Cacophony

Come on the fantastic - and fantastical - musical adventure that is Anna Clyne's This Midnight Hour. You'll be thrilled, excited, maybe a bit scared, ultimately consoled... or maybe not... What does this great music do to you?   Music here on youtube with video, or listen here on Spotify. Listening time 19 mins (podcast 5', music 12-14').   Please let me know what you think of This Midnight Hour and of this episode of Cacophony by leaving a comment. The Baudelaire poem which inspired Clyne can be found on this fab page. If you want to buy a recording you can get a high quality download for £1.98 here, or elsewhere!   Subscribe to and share the podcast! If you like Cacophony, you might want to buy me a Ko-fi?   Thanks for listening!  

Exhilarating and fun, Beethoven's fourth symphony is like one of the best days out. This is Beethoven in the best of moods and relishing what's possible. It's a joyful ride!   Music here on Youtube or Spotify.  Listening time 43 mins (podcast 11', music 32')   What do you think? Let us know with a comment at Cacophonyonline.com   If you like it, why not buy a download? You can get that here for less than a pound, or elsewhere. Cacophony doesn't make and money from it, but the musicians will make much more than through streaming. You can support Cacophony here.  

This is a new discovery for me - and it's deeply wonderful. Beethoven's late string quartet song of thanks: written as he recovered from severe illness, it's music that heals and restores our mind and soul.   Music here on Youtube, beautifully filmed and played by the Danish String Quartet.  Or on Spotify with the fab Takacs Quartet. Listening time: 31 mins (Podcast 12', music 17/19') If you liked this (or didn't) please tell me with a comment at cacophonyonline.com If you want to buy a recording of this piece you can get a high quality FLAC download here for only 13p which is still more than the quartet get through Spotify! [Details: Beethoven: String Quartet No. 15 in A minor, Op. 132, Track 3: Heiliger Dankgesang e. Genesenden an die Gottheit, in der lydischen Tonart!] If you like Cacophony and want to support it please click here to 'buy me a coffee'!   Please subscribe to the podcast and share it with your friends and family.   Thanks for listening!      

Why is Beethoven - perhaps - the greatest composer of them all? One thing he does is expand everything - the volume goes up to 11 and down to almost nothing. Also he cared deeply, about music and humanity. In his Coriolan Overture he makes us care about an obscure Roman general intent on [self-]destruction... and it's electrifying. Listening time 14 mins (Podcast 6', Music 8')   Music here with pictures on youtube, or here on Spotify   If you want to buy a recording you can get the Spotify recording here as a download in highest quality FLAC for a mere 13p! This is not an affiliate link, I just want to point you to a really good recording and even at 13p, the artists make more money than if we keep streaming.   Please help Cacophony by telling us what you think! Leave a comment here, at Cacophony's website. Subscribe to the podcast, rate it, review it and share it widely!   If you're enjoying Cacophony and want to help, you can support us, by 'buying me a ko-fi'!   Come back for more and thanks fo

After three years 'vegetating' in New York, Béla Bartók produced a handful of late great pieces. A dying man's birthday gift to his wife, his life-affirming, often easygoing and playful last piano concerto is, perhaps, my favourite concerto of all time... Listening time 35 mins (Podcast 11', Music 24')   Music here with pictures on youtube, or here on Spotify   If you want to buy a recording you can get the Spotify recording here as a download . This is not an affiliate link, I just want to point you to a really good recording. It's played by Jean-Efflam Bavouzet. FLAC gives the highest sound quality.   Please help Cacophony grow, and develop in the way you'd like, by doing some of these things: Tell us what you think with a comment at Cacophony's website. Subscribe to the podcast, rate it and share it widely!   If you're enjoying Cacophony and want to help, you can support us, by 'buying me a ko-fi'!   Thanks for listening!  

