Professor Carol

Tulsa Symphony Season Preview Pt 2

Wed, 18 Jul 2007 00:11:00 GMT

The Tulsa Symphony Season Preview continues with Part Two.

Tulsa Symphony Season Preview Pt 1

Thu, 5 Jul 2007 20:22:00 GMT

A look at the Tulsa Symphony's 2007-2008 concert programs.

Rosssini's Petit Messe Solonnelle

Fri, 18 May 2007 17:25:00 GMT

Rossini, the master of bel canto opera, retired young, rich, and famous. Decades later, in old age and ill health, Rossini returned to composition and crafted a liturgical mass as his final work, a work both spiritual and theatrical, Petit Messe Solonnelle.

Works Discussed: Rossini's Petit Messe Solonnelle

The Essential Tchaikovsky

Mon, 7 May 2007 19:02:00 GMT

Tchaikovsky's music holds a sacred place in Russian culture. Dmitri Shostakovich said, "Without Tchaikovsky we could not endure our sorrows." Professor Carol examines his Fifth Symphony and considers his life, his personal struggles, and his professional successes.

Works Discussed: Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5, Symphony No. 4, The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, The Queen of Spades

Music of the American Spirit 2

Sat, 28 Apr 2007 14:18:00 GMT

Professor Carol considers the question "What is Music of the American Spirit?" by considering themes across two centuries of American choral repertoire. She discusses the history, customs, and geography of America that inspire our diverse choral music, from Colonial times to the present, emphasizing texts of John Stirling Walker and Eric Johns, tunebooks and hymnals, liturgy, folk song, and spirituals.

Works Discussed: Leonard Bernstein: Mass; Aaron Copland: The Tender Land; Randall Thompson: "Alleluia"; choral works by David Conte, Hubert Bird, Ned Rorem, William Billings, and Stephen Paulus.

Music of the American Spirit

Wed, 18 Apr 2007 19:53:00 GMT

John Gibson's choral work "Mockingbird Sings" utilizes Native American texts of the Yuma Zuni, Laguna, and Apache tribes. The title refers to the individual charged with remembering events and traditions and his recounting of this oral history in songs and stories. In this interview, Gibson explains his approach to setting these unusual texts to music and factors that distinguish American music from its European roots.

The Arts District Chorale performs "Mockingbird Sings."

Works Discussed: John Gibson's "Mockingbird Sings"

Pulling Out All the Stops

Mon, 9 Apr 2007 20:10:00 GMT

Professor Carol talks with Mary Preston, the resident organist of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, about the Lay Family Concert Organ. The organ built by C.B. Fisk for the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center is one of the finest instruments ever built. Mary Preston joins the Dallas Wind Symphony in a concert to be featured on Michael Barone's syndicated radio show "Pipedreams.";

Works Discussed: Hindemith Kammermusik No. 7; Walton "Crown Imperial"; Guilmant Finale from Sonata in D Minor

Programming the Recital

Mon, 2 Apr 2007 20:43:00 GMT

Chopin would have been surprised at the idea of a solo piano recital in a concert hall. Professor Carol talks about the programming of recitals and works of Bach-Busoni, Beethoven, Chopin, and Debussy.

Works Discussed: Bach-Busoni Chorale Preludes; Beethoven Sonata No. 21, Opus 53 ("Waldstein"); Chopin Sonata No. 2; Debussy "Children's Corner"

Schumann's Papillon and Fantasy

Mon, 12 Mar 2007 20:29:00 GMT

Professor Carol gives a biography of Schumann's early years, comparing Schumann's youthful work Papillons with his later Fantasy in C Major against the backdrop of his courtship of the young pianist Clara Wieck and the emerging Romantic image of the artist.

Works Discussed: Schumann: Papillons, Op. 2; Fantasy in C Major, Op. 17

They All Came to Hollywood

Tue, 6 Mar 2007 16:15:00 GMT

Hollywood is heir to the European musical traditions. The classic films were scored by composers trained in Europe and schooled in the classical traditions and by immigrant composers who escaped Germany after their work was denounced by the Nazis as "degenerate music" (Entartete Musik).

