The Joy of Classical Music

Japanese composer Joe Hisaishi is probably best know for the 11 Hayayo Miyazaki films he’s scored. In this episode I’ll be playing a variety of musical selections from 6 of those films as well as a brand new recording of his Symphony Number 3: Metaphysica, a work that explores existence, mortality, spirit, transformation, and the porous boundary between the material and other worlds.

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra perform Joe Hisaishi - Bygone Days from Porco Rosso (1992)

London Symphony Orchestra performs Joe Hisaishi - One Summers Day from Spirited Away (2001)

WDR Funkhausorchester performs Joe Hisaishi - The Legend of Ashitaka from Princess Mononoke (1997)

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra perform Joe Hisaishi - Path of the Wind from My Neighbor Totoro (1988)

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra perform Joe Hisaishi - My Neighbor Totoro from My Neighbor Totoro (1988)

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra perform Joe Hisaishi - Merry-Go-Round of Life Symphonic Variation from Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra performs Joe Hisaishi - Symphony No. 3: Metaphysica.

I. Existence
II. Where are we going?
III. Substance

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.

New Adventures in Music is a series within a series devoted to the thrill of musical discovery and the joy of listening. This week I’m focusing on three works – a brand new album of Liszt works by Russian pianist Yulianna Avdeeva, the Tallis Scholars legendary 1980 recording of Gregorio Allegri’s Have Mercy, and Ukrainian composer Victoria Poleva’s Simurgh-Quintet, a work that was inspired by a 13th-century Sufi poem called The Conference of the Birds.

Yulianna Avdeeva performs Franz Liszt – Hungarian Rhapsody No. 17.

Yulianna Avdeeva performs Franz Liszt – St François de Paule: Marchant sur les flots.

The Tallis Scholars perform Gregorio Allegri – Miserere.

Yulianna Avdeeva performs Franz Liszt – Piano Sonata in B Minor.

Victoria Poleva – Simurgh-Quintet.

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.