The Joy of Classical Music

Released on Nonesuch records in 1966, The Dove Descending is an album of choral works by the Canby Singers. It was greeted with little fanfare and quickly fell into obscurity where it remains to this day. But obscurity does not mean unworthy. The Dove Descending is a masterpiece and well due a rediscovery.

The Canby Singers perform Lennon and McCartney - Chorus: "Last Night I Said" (Please, Please Me) from album The Baroque Beatles.

The Canby Singers - The Dove Descending (Nonesuch)

Johannes Brahms - O Süsser Mai, Op. 93a, No. 3

Paul Hindemith - Frauenklage

Don Carlo Di Gesualdo Di Venosa - O Vos Omnes

Peter Warlock - Corpus Christi

Hans Leo Hassler - Cantate Domino
Hans Leo Hassler - O Aufenthalt Meins Leben

Paul Hindemith - Six Chansons

Claudio Monteverdi - Zefiro Torna
Claudio Monteverdi - Ohimè Se Tanto Amate

Elliot Carter - Heart Not So Heavy As Mine
Elliot Carter - Musicians Wrestle Everywhere

Johannes Brahms - Ach, Arme Welt, Op. 110, No. 2
Johannes Brahms - Das Mädchen, Op. 93a, No. 2
Johannes Brahms - Ich Aber Bin Elend, Op. 110, No. 1

Claudin De Sermisy - Au Joly Boys

Igor Stravinsky - The Dove Descending Breaks The Air.



Exploring classical music in all its glories and complexities. From the sweetest melodic to the cutting edge of the avant-garde... from the deep past to the freshest contemporary. All of it. The joy of classical music.

I’ve never been terribly attracted to Bach’s music, but that all changed the first time I heard Gould’s recording. My tastes are modernist and Gould’s contemporary interpretation of Bach’s work hit all the right notes for me and I still clearly remember the excitement that I felt as I listened. But it was more than that......Gould took me out myself, and those kinds of musical experiences are rare and to be treasured.

Glenn Gould performs J S Bach - The Goldberg Variations.

Exploring classical music in all its glories and complexities. From the sweetest melodic to the cutting edge of the avant-garde... from the deep past to the freshest contemporary. All of it. The joy of classical music.

Over the course of this Podcast series I’ve delved into all kinds of odd corners. Composers inspired by esoteric spirituality and science fiction, music of the paranormal and the strange world of outsider composers to name but a few. Then there’s one of my favourite episodes - the search for the Cloud Atlas Sextet - the fictional work at the heart of one of my favourite novels, David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas. All of which has been a lot of fun and following in the spirit of that tradition, this week it’s pop and rock music that’s cross-pollinated with classical.


Alice Sarah Ott performs Claude Debussy - Reverie.

Larry Clinton’s Big Band and vocalist Bea Wain perform Clinton and Debussy - My Reverie.

The Boston Symphony Orchestra performs Rachmaninoff - Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 18: II. Adagio sostenuto.

Eric Carmen - All By Myself.

The Summit Brass and Pianist Theodore Lichtmann perform Paul Hidemith - Sonata for Tuba and Piano.

PaulMcCartney - Blackbird.




London Symphony Orchestra performs Aaron Copland - Fanfare for the Common Man.

Emerson, Lake and Palmer perform Aaron Copland - Fanfare for the Common Man.

Nick Ward - Piano ft. Glenn Gould.

Glenn Gould performs Johann Sebastian Bach - Goldberg Variations (1955 Recording): Variation 5 a 1 ovvero 2 Clav.

The Oxtet perform Paul Hindemith - Sonata for Bass Tuba and Piano.

Exploring classical music in all its glories and complexities. From the sweetest melodic to the cutting edge of the avant-garde... from the deep past to the freshest contemporary. All of it. The joy of classical music.

Unlike Loused Ferranc, there was little support from either family or husbands for Germaine Taillefrre. Nevertheless, this supremely talented composer found her way and led the vanguard of the new European music that arose from the wake of the first world war.

The Foundation Philharmonic Orchestra performs Germaine Tailleferre - Petite Suite.

Harpist Claudia Antonelli performs Germaine Tailleferre - Sonata for Harp.

Nicole Narboni and mark Clinton perform Germaine Tailleferre - Jeux de plein air.

The Morgenstern Trio perform Germaine Tailleferre - Piano Trio.

Soprani Maria Lagios and pianist Elizabeth Buccheri perform Germaine Tailleferre - 6 Chansons françaises.

The Tailleferre Ensemble perform Germaine Tailleferre - Sonate Champêtre.

Soprano Arleen Auger and The Paris Opera Orchestra perform Germaine Tailleferre - Concerto de la Fidélité.


Exploring classical music in all its glories and complexities. From the sweetest melodic to the cutting edge of the avant-garde... from the deep past to the freshest contemporary. All of it. The joy of classical music.

Born in an age when women were largely excluded from the world of classical music, Louise Farrenc was an anomaly. Though her talent was considerable, talent alone was not enough to penetrate the male dominated institutions of the 19th century - and here luck was her side. Unusually for the time, her parents supported her in every way they could, as did her husband. Then there was her indomitable spirit. When she ran up against the common sexism the age, she stood up to it and beat it down.

Sharon Su performs Louise Farrenc: Étude, Op. 26: No. 10 in F-Sharp Minor.

Joanne Polk performs Louise Farrenc - Air russe varié.

Linda Di Carlo, Amedeo Cicchese and Sergey Galaktionov perform Louise Farrenc -Cello Sonata in B-Flat Major, Op. 46.

The North German Radio Symphony, Hannover performs Louise Farrenc - Symphony No. 3 in G Minor, Op. 36.

Exploring classical music in all its glories and complexities. From the sweetest melodic to the cutting edge of the avant-garde... from the deep past to the freshest contemporary. All of it. The joy of classical music.