Works Discussed: Bernard Herrmann: Psycho, Vertigo; Erich Korngold: Robin Hood; Aaron Copland: Red Pony; Virgil Thompson: The Plow that Broke the Plains

Bands of the Battle

Fri, 2 Mar 2007 21:41:00 GMT

Military music inspires the troops, facilitates maneuver, intimidates the enemy, sends signals, marks daily events of camp life, entertains the troops in their leisure time, and comprises an important part of the pageantry and tradition of military life.

Works Discussed: Scotland the Brave, Yankee Doodle, Mozart's Abduction from the Seraglio, Bugle Calls, The Army Song

Big Band Swing

Wed, 7 Feb 2007 21:38:00 GMT

Carol interviews Dean Bouras, arranger for the Dallas Wind Symphony Big Band concerts, and John Trapani, leader of the John Trapani Big Band about the era, the music, and its popularity today.

Works Discussed: Glenn Miller, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Woody Herman, Norman Leyden

Tales of the Young Brahms

Wed, 31 Jan 2007 20:32:00 GMT

A youthful Brahms finds his signature style early in the Opus 10 Ballades based on the Scottish Ballad "Eduard" by Herder.

Works Discussed: Brahms: Four Ballades, Op. 10

One Generation to Another

Wed, 24 Jan 2007 18:28:00 GMT

Student players in the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra Wind Symphony join the professionals of the Dallas Wind Symphony for a "side by side" concert, featuring music of Dmitri Shostakovich, Paul Hindemith, Donald Grantham, Dan Welcher, and Giovanni Gabrieli.

Beethoven the Musical Wordsmight

Tue, 23 Jan 2007 21:35:00 GMT

Beethoven sliced and diced his themes, using musical rhetoric that rebelled against the natural melodic style of Mozart and that charted a path into 19th-century Romanticism. Professor Carol uses the Piano Sonata in E-Flat, Op. 31, to show how he did it.

Works Discussed: Beethoven: Piano Sonata in E-Flat, Op. 31

Slavic, Exotic, Romantic 2

Mon, 15 Jan 2007 19:43:00 GMT

Slavic composers Smetana, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Rachmaninov cared deeply about their national roots and national identity, and each knew how to seduce the ear of listeners with gorgeous melody, ravishing orchestration, and a heart-racing sense of the dramatic.

Works Discussed: Smetana's The Moldau, Rimsky-Korsakov's Sheherazade, and Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 2

Slavic, Exotic, Romantic 1

Mon, 15 Jan 2007 19:39:00 GMT

Works Discussed: Smetana's The Moldau, Rimsky-Korsakov's Sheherazade, and Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 2

Just a Few Notes 2

Tue, 19 Dec 2006 20:44:00 GMT

The tone poem of the late romantic era painted pictures and portrayed stories with a rich orchestral style that became the model for film music. In Part 2, Professor Carol explains features of John Williams' famous film scores and how we hear music differently when it accompanies drama.

Works Discussed: John Williams, E.T., Schindler's List, Jaws, Superman, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Harry Potter

Just a Few Notes 1

Tue, 19 Dec 2006 20:42:00 GMT

The tone poem of the late romantic era painted pictures and portrayed stories with a rich orchestral style that became the model for film music. In Part 1, Professor Carol explains Gustav Holst's The Planets and some of the techniques that lead to the style of John Williams.

Works Discussed: Gustav Holst, The Planets; John Williams, Olympic Theme and Fanfare

America's Classical Music Pt 3

Wed, 6 Dec 2006 16:53:00 GMT

What's this program about?
The final segment of Glenn Mitchell's interview of Carol on KERA Radio turns to the Library of Congress's American Memory Project, Bill Monroe, John Fogerty, Harry Partch, and Scott Joplin.

America's Classical Music Pt 2

Wed, 6 Dec 2006 16:51:00 GMT

What's this program about?
Glenn Mitchell's interview of Carol on KERA Radio continues in Part 2 with a discussion of the Sacred Harp (shape-note singing), Stephen Foster, American film music, Louis Armstrong, Broadway, and Ernest Tubb.