When Tristan & Isolde take a magic love potion it's not exactly happy ever after. Love wins in the end, it's just they're both dead. Passionate, overwhelming, transformative music from Richard Wagner sends them on their way and leaves us all in a state of transcendent bliss.  Listening time 30 mins (Podcast 11', Music 19') Music here on Youtube and Spotify.   The Youtube video from the Orchestra National de Lille starts and end with music by Sibelius: the melancholy Valse Triste to start and then, after the Wagner, the beyond fab Symphony No.3, which gets the Cacophony treatment in episode 54.   Please help Cacophony grow, and develop in the way you'd like, by doing some of these things: Tell us what you think with a comment at Cacophony's website. Subscribe to the podcast, rate it and share it widely!   If you're enjoying Cacophony and want to help, you can support us, by 'buying me a ko-fi'!   Thanks for listening!

Democracy and our rights, that earlier generations fought and went to prison, to obtain are fragile and always need to be looked after closely. Ethel Smyth's life and music serve as a good reminder to us all that we need to be ready to stand up and make our voices heard in order to make change happen.  Listening time 19 mins (Podcast 11', Music 8') Music here on Youtube   The lower banner in the picture reads "It appears that your demands are just". Shakespeare innit? (it's from Henry IV part 2) The words to the very from the March of the Women are:  Shout, shout, up with your song! Cry with the wind, for the dawn is breaking; March, march, swing you along, Wide blows our banner, and hope is waking. Song with its story, dreams with their glory Lo! they call, and glad is their word! Loud and louder it swells, Thunder of freedom, the voice of the Lord!   Please help Cacophony grow and develop in the way you'd like by doing some of these things: Leave a comment to tell us what you think at Cacophony's w

Battered, bruised but not broken, Tchaikovsky's emotional rollercoaster ride continues... Does this ride finish with squeals of terror or delight?    You may want to listen to episode 79 before this (but it's not essential)   Listening time: 34 mins (Podcast 10', music 24') Episode 2 music here on Youtube  or Spotify (but start at track 2). Whole piece here on Youtube or Spotify   Did you enjoy this? Please help Cacophony grow and develop in the way you'd like by doing some of these things: Leave a comment to tell us what you think at Cacophony's website. Subscribe to the podcast, rate it and share it widely. If you like this piece, you can buy it here or elsewhere in top quality download (FLAC is ‘lossless quality’, MP3 is compressed, so might  loose some impact). This isn't an affiliate link, I just want to make sure you get a great recording, by the always brilliant Budapest Festival Orchestra and conductor, Iván Fischer. The artists get almost nothing via youtube/Spotify... If you're enjoying

The song goes that life is a rollercoaster, baby, and few can give us all the emotional ups and downs as well as Tchaikovsky. The first part of this ride is stormy, turbulent, passionate and full of loss and yearning, as Tchaikovsky is battered by what fate and life throws at him. As the other song [almost] goes: He gets knocked down, but he gets up again! Listening time: 31 mins (Podcast 12', music 19') Music here on Youtube (first 19 mins only) or Spotify.   Did you enjoy this? Please help Cacophony grow and develop in the way you'd like by doing some of these things: Leave a comment to tell us what you think at Cacophony's website. Subscribe to the podcast, rate it and share it widely. If you like this piece, you can buy it here or elsewhere in top quality download (FLAC is ‘lossless quality’, MP3 is compressed, so might  loose some impact). This isn't an affiliate link, I just want to make sure you get a great recording, by the always brilliant Budapest Festival Orchestra and conductor, Iván Fische

Punchy, gut-churning and wow-inducing: Miserere by Scottish composer James MacMillan reflects deep religious faith and 1000 years of church music tradition, with music to move all of us, regardless of belief.   Music here on Youtube or Spotify. (Listening time 16 mins: podcast 4', music 12')   Please help Cacophony grow and develop by doing some of these things:   Leave a comment to tell us what you think at Cacophony's website.   Subscribe to the podcast, rate it and share it widely.   If you like this piece, you can buy it here or elsewhere in top quality download for a couple of quid (FLAC is ‘lossless quality’, MP3 is compressed, so might  loose some impact). This isn't an affiliate link, I just want to make sure you get a great recording, it's by The Sixteen. The artists get almost nothing via youtube/Spotify... If you're enjoying Cacophony and want to help, you can support us, by 'buying me a ko-fi'!   Thanks for listening!  

