Catalog Search Results
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English
Description
The development of brass instruments from the lowly cow horn. Although trumpet fanfares and brass bands are relatively recent in the history of music, even the bone or wooden ancestors of the trumpet were associated with royalty, pomp, or war. David Munrow explains how pitch variations are achieved with these brasses.
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English
Description
When you listen to music, multiple areas of your brain become engaged and active. But when you actually play an instrument, that activity becomes more like a full-body brain workout. What's going on? Educator Anita Collins explains the fireworks that go off in musicians' brains when they play and examines some of the long-term positive effects of this mental workout. (Directed by Sharon Colman Graham, narrated by Addison Anderson, music by Peter Gosling)...
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English
Description
Paying homage to the West coast and to some of the most important musicians who have spent a major part of their career there, this collection of live performances ranges from clubs to festivals to TV studio engagements. Artists include Art Pepper, Zoot Sims, Chet Baker, Phineas Newborn Trio, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Shelly Manne Quintet and Wes Montgomery.
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English
Description
In this program, formal classical composition is redefined in terms of contemporary European and Indian music traditions. Steve Martland applies a strictly defined set of principles to construct a minimalist composition for a 12-musician rock ensemble, while Wajahat Khan creates a piece for himself, on sarod, and the Medici String Quartet in which ragas provide the rules of composition and Western musical notation captures the score for those who,...
8) Flamenco
Language
English
Description
A magnificent panorama of Flamenco and its performers, for whom the rhythms and lyrics are inherited folklore and part of daily life-but the techniques are studied. There are, in fact, four distinct schools of Flamenco in Spain, filmed here away from tourists in the places where the artists perform for their own.
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English
Description
In this program, the Trio Solisti practice, interpret, and perform two of Beethoven's piano trios, the "Archduke" Trio and the "Ghost" Trio. Pianist Jon Klibonoff, cellist Alexis Pia Gerlach, and violinist Maria Bachmann discuss the challenges of transforming the composer's score on paper into a vibrant performance. Footage of their work sessions in the studio is mixed with highlights of their concert before a live audience.
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English
Description
This program presents the wide range of instruments found in the percussion section of an orchestra-timpani, side drum, bass drum, cymbal, tam-tam, tubular bells, and xylophone-in performance. Works by composers from Mozart to Stravinsky illustrate the special effects achieved by using the various instruments.
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English
Description
Using Mozart's lively operatic piece, this program illustrates how composers weave together musical ideas to bring contrast and texture to their music. Abrupt pizzicatos, resounding fanfares, and languid melodies presented as a series of quick edits illustrate the point, along with an uninterrupted playback of a portion of the Overture.
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English
Description
The biwa, a pear-shaped, wooden lute, is played using a triangular plectrum. With no structured tuning, the instrument is adjusted to complement the player's voice, allowing for a highly personalized music. This program showcases the sounds of one of Japan's oldest stringed instruments through performances by Yoshiko Sakata, a noted biwa player and composer who plays both traditional songs and original compositions.
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English
Description
This program illustrates how melody is used to move musical pieces along in one continuous flow. Beginning with a long, slow strain, we see and hear Ravel's melody progress through a series of changes and variations created by the addition of different instruments. The result is a musical piece replete with obvious shade and tone.
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English
Description
Hideaki Kuribayashi was a disciple of koto legend Tadao Sawai and is considered the finest living player of this traditional Japanese stringed instrument. In this program, interviews with Kuribayashi are intercut with performances from his concerts in Nagano and Kyoto in 2000. Kuribayashi comments on the history and art of koto music and discusses the creation of his own original musical compositions.
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English
Description
In this program, the orchestra uses lighthearted cafe music from the Milhaud ballet set in a Paris nightclub to illustrate how the use of various keys adds color to the musical landscape. Different instruments, performing the pieces in major and minor keys, give listeners a firsthand glimpse into how key changes add interest to music.
17) The Harp
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English
Description
This program discusses the development of this ethereal instrument in 8th-century Ireland. We see how Irish monks introduced the harp to Europe, and follow its growth from a small, hand-held instrument into the standard 75-pound, 46-string instrument played today. Works by Handel, Mozart, Liszt, and Debussy, as well as music from Ireland and Switzerland, illustrate the harp's use through time.
18) The Piano
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English
Description
In 1701, Bartolomeo Christofori, a musician employed by the Medicis, invented the first piano by modifying a harpsichord. This program discusses how this popular instrument has changed over the years (except for its hammers), and how its flexibility and expressiveness have inspired composers such as Beethoven, Schumann, Liszt, and Bartok.
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English
Description
Steven Bernstein is a trumpeter/slide trumpeter, bandleader, arranger, and composer who lives outside of musical convention. His influences and collaborators include, Lou Reed, Sex Mob, Sam Rivers, Levon Helm, and Trey Anastasio. In this Solos: The Jazz Sessions performance Bernstein dedicates spontaneously improvised pieces to a variety of culture makers including Lenny Bruce, Sly Stone, Marianne Faithful and Leonard Cohen.
20) Frederic Chopin
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English
Description
Inspired by Paganini's dedication to a soloist instrument, the violin, Chopin decided early in his career to write only for piano. This beautifully produced program presents a biography of the Polish-born child prodigy and composer who blended Slavic influences into his works. Sketches, paintings, and cinematic treatments of Chopin and his times complement the music. Archival footage includes Arthur Rubinstein, Alexis Weissenberg, and Byron Janis...