of the best pieces of classical music. Bill begins by examining the history of the Lutheran church in Germany and the early musical representations of Christ’s last days, including Bach’s earlier St. John’s Passion. Bill also begins his dissection of St. Matthew, observing its operatic style.
J.S. Bach: “Herr, unser Herrscher” fr. St. John Passion
Staatskapelle Dresden & Rundfunkchor Leipzig/Schrier
Phil 422088
9:45
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J.S. Bach: St. Matthew Passion (excerpt)
CSO & Chorus/Solti
Decca 425691
2:49, 1:25
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J.S. Bach: “Kommt, Ihr Töchter” fr. St. Matthew Passion
English Baroque Soloists & Monteverdi Choir/Gardiner
Archiv 427648
5:56
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J.S. Bach: St. Matthew Passion (excerpts)
Ghent Collegium Vocale & Orchestra/Herreweghe
HM 951676-78
:42, :46, 8:14, 7:55, :40, 9:44
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We continue our examination of St. Matthew Passion with the Ghent Collegium Vocale & Orchestra through the first part of the Passion. We close the program with one of Bach’s early cantatas for Easter.
J.S. Bach: St. Matthew Passion (excerpts)
Ghent Collegium Vocale & Orchestra/Herreweghe
HM 951676-78
1:01, 3:41, 6:31, :40, :57, 4:15, 2:27, :45, 2:21, 4:37, 8:00
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J.S. Bach: Christ lag in Todes Banden, BWV 4 (excerpts)
American Bach Soloists/Thomas
Koch 7235
:28, 10:12
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J.S. Bach arr. Stokowski: Chorale fr. the “Easter Cantata,” BWV 4
BBC Phil/Bamert
Chan 9259
3:47
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We pick up the Passion in the second part of Bach’s great work, coming in after the arrest of Jesus and concluding with Peter’s denial of Christ. Bill concludes with the fourth Brandenburg Concerto and another of Bach’s cantatas.
J.S. Bach: St. Matthew Passion (excerpts)
Ghent Collegium Vocale & Orchestra/Herreweghe
HM 951676-78
11:36, 2:01, :53, 2:14
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J.S. Bach: St. Matthew Passion (excerpts)
Philharmonia Orchestra & Chorus/Klemperer
EMI 67542
9:00, 1:08
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J.S. Bach: St. Matthew Passion (excerpt)
Gabrieli Consort & Players/McCreesh
Archiv 474200
:36
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J.S. Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 4, II & III
Academy of St. Martin in-the-Fields/Marriner
Phil 400077
8:40
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J.S. Bach: “Ich habe genug” fr. Cantata BWV 82
Camerata Academica Salzburg/Norrington
Decca 466570
6:50
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G. Gould: “So You Want to Write a Fugue?”
Julliard String Quartet & Benson-Guy, s.; Darian, ms.; Bressler, ten.; Gramm, bs.
Sony 52679
3:55
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Bill begins with music for Good Friday from Haydn and Osvaldo Noé Golijov before returning to Bach’s St Matthew Passion in the middle of part two. Part two concludes with the release of Barabbas to the roaring crowd.
Haydn: The Seven Last Words of Our Savior on the Cross, I
Orchestra of St. Lukes/Rudel
Musicmasters 60238
6:18
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Golijov: La Pasión Según San Marcos (excerpts)
Orquesta La Pasión & Scola Cantorum de Caracas/Guinand
Hänssler Cl 98404
12:24
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J.S. Bach: St. Matthew Passion (excerpts)
Ghent Collegium Vocale & Orchestra/Herreweghe
HM 951676-78
2:47, 6:07, 2:17, 1:03, 5:52, 2:46, 6:47
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J.S. Bach: “Bist Du Bei Mir,” BWV 508
Orch./Sadin; Battle, s.
Sony 62035
2:19
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Before Bill concludes his dissection of St Matthew Passion, he opens with a section of The Well-Tempered Clavier. Part three of the Passion begins with Jesus being mocked by the soldiers of Pontius Pilate, leads to the crucifixion and death of Christ, and ends with Jesus laid in the tomb.
J.S. Bach: Prelude & Fugue No. 13 fr. the Well-Tempered Clavier
Fellner, p.
ECM 1853
3:18, 1:14
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J.S. Bach: St. Matthew Passion (excerpts)
Ghent Collegium Vocale & Orchestra/Herreweghe
HM 951676-78
4:49, 5:48, 3:29, 4:32, 3:48, 2:31, 7:43
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J.S. Bach: St. Matthew Passion (excerpts)
CSO & Chorus/Solti
Decca 425691
11:08
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