Sometimes the best things happen by accident! Allegri's 'Miserere' is famously beautiful, ethereal and transports us out of ourselves - or maybe deeper within. But the 'best bit', when one of the singers soars high above the others, wasn't actually composed at all - could it be music's greatest mistake? And how did it happen? Let's find out...   Music here on Youtube or Spotify. (Listening time 20 mins: podcast 8', music 12')   Please help Cacophony grow and develop by doing some of these things:   Leave a comment to tell us what you think at Cacophony's website.   Subscribe to the podcast, rate it and share it widely.   If you like this piece, you can buy it here or elsewhere in top quality download (FLAC is ‘lossless quality’, MP3 is compressed, so might  loose some impact). This isn't an affiliate link, I just want to make sure you get a great recording, it's by The Sixteen. The artists get almost nothing via youtube/Spotify... If you're enjoying Cacophony and want to help, you can support us, b

I'm always a bit surprised to find myself humming bits of Ma Vlast - My Country by one of the Czech's favourite sons. I guess I must really love it! Feared by the Nazis, loved by the Czechs, this is the acceptable face of nationalism, and its full of great tunes and causes deep satisfaction. Music here on Youtube or Spotify. (Listening time 32 mins: podcast 10', music 23')   Please help Cacophony grow and develop by doing some of these things:   Leave a comment to tell us what you think at Cacophony's website.   Subscribe to the podcast, rate it and share it widely.   If you like this piece, you can buy it here or elsewhere in top quality download (FLAC is ‘lossless quality’, MP3 is compressed, so might  loose some impact). This isn't an affiliate link, I just want to make sure you get a great recording: it's the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra conducted by Jakob Hruša. Please buy recordings! The artists get almost nothing via youtube/Spotify... If you're enjoying Cacophony and want to help, you can sup

American composer Amy Beach was so popular that her followers held ‘Beach Clubs’* to play and listen to her music! Her Quartet for strings is lean and powerful, as well as being a great jump-off into the world of string quartets: a place fraught with danger for the players, where composers go to bare their souls.  Take a listen and join the Beach Club! Music here on Youtube or Spotify. (Listening time 21 mins: podcast 7', music 13')   Please leave a comment to tell us what you think at Cacophony's website.   Please subscribe to the podcast and share widely.   If you like this piece, you can buy it here or elsewhere in top quality download (FLAC is ‘lossless quality’, MP3 is compressed, so might  loose some impact) for a couple of quid! This isn't an affiliate link, I just want to make sure you get a great recording. It's the Ambache Chamber Ensemble. Please buy recordings! The artists get almost nothing via youtube/Spotify... If you're enjoying Cacophony and want to help, you can support us, by 'buy

Poignant, peaceful, maybe even transcendental music for choir with cello: Svyati by John Tavener is the result of a lifetime of spiritual enquiry and of perfecting a simple and profound musical style. Beautiful.   Listening time 19 mins (Intro 5', music 14') Music on youtube or Spotify   Please leave a comment to tell us what you think at Cacophony's website. Please subscribe to the podcast and share widely.   If you like this piece, you can buy it here or elsewhere in top quality download for pennies! This isn't an affiliate link, I just want to make sure you get a great recording. It's Tavener: Svyati 'O Holy One', played by cellist, Steven Isserlis with the Kiev Chamber Choir. It may only be a few p, but it's more than the artists would get via youtube/Spotify! If you're enjoying Cacophony and want to help, you can support us, by 'buying me a ko-fi'!   Thanks for listening!

