Sticky Notes: The Classical Music Podcast

The Life and Music of George Gershwin

Imagine a beautiful painting of the sea. Now imagine that painting transformed into 23 minutes of whirling, exciting, fantastical, and thrilling music.  That's what you get when you hear Debussy's masterpiece, La Mer(the sea).  Join conductor and host Joshua Weilerstein as we go through nearly every minute of this amazing piece of music, talking about Debussy's brilliant orchestration and his incredible depictions of the sea itself.  Thanks so much for listening, and I hope you enjoy it!  

Join conductor and host Joshua Weilerstein as we explore 11 master composers whose music were suppressed by the Third Reich.  These are amazing stories of composers who either continued writing throughout the Holocaust until their deaths, or were suppressed or banned by the Nazi regime.  I'm also thrilled to welcome James Conlon, the founder of the Orel Foundation, for an illuminating interview about discovering and advocating for these composers.  Thanks for listening!  

A Halloween-themed episode of Sticky Notes today with the incredible composer HK "Nali" Gruber!  Gruber is one of the greatest of 20th and 21st century composers!  We talk a lot about Gruber's background writing resistance and subersive-themed music(that was also tonal!) in the late 60's and early 70's, and of course, his ingenious, hilarious, and creepy Pandemonium, Frankenstein!!  This was a true joy to record and I hope you enjoy it as well!

Join conductor and host Joshua Weilerstein as we take a deep dive into Brahms' massive final symphony.  We'll explore the secret messages possibly encoded into the symphony, the battle between conservatism and progressivism that marked Brahms' whole compositional life, the way Brahms was both a visionary and a traditionalist, and much much more.  Thanks so much for listening!  

Part 2 of The Week of the Voice is here with the incredible bass-baritone Eric Owens!  As you can imagine, we talk about the joy of getting to play bad guys in opera, his professional-level oboe playing(!!), conducting, the future of classical music, and the art of getting into character.  If you've never heard Eric Owens sing before, you're missing out, but its also a treat to hear him speak on any topic.  Thanks for listening!  

Welcome to the Week of the Voice!  Join conductor and host Joshua Weilerstein, back from a brief illness-inspired hiatus(!), as he welcomes in the amazing Mezzo-Soprano Sasha Cooke for a chat about Mahler, about singing opera versus recitals, preparation, text, traveling, contemporary music, and improv comedy!  This is the first of TWO interviews this week, so please stay tuned for an interview with the incredible bass-baritone Eric Owens, coming out on Thursday! 

Join conductor and host Joshua Weilerstein as we dive into the incredible stories of 10 female composers of the past, from Clara Schumann and Fanny Mendelssohn, to Dame Ethel Smyth and Rebecca Clarke.  The stories of what these women often had to overcome in order to write the wonderful music that they did is truly remarkable!  We'll talk all about their lives, and of course, their music.  I hope you enjoy it!  

Ever wanted to write music to describe your friends?  Well, the English composer Edward Elgar did just that with his Enigma Variations, one of the most beloved and popular pieces of the Western Classical Repertoire.  Take a deep dive with conductor and host Joshua Weilerstein as we explore all of Elgar's friendships, the brilliant way he describes them, and the famous "Enigma" theme.  By the end of the show, we'll all be friends with Elgar and his merry band.  Thanks for listening!  

Join conductor and host Joshua Weilerstein as he welcomes the legendary cellist and humanitarian Yo-Yo Ma for a full-length interview!  In the interview, we discuss what it means to be a musical citizen, how to create change through music, why Yo-Yo went down this path, how he discovered so many different styles of music, and much much more.  I really hope you enjoy this interview of such an amazing artist - thanks for listening!  

Join conductor and host Joshua Weilerstein as we dive into one of the most famous pieces of music ever written, Mozart's dramatic and stormy 40th symphony in G minor.  Mozart 40 is not just a ringtone! It's a powerful, urgent, and dramatic work, but we know very little about why Mozart wrote it or what it means.  We explore all of that and of course, take an in-depth look into the incredible structures that Mozart creates with this incredible masterpiece.  Thanks so much for listening!

Season 2 of Sticky Notes is here!  For episode one, I just have one question for you: Have you ever thought, "I like classical music, I just don't know much about it!"  Well if that sounds like you, this is the episode for you.  I'm answering 21 questions about classical music, from "What is Classical Music?" to "Why does some classical music sound the same?" to "What classical music is the best for babies?" and much much more.  Thanks so much for listening, and I hope you enjoy it!  

Join conductor and host Joshua Weilerstein as we end Season 1 with a look back at one of our most popular episodes, a deep dive into Beethoven's monumental 3rd symphony.  We're talking about why the piece was written, Beethoven's life story, and of course, all about the music itself.  Stay tuned for the debut of Season 2, NEXT WEEK!!! 

Join conductor and host Joshua Weilerstein as we take a deep dive into the Ultimate Symphonic Thrill Ride, Berlioz's hallucinogenic Symphonie Fantastique.  We're talking opium habits of the 1830's, Berlioz's passionate love affairs, and of course, all about the music that nearly caused a riot at its first performance.  This is the second to last re-broadcast before the debut of Season 2 in just TWO WEEKS!  Thanks so much for listening!  

This week we're talking about the Art of Interpretation - join conductor and host Joshua Weilerstein as we compare 9 different recordings of Beethoven's 5th Symphony! Listening to these different renditions of the first movement of the symphony gives us a chance to look at this music through the lens of 9 different conductors and orchestras and it opens our eyes to the interpretive and musical challenges musicians face on a daily basis. Thanks for listening and I hope you enjoy it!