What Makes It Great archive
Listen Robert Schumann's Childhood Dreams
June 8, 2010 – The composer's intimate "Träumerei" stakes everything on one moment of epiphany, beautifully set up.
Listen Barber's 'Adagio': Naked Expression Of Emotion
March 9, 2010 – From sorrow, the music builds to a climax of intensity, and finally reaches serene acceptance.
Listen A World Of Expression In A Tiny Chopin Mazurka APM
March 2, 2010 – Commentator Rob Kapilow explains Chopin's condensed expression in a three-minute Mazurka. APM
Listen 'Cheek To Cheek': The Melody Lingers On
February 2, 2010 – Hear about the clever craft behind Irving Berlin's song, written for the 1935 film Top Hat.
Listen Beethoven's Kreutzer Sonata Connections
October 14, 2009 – With just two notes, Beethoven connects the universe in his "Kreutzer" Sonata for violin and piano.
Listen Janacek's Love Letters, With Strings Attached
September 14, 2009 – Hear the composer create a rich psychological universe out of tiny, power-packed emotional nuggets.
Listen Mozart's Deceptive Simplicity
August 13, 2009 – Mozart's music, like a hologram, flashes back and forth between the simple and the complicated.
Listen Aaron Copland's American Vision
July 1, 2009 – Copland's pure, American sound flows from two simple chords in Appalachian Spring.
Listen 'Petrushka': Stravinsky's Opaque Reality
May 28, 2009 – Commentator Rob Kapilow uncovers the genius beneath the layers of Stravinsky's great ballet.
Listen Steve Reich: Minimalism In The Mainstream
April 20, 2009 – Commentator Rob Kapilow takes the motor-like rhythms of minimalism out for a test drive.
Listen Stephen Sondheim's Clever 'Clowns'
March 11, 2009 – In the Broadway composer's classic "Send in the Clowns," unexpected notes get surprising results.
Listen Debussy: A World Revealed In Two Footsteps
February 18, 2009 – Discover the simple beauty and radical sound world of Claude Debussy's "Footsteps in the Snow."
Listen Felix Mendelssohn's Genius In 40 Seconds
February 3, 2009 – For the composer's 200th birthday, hear the most remarkable 40 seconds of music by a 16-year-old.
Listen Bold Beginnings: The Art Of The Opening Notes
January 5, 2009 – Hear Rob Kapilow discuss the ways composers can set a tone in their works' opening seconds.
Listen The Pure Power Of Handel's 'Hallelujah Chorus' APM
December 23, 2008 – Hear what makes Handel's famous chorus from Messiah an all-time favorite. APM
