Podcasts · Music · Arts

Sticky Notes: The Classical Music Podcast

Joshua Weilerstein

300 episodes

Sticky Notes is a classical music podcast for everyone, whether you are just getting interested in classical music for the first time, or if you've been listening to it and loving it all your life. Interviews with great artists, in depth looks at pieces in the repertoire, and both basic and deep dives into every era of music. Classical music is absolutely for everyone, so let's start listening! Note - Seasons 1-5 will be returning over the next year. They have been taken down in order to be re-recorded in improved sound quality!

Episodes page 1 of 6

  1. Rachmaninoff Symphony No. 2 (Live with the Aalborg Symphony)

    · 1 h 05 min · S10 E296

    Rachmaninoff's relationship with the symphony as a genre was famously complicated. The catastrophic premiere of his First Symphony is legendary: a badly prepared orchestra, a possibly drunk conductor, and critics who…

  2. Chopin Piano Sonata No. 2 (The One With the Funeral March)

    · 53 min · S10 E295

    When the great pianist and composer Frederic Chopin decided to write a piano sonata in 1837, fashions had turned against the genre itself. Perhaps it was a feeling that Beethoven had essentially "finished" the genre,…

  3. Gerald Finzi: Dies Natalis

    · 52 min · S10 E294

    As I've often said, I love doing Patreon-sponsored episodes in part because they allow me to discover music I might never have encountered otherwise. Today's episode is one of those, because the truth is that before I…

  4. Shostakovich Symphony No. 6

    · 1 h 03 min · S10 E293

    Dmitri Shostakovich: "I have set myself a task fraught with tremendous responsibility, to express in sound the immortal image of Lenin as a great son of the Russian people and as a leader of the masses. I have received…

  5. Grieg: Peer Gynt

    · 1 h 08 min · S10 E292

    Grieg's Peer Gynt suites are among the best-known and best-loved works of classical music in the world. They are practically embedded into popular culture, being used in a dizzying number of cartoons, advertisements,…

  6. Mozart Clarinet Concerto

    · 52 min · S10 E291

    When it comes to a piece like the Mozart Clarinet Concerto, a few words or phrases regularly come up: the concerto is described as "mellow" or Mozart's "swan song," but most often it is described as "perfect." Such a…

  7. Bohuslav Martinu Symphony No. 1

    · 1 h 02 min · S11 E290

    It took a lot to make the composer and critic Virgil Thomson happy. He was famous for savaging new works he didn't like, and the truth is, he didn't like very many new works at all. One exception was Bohuslav Martinů's…

  8. Scriabin Poem of Ecstasy

    · 51 min · S11 E289

    Thence the universe resounds With a joyful cry I AM. These are the final lines of Alexander Scriabin's epic Poem of Ecstasy, a 300-line poem that takes nearly 10 minutes to read aloud and is one of the most surreal…

  9. Sibelius Tapiola

    · 47 min · S11 E288

    Ancient, mysterious, brooding savage dreams; Within them dwells the Forest's mighty God, And wood-sprites in the gloom weave magic secrets. These lines are affixed to the first page of Sibelius' tone poem Tapiola, a…

  10. Arthur Honneger, Symphony No. 3, "Liturgique"

    · 53 min · S11 E287

    In the aftermath of World War II, the Swiss composer Arthur Honegger, who had been living in occupied Paris throughout the war, wrote a new symphony entitled "Liturgical." He wrote an extended commentary on the piece,…

  11. Dvorak Piano Quintet, Op. 81

    · 50 min · S11 E286

    In 1872, at the age of 31, Dvořák wrote a Piano Quintet designated as Opus 5. Dvořák was not a prodigy like some other famous composers; instead, his development as a composer was slow and steady. Later in his life, he…

  12. Mozart String Quartet, K. 465, "Dissonance"

    · 49 min · S11 E285

    You might be wondering: why on earth would I choose a piece that is literally called "Dissonance" when I was looking for something a bit simpler or cleaner to talk about on the show today? Actually, Mozart's Dissonance…

  13. Bonus Episode: Beethoven 5 en français!

    · 43 min · S11 E284

    Bienvenue dans cette édition spéciale du podcast Sticky Notes en français ! Aujourd'hui, nous parlons de la symphonie la plus célèbre du monde, et de la symphonie que nous allons interpréter à Lille les 21, 22 et 23…

  14. Liszt Faust Symphony

    · 1 h 04 min · S11 E283

    Thank you to Jerry for sponsoring today's episode on Patreon! Goethe's Faust is considered to be the greatest work of German literature. This sprawling, 2-part play occupied Goethe's life for nearly 60 years, from its…

  15. Schubert: Die Schöne Mullerin Mini-Episode No. 1 (Free Preview)

    · 6:52 · S11 E1

    This is a free preview of my new series of mini-episodes over on Patreon all about Schubert's Die Schöne Mullerin, one of the great masterpieces of the 19th century. Each week we'll explore one song from the cycle, in…

