Brahms's Symphony No.2

Brahms's Symphony No.2 is generally thought of as his most lighthearted, but it's actually built on the contrasts between light and dark, between sunshine and clouds. Kind of like life.

Samuel Adams's Drift and Providence

Samuel Adams's Drift and Providence is not so much about the ocean as it is like the ocean: ebb and flow, crest and trough, and destinations that may be more felt than seen.

Mahler's Symphony No. 7

Mahler's 7th is sometimes called "The Song of the Night," but it's really a journey from night into day, with some very interesting stops along the way.

Copland's Appalachian Spring

For many, the sound of Copland's Appalachian Spring IS the sound of American classical music.

Strauss's Also Sprach Zarathustra

In Also Sprach Zarathustra, Richard Strauss set Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophy to a new kind of music. But was the world ready for either?

Ravel's Piano Concerto in G

Ravel’s American influences are easily heard in his Piano Concerto in G Major, which he modeled after the light, divertimento-like concertos of Mozart and Saint‑Saëns.

Britten's Peter Grimes

Benjamin Britten's Peter Grimes is one of the great operatic psychodramas–an outcast in a closed society, is Grimes truly a villain, or a victim of circumstance?