Best Joshua Weilerstein Podcasts (2023)

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Sticky Notes: The Classical Music Podcast

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Dvorak Symphony No. 9, "From the New World" - LIVE with the Aalborg Symphony! 1:42:05

20d ago1:42:05

1:42:05

I had the great joy to do my first ever live edition of Sticky Notes last month with the Aalborg Symphony in Denmark. For this concert, I chose a piece that is extremely close to my heart, Dvorak's New World Symphony. The story of the New World Symphony is a fascinating one. The symphony was the result of an extraordinary series of events, with Dvo…

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Sticky Notes: The Classical Music Podcast

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Lutoslawski Concerto for Orchestra 1:02:21

22d ago1:02:21

1:02:21

Throughout the history of Western Classical Music, folk music has imprinted itself as an invaluable resource for composers from all over the world. In fact, it’s easier to make a list of composers who never used folk music in their compositions than it is to make a list of the composers who did! This tradition began long before the 20th century, bu…

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Sticky Notes: The Classical Music Podcast

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R. Schumann Piano Concerto 48:17

1M ago48:17

48:17

In January of 1839, Clara Wieck, Robert's future wife, wrote to Robert, “Don’t take it amiss if I tell you that I’ve been seized by the desire to encourage you to write for orchestra. Your imagination and your spirit are too great for the weak piano.” Clara knew that she would have struck a nerve with Robert, whose history with the piano was full o…

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Sticky Notes: The Classical Music Podcast

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Brahms Violin Concerto 50:26

1M ago50:26

50:26

Brahms’ violin concerto is one of the most difficult works for any violinist to tackle. It is as virtuosic as the hardest piece of Paganini as well as being as musically complex as a Brahms symphony. It takes most violinists years or even decades to feel comfortable with this piece, and many violinists consider it a kind of Mount Everest. Why? What…

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Sticky Notes: The Classical Music Podcast

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What Does Music Mean? 52:27

1M ago52:27

52:27

Today is a bit of an unusual episode. Last month I was invited by the British Society of Aesthetics to address their annual conference. My task was to give a lecture on whatever topic I wanted, having to do with music. So, considering it was an Academic Philosophy conference, I chose the easiest and most straightforward topic possible - What Does M…

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Sticky Notes: The Classical Music Podcast

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William Grant Still Symphony No. 1., "Afro-American" 1:06:34

2M ago1:06:34

1:06:34

On October 29th, 1931, The Rochester Philharmonic presented the world premiere of a new symphony by the composer William Grant Still. A symphonic premiere is always something to look out for in musical history, but this one had an even greater significance. The premiere of Wiliam Grant Still’s First Symphony, subtitled “Afro American,” was the firs…

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Sticky Notes: The Classical Music Podcast

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(Part 2) - The Music of World War II and the Holocaust with "Time's Echo" writer Jeremy Eichler 55:13

2M ago55:13

55:13

This is another episode where I highly recommend listening to Part 1 from last week before listening to this episode! It was a great honor to speak with the critic and cultural historian Jeremy Eichler about his remarkable new book "Time's Echo." In today's episode, we speak about Richard Strauss' Metamorphosen, as well as the complicated and hotly…

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Sticky Notes: The Classical Music Podcast

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The Music of World War II and the Holocaust with "Time's Echo" writer Jeremy Eichler (Part 1) 57:45

2M ago57:45

57:45

I had the great pleasure and honor this week(and next week) to speak with the author of the new book Time's Echo Jeremy Eichler. The book chronicles four composers and their varied reactions to World War II and the Holocaust, including Schoenberg, Strauss, Shostakovich, and Britten. This week we talked about the historical symbiosis between Germans…

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Sticky Notes: The Classical Music Podcast

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Mahler Symphony No. 4, Part 2 59:48

3M ago59:48

59:48

If you haven’t listened to Part 1 of this episode about Mahler's 4th symphony, I highly recommend doing that, as every movement of this symphony builds to the "Heavenly Life" of the last movement. On Part 2, we'll be going through the 3rd and 4th movements. Mahler told his friend Natalie Bauer-Lechner that the 3rd movement of the symphony was creat…

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Sticky Notes: The Classical Music Podcast

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Mahler Symphony No. 4, Part 1 51:49

3M ago51:49

51:49

After the truly heavenly slow movement of Mahler’s 4th symphony, a soprano emerges and sings a song literally called “The Heavenly Life.” It is a symphonic ending like no other, one that leaves the listener peaceful and contented after taking a long(but not as long as usual) and winding journey with Gustav Mahler and his 4th symphony. The 4th symph…