  16. Wagner: Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan and Isolde w/Case Scaglione

    · 51 min · S11 E282

    This is a continuation of my new series where I learn about a new piece from a great friend/musician. This week I'm thrilled to welcome Case Scaglione, the Music Director of the Orchestre National D'Ile de France, for…

  17. Lili Boulanger: Psalm 130

    · 46 min · S11 E281

    The story of Lili Boulanger's life is one of the most fascinating and tragic in all of musical history. A remarkably precocious talent, Boulanger learned to read sheet music before the alphabet, played the violin,…

  18. Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 6 (Part 2)

    · 48 min · S11 E280

    In a letter to Tchaikovsky's nephew Vladimir Davydov, Tchaikovsky wrote: "I'm very pleased with its content, but dissatisfied, or rather not completely satisfied, with the instrumentation. For some reason it's not…

  19. Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 6 (Part 1)

    · 51 min · S11 E279

    The great and somewhat controversial conductor Leopold Stokowski said this about Tchaikovsky: "His musical utterance comes directly from the heart and is a spontaneous expression of his innermost feeling. It is as…

  20. Beethoven String Quartet, Op. 59, No.2

    · 57 min · S11 E278

    I'm always tickled by composer trivia questions, like which standard canon works begin in a major key and end in a minor key? I'll give you one, but please comment others below: Mendelssohn's 4th Symphony. Well, how…

  21. Brahms Symphony No. 2 LIVE w/ The Aalborg Symphony

    · 59 min · S10 E277

    Brahms spent much of his adult life battling with his ambition to write the next great symphony and his terror at the shadow of Beethoven standing behind him. Brahms tortured himself for 14 years with his first…

  22. Zemlinsky: The Mermaid

    · 1 h 02 min · S11 E276

    The story of Alexander von Zemlinsky's The Mermaid begins with a passionate love affair and ends in heartbreak of the most unabashedly big-R Romantic kind. In 1900, the young, fabulously talented, and famously…

  23. Pergolesi Stabat Mater

    · 59 min · S10 E275

    Many aspects of Giovanni Battista Pergolesi's life seem relatively normal when it comes to composers of the Baroque era. He was prolific, died young, and his music became very famous only after his death. However, all…

  24. Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2

    · 53 min · S10 E274

    We humans seem to love comeback stories, and there is no comeback quite as compelling in the classical music world as Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto. It was written three years after the disastrous premiere of…

  25. Handel Messiah w/ Aram Demirjian

    · 1 h 09 min · S10 E273

    A piece that I have been asked to cover probably a dozen times is Handel's Messiah. It's a piece I love, but a piece that I've never conducted or played, and so therefore I don't know it incredibly well. There are…

  26. Gustav Holst: The Planets

    · 1 h 02 min · S10 E272

    Mr. Holst, wherever you are, I apologize in advance for what I'm about to say. From my research, I know you resented this fact, but unfortunately, I think it's true. Here it is: despite the large catalogue of music…

  27. Franck Symphony in D Minor

    · 1 h 00 min · S10 E271

    In the 1960s, Leonard Bernstein famously helped to popularize the music of a then relatively obscure composer, Gustav Mahler. His work, as well as the work of other conductors, made Mahler into a classical-music…

  28. Ravel and Falla: Echoes of Spain

    · 58 min · S10 E270

    Nowadays it's hard to imagine Maurice Ravel as a "bad-boy" revolutionary, a member of a group whose name can be loosely translated as The Hooligans. To most listeners today, Ravel's music is the very picture of…

  29. Shostakovich Symphony No. 10 LIVE w/ The Aalborg Symphony

    · 1 h 00 min · S10 E269

    Longtime listeners of Sticky Notes know that Shostakovich's 10 symphony was the inaugural piece covered on the show. It's been 8 years(!) since that show, so I've totally re-written the episode and had the privilege of…

  30. Barber Violin Concerto

    · 47 min · S10 E268

    There are so many great apocryphal stories in the long history of classical music, from the reason Tchaikovsky wrote his Sixth Symphony to what famous composers supposedly said on their deathbeds, to my favorite story:…

  31. 100 Years of Beethoven's Eroica (recordings)

    · 56 min · S10 E267

    One of my favorite things about having Patreon sponsors is that they often suggest the most fascinating pieces and topics for shows. Adrian, who sponsored a show last year, gave me one of my favorite prompts when he…

  32. The Life and Music of Grazyna Bacewicz

    · 58 min · S10 E266

    The great Polish composer Witold Lutoslawski said this after the premature death of his contemporary Grazyna Bacewicz: "She was born with an incredible wealth of musical talent, which she succeeded to bring to full…

  33. Sticky Notes meets You'll Hear It

    · 1 h 10 min · S10 E265

    I had such a wonderful time joining the jazz podcast You'll Hear It! We talked about the meeting of jazz and classical music, a topic I've explored before, but never in this much depth and never with so much input from…

