Exploring Music
- 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 American Masters, Part VIAn 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 SonatasBeethoven Quartets Berlioz, HectorBernstein, Leonard: The Composer (FREE)Bill's Keepers Boulanger, NadiaBrahms, Johannes, Part I (FREE)Brahms, Johannes, Part II (FREE)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, GeorgesEspañaFFamilies of Instruments Family Matters: All in the FamilyFauré, GabrielFit for a KingFleisher, Leon (FREE)Four SeasonsFranck, CésarFrom the Mountains to the SeaFrom This Mighty River: Music of the Children of J S BachGGame of Pairs, Part I Game of Pairs, Part IIGershwin, GeorgeGet the Picture (FREE)Gitana: Gypsy Music and Its InfluencesGreen and Pleasant Land Grieg and SibeliusHHandel, George FridericHaydn and Mozart QuartetsHaydn SymphoniesHHidden Gold, Part IHidden Gold, Part IIHindemith, 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 Tango (FREE)It Was a Lover and His Lass Italian Souvenirs (FREE)JJanáček, 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 I (FREE)Mahler, Gustav, Part II (FREE)Maiden 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 IProud 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 IShostakovich, Dmitri, Part IISlipped Through the Cracks Songs of Parting (FREE)Sounds of the City of Lights SoundtracksSpanish SchoolSpring is Here St-Saëns, Camille St. Matthew PassionStrauss, RichardStravinsky, IgorString Quartets from Fibich to Sibelius (FREE)Strings 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 IIThe 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 EastWWagner'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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Bach's Not-So-Minor B-Minor Mass Purchase Now
On this edition of Exploring Music, we examine Bach's B minor Mass, a not-so-minor masterpiece of tremendous proportions. Along the way, as we hear the mass itself, we'll explore some of Bach's earlier masses, composers who inspired Bach, and work from the future by Haydn, Beethoven, and Strauss that would draw from Bach's example.
This segment starts by examining the medieval masses that Bach used as inspiration when composing his B minor Mass. We begin with Desprez' Missa De Beata Vergine, and hear the "Kyrie" section. Next is Palestrina's "Kyrie" from Missa Papae Marcelli, a piece that, like many Palestrina pieces, proved the effectiveness of polyphonic music in the Church. We hear a very short excerpt from de Lassus' "Kyrie", then we finally listen to some Bach. It is not the B minor Mass, but in fact the Mass in F Major, which from the beginning bears resemblance to all three of the pieces we heard before. It is a wonderful piece indeed, and we will hear more of it later, but it is now time to jump into the Mass in B Minor itself. We hear the first three sections: "Kyrie eleison", "Christe eleison", and "Kyrie eleison". The segment then ends with a couple of excerpts from pieces that took away from the B minor Mass in some way: Haydn's happy-go-lucky Missa in Tempore Belli (Mass in Time of War), and Beethoven's magnificent Missa Solemnis in D Major.
Desprez: Missa De Beata Vergine – I. Kyrie; II. Christe; III. Kyrie
A Sei Voci Fabré/Garrus
Naïve 8892
3:17
Palestrina: Missa Papae Marcelli Kyrie
Oxford Camerata/Summerly
Naxos 8.553238
4:34
de Lassus: Kyrie
The Hilliard Ensemble
ECM 453841
Excerpt :53
Bach: Mass In F Major, BWV 233: I. Kyrie
Stuttgart Bach Collegium/Rilling, Stuttgart Gachinger Kantorei
Stampfli, Russ & Speiser
Profil/Hännssler 7037
4:51
Bach: Mass In B Minor, BWV 232
I. Kyrie eleison
II. Christe eleison
III. Kyrie eleison
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra & Chamber Chorus/ Shaw
McNair, Ziegler, Simpson, Aler, Stone, Paul
Telarc 80233
19:54 (excerpt 1:28, :35)
Haydn: Missa In Tempore Belli, H 22/9, “Paukenmesse” – I. Kyrie
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, RIAS Chamber Choir/Levine McNair, Ziegler
DG 435853
2:07
Beethoven: Missa Solemnis in D major Op. 123 – I. Kyrie
Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Rundfunkchor Leipzig/Masur
Tomowa-Sintow, Burmeister, Schreier, Polster
Berlin 9150
8:02
This segment again begins with a few comparisons to other work that inspired Bach's B minor Mass. We begin by hearing Palestrina's "Gloria" from Missa Papae Marcelli. Next is the same piece of mass from Bach's Mass in F Major, which demonstrates how like Palestrina, Bach used both of the "Gloria" texts together. Compare these pieces to what we hear next, the same segment from Bach's Mass in B minor. There is not enough time in this segment for the next piece, but we do have time to revisit Beethoven's Missa Solemnis, the "other great mountain range of masses". We hear the "Gloria", the same section we have heard all this segment. Next we return to Bach and hear the well-known Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D Major to end the segment on Bach. We hear the "Air" and "Gigue" sections.