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Sticky Notes: The Classical Music Podcast

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Beethoven String Quartet, Op. 132, Part 2 44:37

3M ago44:37

44:37

If you joined me last week, you heard about the severe intestinal illness that Beethoven suffered from during the year of 1825. Beethoven thought that he was near death; he was spitting up blood, in terrible pain, and regularly begged his doctor for help. Ensconced in Baden, a Viennese suburb known for its nature and calm, Beethoven slowly and mira…

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Sticky Notes: The Classical Music Podcast

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Beethoven String Quartet, Op. 132, Part 1 45:01

3M ago45:01

45:01

I had long hesitated to write a show about any of Beethoven’s late string quartets. These are pieces that professional quartets spend the better part of their careers grappling with, struggling with, failing with, and much more rarely, succeeding with. They are some of the most extraordinary pieces of art ever conceived of. 5 quartets, Opus 127, Op…

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Sticky Notes: The Classical Music Podcast

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Nielsen Symphony No. 4, "Inextinguishable" 59:36

3M ago59:36

59:36

At the top of the score for the Danish composer Carl Nielsen’s 4th symphony, he wrote: “Music is life, and like it, inextinguishable.” This could easily be the shortest podcast I’ve ever done. I could leave you with that quote and then play you the beginning of the symphony, and you would understand everything Nielsen wanted to portray in this rema…

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Sticky Notes: The Classical Music Podcast

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Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night's Dream 52:41

4M ago52:41

52:41

The stories, legends, and myths about the trials and travails of composers lives are legion, like Beethoven’s battles against fate, Mozart and Schubert’s struggles with finances, Brahms’ failures with women, Mahler’s troubles with just about everyone, and Shostakovich’s near fatal interactions with the government. These stories tend to add to the g…

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Sticky Notes: The Classical Music Podcast

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Elgar Cello Concerto 52:24

4M ago52:24

52:24

Elgar's Cello Concerto was composed in the shadow of World War 1. It was a piece that marked a profound shift in Elgar's outlook on life and music, and was his last major work before a long silence caused by the death of his wife Alice. It is a piece of remarkable passion for a composer like Elgar, and never fails to move the audience with its comb…

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Sticky Notes: The Classical Music Podcast

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Romeo and Juliet in Classical Music 49:19

4M ago49:19

49:19

The "love theme" from Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet Fantasy-Overture is one of the most famous themes in the history of Western Classical Music. The story it accompanies might be the most famous Western play ever written. Just like Eine Kleine Nachtmusik seems to define the powdered wig era of classical music to the general public, the passionate …

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Sticky Notes: The Classical Music Podcast

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Mozart Symphony No. 38, "Prague" 53:28

4M ago53:28

53:28

Very few cities have had a relationship with a single person, especially a foreigner, like the city of Prague and its love affair with Mozart. Here’s what Lorenzo Da Ponte, Mozart’s librettist for some of his greatest operas, said about it: "It is not easy to convey an adequate conception of the enthusiasm of the Bohemians for [Mozart's] music. The…

Podcasts Worth a Listen

Joshua Weilerstein Podcasts

Podcasts Worth a Listen

1
Sticky Notes: The Classical Music Podcast

Joshua Weilerstein

1
Dvorak Symphony No. 9, "From the New World" - LIVE with the Aalborg Symphony! 1:42:05

1
Lutoslawski Concerto for Orchestra 1:02:21

1
R. Schumann Piano Concerto 48:17

1
Brahms Violin Concerto 50:26

1
What Does Music Mean? 52:27

1
William Grant Still Symphony No. 1., "Afro-American" 1:06:34

1
(Part 2) - The Music of World War II and the Holocaust with "Time's Echo" writer Jeremy Eichler 55:13

1
The Music of World War II and the Holocaust with "Time's Echo" writer Jeremy Eichler (Part 1) 57:45

1
Mahler Symphony No. 4, Part 2 59:48

1
Mahler Symphony No. 4, Part 1 51:49

1
Beethoven String Quartet, Op. 132, Part 2 44:37

1
Beethoven String Quartet, Op. 132, Part 1 45:01

1
Nielsen Symphony No. 4, "Inextinguishable" 59:36

1
Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night's Dream 52:41

1
Elgar Cello Concerto 52:24

1
Romeo and Juliet in Classical Music 49:19

1
Mozart Symphony No. 38, "Prague" 53:28

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