  34. Impressions in Blue: Ravel & Gershwin

    · 45 min · S10 E264

    In the mid-1920s, Maurice Ravel wrote a letter to the legendary composition teacher Nadia Boulanger. Boulanger's class was a mecca for composers, both young and old, and musicians from all over the world vied to study…

  35. Beethoven Piano Sonata in B Flat Major, Op. 106, "Hammerklavier" - Part 2

    · 53 min · S10 E263

    There is a special category when it comes to Beethoven; a catalogue that doesn't include complete symphonies, sonatas, concerti, string quartets, etc., but just single movements. This is the catalogue of great…

  36. Beethoven Piano Sonata in B♭ major, Op. 106, "Hammerklavier" - Part 1

    · 44 min · S10 E262

    Beethoven once wrote to his publisher: "What is difficult, is also beautiful, good, great, and so forth. Hence everyone will realize that this is the most lavish praise that can be bestowed, since what is difficult…

  37. Weill: The Seven Deadly Sins

    · 1 h 00 min · S10 E261

    The collaboration between Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht is rightly legendary. The two men could not have been more different from each other, and like the Brahms/Joachim relationship I mentioned in my recent show about…

  38. The Ravel Sound with Norbert Müllemann and Stefan Knüpfer

    · 46 min · S10 E260

    I so enjoyed making this latest episode in my collaboration with G Henle Publishers. I talked with two absolute experts in their fields, Norbert Mülleman and Stefan Knüpfer, all about how to edit Ravel's music, and how…

  39. Dvorak Violin Concerto

    · 49 min · S10 E259

    Admit it: if you're a fan of classical music—or even just a regular concertgoer—you might have glanced at the title of this episode and done a double take. The Dvořák Violin Concerto? Not the Cello Concerto? One of…

  40. Brahms Double Concerto

    · 58 min · S10 E258

    It's entirely possible that we would not know the name of Johannes Brahms very well if Brahms hadn't met Joseph Joachim as a very young man. Joachim, who was one of the greatest violinists of all time, had already…

  41. Copland Clarinet Concerto

    · 48 min · S10 E257

    The commission for a new Clarinet Concerto from the great American composer Aaron Copland came from a rather unlikely source: Benny Goodman, the man known as the King of Swing. Goodman was one of the most famous and…

  42. Steve Reich: Different Trains

    · 53 min · S10 E256

    Steve Reich, the great American contemporary composer, provided this program note about his work Different Trains: "The idea for the piece came from my childhood. When I was one year old my parents separated. My…

  43. Best of Frenemies: Debussy and Ravel

    · 52 min · S10 E255

    Debussy and Ravel are often described as the prototypical musical impressionists. It is often said that the two composers are the closest equivalents to the artistic world of Monet, Renoir, Pisarro, Degas, and others.…

  44. Shostakovich Cello Concerto No. 1

    · 50 min · S10 E254

    It's hard to overstate the depth of the connection between Dmitri Shostakovich and the legendary cellist Mstistlav Rostropovich. Shostakovich and Rostropovich were extremely close friends, and Shostakovich wrote and…

  45. Ravel, Ravel, Ravel, w/Boris Giltburg and G. Henle Verlag!

    · 59 min · S10 E251

    Magician, Swiss Watchmaker, Aloof, Elegant, Precise, Soulful, Childlike, Naive, Warm: these are all words that have been used to describe Maurice Ravel, a man of elegant contradictions. But perhaps these contradictions…

  46. Amy Beach, "Gaelic" Symphony

    · 1 h 01 min · S10 E253

    Amy Beach is a name that might not be familiar to you. She was born in 1867 and died in 1944, and her life was one of the most fascinating and varied in musical history. She was a child prodigy, became a successful…

  47. Sticky Notes en Français! Shostakovich Symphonie No. 13 (Bonus Episode)

    · 1 h 10 min · S10 E252 · Bonus

    Voici un épisode bonus spécial de Sticky Notes en français, en avant-première de mes concerts avec l'Orchestre National de Lille, présentant la 13e symphonie de Shostakovich. Si vous souhaitez écouter la version…

  48. Smetana: Ma Vlast

    · 1 h 06 min · S10 E250

    Nationalism, patriotism, cultural identity, a sense of home; these are concepts and ideas whose popularity have ebbed and flowed throughout history. Nationalism has been seen as a natural expression of cultural…

  49. Berg Violin Concerto

    · 49 min · S10 E249

    In the early 1930s, at the height of the atonal and twelve tone movement in music, the American violinist Louis Krasner commissioned a concerto from the Viennese Composer Alban Berg. Berg declined at first, saying that…

  50. Beethoven String Quartet, Op. 135

    · 58 min · S10 E248

    There is nothing like hearing a Late Beethoven String Quartet for the first time. Beethoven's late string quartets, Op. 127, Op. 130, Op. 131, Op. 132, and Op. 135, are among the 5 greatest pieces of music ever written…

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