Palestrina : Missa Papae Marcelli – Gloria
Oxford Camerata/Summerly
Naxos 8553238
5:37
Bach: Mass In F Major, BWV 233: Gloria
Stuttgart Bach Collegium/Rilling
Jakob Stampfli, Ingeborg Russ, & Elisabeth Speiser
Profil 7027
6:36
Bach: Mass in B minor, BWV 232 – Gloria in Excelsis; Et in terra pax; Laudamus te; Gracias agimus tibi; Domine Deus
Netherlands Bach Society/van Veldhoven
Mields, Zomer, White, Daniels, Harvey, Root, ft.
Channel Classics 25007
18:00
Beethoven: Missa Solemnis In D, Op. 123, Gloria; Qui Tollis
Chicago Symphony Orchestra & Chorus/Solti
Popp, Minton, Walker, Howell
London 455014
11:23
Bach: Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D Major, BWV 1068 – II. Air & V. Gigue
La Stravaganza Köln/Manze
Brilliant Classics 93668
7:00
English Chamber Orchestra/Barritt; Kennedy, v.
Anderson, ob.,Kennedy, vln., Lester, harpsichord
EMI Classics 56890
1:29
In this segment, we leap straight into Bach with his Missa brevis in A Major and the segments we focus on this time, "Qui tollis peccata mundi" and "Cum Sancto Spiritu". Next is the B minor Mass, and we hear the same sections, but unlike the instrumentation of the A Major Mass, which is placed in the upper register, the B minor Mass is very deep and sorrowful. Next is a bit of a surprise: a late-Romantic composer, Richard Strauss, quoting Bach's B minor Mass in Also Sprach Zarathustra--the quoted lines come immediately after the famous opening. We then hear the next few segments of the B minor Mass: "Credo", "Credo in Unum Deum", "Patrem Omnipotentem", and "Et In Unum Dominum". The segment then ends on Bach's Fugue No. 2 in C minor, a lovely little chamber piece.
Bach: Missa brevis in A Major, BWV 234
Qui tollis peccata mundi; Cum Sancto Spiritu
Academy of Ancient Music/Cleobury
Choir of King’s College, Cambridge
Lisa Milne, s.
EMI 56994
9:34
Johann Sebastian Bach: B minor Mass, BWV 232
Qui tollis peccata mundi; Qui sedes ad dextram Patris; Quoniam tu solus sanctus; Cum Sancto Spiritu
New Phiharmonia Orchestra & BBC Chorus/Klemperer
Baker; Krauss; Sutcliffe, oboe d’amore; Busch, horn
EMI 63364
20:34
Strauss: Also Sprach Zarathustra, op. 30
Von den Hinterweltlern
Chicago Symphony Orchestra/Solti
London/Decca 440618
3:36
Anon.: Graduel d’Aliénor de Bretagne: Credo in unum Deum
Ensemble Organum/Pérés
Harmonia mundi 290652
:51
Bach: B minor Mass, BWV 232
Credo; Credo In Unum Deum; Patrem Omnipotentem; Et In Unum Dominum
The Sixteen Choir & Orchestra/Christophers
Dubosc; James Bowman
Brilliant Classics 99361
8:16
Bach: Fugue No. 2 in C minor & Prelude No. 1 fr. WTC, Bk. 1
Lewis, Lester, vln; Martin, vla; Collins, g.; Johnson, bs.