What's in a name? Not much it seems. An 'Intermezzo' is often a short piece that breaks up something bigger... but Brahms used it as his go to name for any short piano pieces where nothing else came to mind!  In any case, these three Intermezzos for solo piano from late in Brahms's life are beautiful, wistful, dreamy and give us a perfect break from whatever you've got going on... Like all Brahms pieces they're musically perfect too. Listening time 21 mins (Intro 6', music 15') Music on youtube or Spotify   Please leave a comment to tell us what you think at cacophony's website. Please subscribe to the podcast and share widely.   If you really like these pieces, why not buy them? Only 51p in the UK! This isn't an affiliate link, I just want to make sure you get a great recording. It's Brahms Intermezzi op.117 played by Maria João Pires. Thanks for listening!

Delicate, sparkling and perhaps surprisingly touching, here are three short diversions from the various trials of modern life - written 300 years ago by Couperin and brilliantly rewritten in 2006 by Thomas Adès who takes obvious delight in the sound of music. Listening time 20' [podcast intro 7', music 13'] Francois Couperin liked nice titles - we're listening to The amusements, Sleight of hand and The soul in torment from his Pieces for Harpsichord. Music here on Youtube or Spotify.   Please let me know what you think at cacophonyonline.com or Facebook. Please rate, review and subscribe to the podcast and tell everyone you know about it! Thanks for listening!

Great music to mark the US Presidential hand-over! Raucous fun alongside the deep and meaningful, Three Places in New England is challenging, confusing, complex, silly and surprising music that leaves me baffled but smiling and moved too! A hundred years old but way ahead of its time from one of America's first great composers, Charles Ives. Listening time 28mins (10' intro, 18' music)   Listen to the music on Spotify or Youtube Let me know what you think at cacophonyonline.com or Facebook. Please rate and subscribe to the podcast and tell everyone you know about it! Thanks for listening!

If you've got any new year sluggishness, sweep all that away with a blast of Respighi's Roman Festivals - four vivid musical pictures featuring love songs and folk dances, wine, religion and state-sponsored violence (lions eating Christians)! Listening time c32 mins [8' podcast, 24'  music]   Listen to the the music here on youtube or spotify and also here with pictures, played by the same Italians (the fabulous and fabulously titled Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Roma and their conductor Antonio Pappano) or this awesome band of 18s and under, the National Youth Orchestra of GB(&NI)   Please like, rate and share the podcast. Please visit Cacophonyonline.com to let us know what you think! Thanks for listening!  

Three musical geniuses really make the magic come alive in Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn's adaptation of Tchaikovsky's  classic, Nutcracker. Essential Christmas listening to bring joy to the word! For the original Tchaikovsky Nutcracker check out Episode 50 of Cacophony  Music on Youtube or Spotify Listening time 38 mins [8' podcast, 30'  music]   Please like, rate and share the podcast. Please visit Cacophonyonline.com to let us know what you think! Thanks for listening!

There's so much unknown great music out there! You almost certainly won't have heard this great piece or have heard of its writer. I certainly hadn't. Henriëtte Bosman's wrote her Concert Piece for violin and orchestra for her fiancé. He died before he could play it, and in her grief she couldn't compose any more. Then the war and Nazi occupation of Amsterdam cut short her career as a performer too. I'm joined by my friend, violinist Marina Solarek, who tells us the story of an amazing woman, her intense and passionate concerto, and why it's still so hard to hear great music by women composers. ...And the great music shows us that we're missing out. Music on Youtube or Spotify Listening time 36 mins [18' each, podcast and music]   Marina's group, the Solarek Piano Trio, dedicates itself to the lives of extraordinary composers who happen to be women. Check them out! Please like, rate and share the podcast. Please visit Cacophonyonline.com to leave a comment and see some cool pictures of Bosmans, Koene and Beli