America's Classical Music Pt 1

Wed, 6 Dec 2006 16:49:00 GMT

What's this program about?
Carol pays tribute to the late Glenn Mitchell with a reprise of her appearance in September 2000 on his radio program, reproduced here as a three-part podcast courtesy of KERA Radio. Carol and Glenn begin their discussion of America's highly varied musical heritage with reference to William Billings, Jimmie Rodgers, Charles Ives, and Frank Zappa.

Circus Maximus Part II

Tue, 7 Nov 2006 21:58:00 GMT

What's this program about?
Professor Carol continues her interview of John Corigliano and Jerry Junkin. Corigliano talks about his approach to composition and how he, and other top composers, are turning to wind bands for an exciting new sound.

Works Discussed: Corigliano, Circus Maximus

Circus Maximus

Tue, 7 Nov 2006 21:56:00 GMT

What's this program about?
Professor Carol interviews two friends and collaborators, composer John Corigliano and Maestro Jerry Junkin. Circus Maximus, Corigliano's explosive third symphony, vividly portrays ancient Rome's fascination with perpetual entertainment and our own culture's similar obsession.

Works Discussed: Corigliano, Circus Maximus

Chopin and Liszt in Paris

Tue, 7 Nov 2006 21:16:00 GMT

In post-revolutionary France, the piano had replaced the harpsichord and the driving force behind the arts was moving from the court to the salons of Paris high society. Two composers, Liszt and Chopin, capitalized on these changes in very different ways and between them defined the future of piano music.

An Interview with Groucho

Tue, 24 Oct 2006 17:32:00 GMT

Professor Carol interviews Groucho, the singing parrot who stole the show at the Dallas Wind Symphony's 2006 season opener. Groucho talks about his life on stage and reprises his performance at the Meyerson Symphony Center.

Works Discussed: Foster, Camp Town Races; Cohan, Yankee Doodle Dandy; Alouette

Perceiving Percy

Thu, 19 Oct 2006 17:03:00 GMT

Percy Grainger's life story reveals a most unusual personality who left an enduring legacy as a virtuoso pianist, an inventor of instruments, a collector of English folk songs, and a composer of music for wind band.

Works Discussed: Grainger, Lincolnshire Posy, The Immovable Do, Molly on the Shore.

The Story Behind the Chopin Ballades

Mon, 25 Sep 2006 19:35:00 GMT

A ballad tells a story, and this popular literary form was appropriated by Romantic composers into songs. Carol explains how the ballad was transformed by Chopin into solo piano works.

Works Discussed: Chopin, Ballade No. 4 in F Minor; Chopin, Impromptu No. 2; Schiller, Der Taucher (The Diver).

The Taste of Mozart

Mon, 25 Sep 2006 16:26:00 GMT

Carol discusses Jeffrey Kahane's performance with the Fort Worth Symphony, performance practices of piano concertos in Mozart's time, cadenzas, and how stylistic conventions of the Classical era affected the ability of one person to take the dual role of soloist and conductor.

Works Discussed: Mozart, Overture to The Magic Flute; Mozart, Piano Concert No. 24 in C Minor (K. 491)

Dancing Up a Storm

Wed, 20 Sep 2006 19:39:00 GMT

Professor Carol explains various uses of dance forms: the light-hearted dances used by Rossini to strike a contrast with the serious dramatic action of William Tell, the tango combined by David Mackey with machine music, and the Renaissance dance forms comprising Susato's Danserye.

Works Discussed: Rossini, William Tell; Mackey, Redline Tango; Honegger, Pacific 231; Susato, The Danserye.

Getting To Know the Dallas Wind Symphony

Sun, 20 Aug 2006 15:52:00 GMT

The Dallas Wind Symphony is the leading professional civilian band in the United States. Professor Carol interviews one of the ensemble's saxophonists, David Lovrien, about Sousa, the DWS web site, podcasting, playing under Maestro Jerry Junkin, and more.