Phillips 824 381
4:20, Prelude-excerpt 2:13
This segment begins with Bach once again, this time starting with Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen, a sad piece that served as the musical basis for part of B minor Mass. We hear it, then the sections of the B minor Mass it inspired: "Et Incarnatus est-Credo", "Crucifixus", "Et Resurrexit", "Et in Spiritum Sanctum", "Confiteor Unum Baptisma", and "Et Expecto Resurrectionem". This is the most serious and solemn part of the mass, and it shows, with its various elements explained to us in great detail afterwards. In order to properly understand the effect of the "Crucifixus" in particular, we hear a couple comparisons between different performances. Then, to lift our spirits, we go to the "Credo" from Mozart's Grosse Messe c-moll, a slightly more joyous version of the same part of the mass. Then, once again, we end on Bach, with "Ihr Menschen, Rühmet Gottes Liebe" and "Sei Lob Und Preis Mit Ehren", with the vocal parts replaced by cello.
Bach: Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen BWV 12
Academy of Ancient Music/Cleobury
Choir of King’s College, Cambridge College
Michael Chance; Michael George; Ian Bostridge;
Mark Radcliffe; Micaela Comberti; Peter Lissauer; David Blackadder
EMI 56994
8:42
Bach: Mass in B Minor, BWV 232
Et Incarnatus est-Credo; Crucifixus; Et Resurrexit; Et in Spiritum Sanctum; Confiteor Unum Baptisma; Et Expecto Resurrectionem
New Philharmonia Chorus and Orchestra/Giulini
Jenny Hill, Janet Baker, Peter Pears, John Shirley-Quirk
BBC 4062
23:24
Bach: Crucifixus (excerpt)
New Philharmonia Chorus and Orchestra/Giulini; Jenny Hill, Janet Baker, Peter Pears, John Shirley-Quirk
BBC 4062
:32
Bach: Crucifixus (excerpt)
Netherlands Bach Society/Van Veldhoven
Channel Classics 25007
:35
Bach: Crucifixus (excerpt)
Les musiciens du Louvre-Grenoble/Minkowski
Naïve V 5145
:42
Bach: Crucifixus (excerpt)
The Sixteen Choir & Orchestra/Christophers
Dubosc, Denley
Brilliant Classics 99361
:35
Bach: Crucifixus (excerpt)
New Philharmonia Orchestra/Klemperer
BBC Chorus
EMI 63364
2:04
Mozart: Grosse Messe c-moll KV 427 – Credo – Et incarnatus est
Bayerischen Rundfunks/Bernstein
Auger, s.
DG 431 791
7:50
Bach, arr. Koopman: Cantata #167, BWV 167, “Ihr Menschen, Rühmet Gottes Liebe” & “Sei Lob Und Preis Mit Ehren”
Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra/Koopman
Yo-Yo Ma, cello
Sony 60680
2:15, 2:29
At the start of this, the final segment, we hear an excerpt from the "Gloria" of Bach's B minor Mass, to herald in the last process of different composers treating the same text as Bach. We start that process again with the "Sanctus" section from Mozart's Mass in C minor followed by the same section of text from Haydn's Mass in Time of War and Beethoven's Missa Solemnis. Then we conclude Bach's B minor Mass, with "Sanctus", "Osanna", "Benedictus", "Osanna #2", "Agnus Dei", and "Dona Nobis Pacem", the grand finale. The Mass in B minor was never performed during Bach's lifetime, even though he worked on it for 25 years, and as such mysteries abound in regards to some of its specifics. But as described, the B minor Mass is best performed with that kind of mystery in mind.
Bach: Gloria fr. B Minor Mass (excerpt)
CSO/Solti
Lon 430353
:50
Mozart: Mass In C Minor, K 427, “Great” – Sanctus
Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks/Bernstein
DG 431 791
3:26
Haydn: Missa In Tempore Belli, “Paukenmesse” H 22/9 – Sanctus
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, RIAS Chamber Choir/Levine
McNair, Ziegler, Blochwitz, Schmidt
DG 435 853
2:55
Beethoven: Missa Solemnis In D, Op. 123 – Sanctus; Benedictus
Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus/Solti
Popp, Minton, Walker, Howell
London 455014
16:48
Bach: Mass In B Minor – Sanctus; Osanna; Benedictus; Osanna #2; Agnus Dei; Dona Nobis Pacem
Atlanta Symphony and Chamber Chorus/Shaw
McNair, Ziegler,Simpson, Aler, Stone, Paul
Telarc 80233
25:43 ( excerpts :57; 3:05)
Bach: Mass in B Minor – Qui Tollis Pecatta Mundi
Netherlands Bach Society/Van Veldhoven
Channel Classics 5007
3:05