What happens when one of history’s greatest composers begins to lose the very sense he relies on most? In this episode, we explore how Ludwig van Beethoven continued to create groundbreaking music even as his world fell into silence. Along the way, we uncover the myths, inventions, and raw determination that fueled Beethoven’s defiant creativity, and hear ho ... Show More
Feb 23
When Everything Stopped, He Started Listening
David Jeffers has always understood the world through sound. As a kid, he bounced beats between tape decks and built speaker boxes from spare parts. After college, he founded an underground hip hop label. Then came the day that split his life in two. And in the quiet that followe ... Show More
27m 44s
Jan 2022
Pourquoi Beethoven ne disait jamais non, alors qu’il avait perdu l’ouïe ?
C’est l’un sinon LE drame de Ludwig Van Beethoven, être devenu sourd. Malgré ce handicap cruel, le compositeur et pianiste Allemand, improvisateur de génie, un des plus grands musiciens de tous les temps, a continué de composer des œuvres majeures. Mention spéciale à sa dernière ... Show More
10m 32s
Sep 2022
Louise Farrenc Symphony No. 3
<p class="p1">In the mid 19th century, the way to make yourself famous in France as a composer was to write operas. From Cherubini, to Meyerbeer, to Bizet, to Berlioz, to Gounod, to Massenet, to Offenbach, to Saint Saens, to foreign composers who wrote specifically for the Paris ... Show More
57m 31s
May 2025
Pianist Yevgeny Sudbin on returning to Scriabin's music
In 2007, Yevgeny Sudbin released an album of music by Alexander Scriabin. Reviewing it in Gramophone, Bryce Morrison described it as a 'disc in a million'. Now, Sudbin has returned to the composer for his 25th recording for BIS, and offers a wide-ranging survey of music that incl ... Show More
26m 35s
Dec 2021
David Sulzer, "Music, Math, and Mind: The Physics and Neuroscience of Music" (Columbia UP, 2021)
Why does a clarinet play at lower pitches than a flute? What does it mean for sounds to be in or out of tune? How are emotions carried by music? Do other animals perceive sound like we do? How might a musician use math to come up with new ideas?
This book offers a lively explorat ... Show More
1h 14m