Celebrate Poe

Send us a textOur story begins not with sequins but with a housing project.Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard both grew up in Detroit's Brewster-Douglass projects, one of the first federally funded housing developments for Black families. Diana Ross, who grew up nearby, joined that same orbit.Detroit in the 1950s and early 60s was a complex place:Automobile money and factory work.Northern promise and stubborn segregation.Church choirs, street-corner harmonies, jazz clubs, rhythm & blues, gospel pouring out of radios.Music wasn't a luxury; it was a language.The three girls—at first part of a broader group of friends—found each other through that language. They called themselves The Primettes, designed as the “girl group” counterpart to a rising male group called The Primes (who would evolve into The Temptations).Support the showThank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.

Send us a textToday, we turn to a musician whose care there were moves separations long stretches were Jimmy simply simply had to figure things out on his own no one was buying but whose shadow is so long that every electric guitarist since has had to walk through it.Jimi Hendrix.He didn't just play louder. He didn't just play faster. He changed what the electric guitar meant. He changed the expectations for sound, for performance, for what a song could hold.In this episode, I want to step past the posters and the legends—the burning guitar, the psychedelic clothes, the famous take on “The Star-Spangled Banner”—and really look at four things:His background: the fragile, human story underneath the icon.His influences: because Hendrix was not a meteor out of nowhere.His effect on music: how he reshaped the instrument and the stage.His life and his death: and the pressures and possibilities that surrounded him at the end.At the end of this journey, we'll eventually look forward—to some very different voices who were changing the sound of the 1960s in their own way: Diana Ross and The Supremes.Support the showThank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.

Send us a textToday we turn to a voice that has become a kind of measuring stick. A singer you can't ignore, can't casually imitate, and certainly can't replace.Aretha Louise Franklin.You can line up all the adjectives: legendary, iconic, incomparable. But with Aretha, those words almost sound lazy. The real story is more interesting. It's the story of how a shy, brilliant preacher's daughter walked out of a Detroit church and, without surrendering where she came from, changed what mainstream American music could sound like — and what it could mean.Support the showThank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.

Send us a textIf you grew up in a certain era, his name isn't just a performer on a poster. It's a weather system. A shift in air pressure. A bulletin from the fault line where art, politics, faith, doubt, youth, age, and trouble all collided.And at the end of this episode, I'm going to tell you about one night—one Bob Dylan concert—that coincided with the most frightening turn my own life had taken up to that point, and how, in a way, it nudged me toward paying attention to people many others don't see.But let's start with the man himself.Bob Dylan was born Robert Allen Zimmerman on May 24, 1941, in Duluth, Minnesota, and grew up in the mining town of Hibbing on the Mesabi Iron Range. Hibbing was not Greenwich Village, not California, not London. It was wind, work, winters, and radio.Inside that small-town house, though, the signals of the wider world were pouring in: country music, blues, early rock 'n' roll, gospel, and crooners—all collapsing into one restless imagination. He listened hard. He absorbed. And he did what born artists do: he tried things on.Support the showThank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.

Send us a textToday's pairing may look odd until you start really listening:The Beach Boys and The Grateful Dead.Two California bands. Two American institutions. Two completely different ideas of what a band is for.One built pop cathedrals in the studio and spent decades trying to bring that sound to the stage.The other built a moving city on the road and treated the studio almost like a postcard from their real life's work.Let's spend some time with both—and with the very different concert worlds they created.Support the showThank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.

Send us a textToday I want to put two names in the same frame—Joan Baez and Taylor Swift—not because they sound alike or have the same values but because they tell us how the culture around music, fandom, and accessibility to their shows have changed in less than one lifetime.Same art form. Very different worlds.This episode is about those two worlds.No boxing match.No “who's better.”Just what it means that one night with Baez cost you five dollars, and one night with Swift might cost someone else a small fortune.In one: Joan Baez at Catholic University—five dollars a ticket. A guitar, a voice that sounds like it  dropped in from a kinder universe, and the feeling that history, morality, and music are all sitting beside you.In the other: Taylor Swift in a sold-out stadium—tens of thousands of phones glowing, a three-hour epic of costume changes and choreography, and ticket prices that can look like a month's rent.Before I go any further, a brief portrait of Joan Baez - she was born January 9, 1941, in Staten Island, New York and raised in a Quaker family with a strong social conscience. She emerged at the end of the 1950s folk revival, her pure, ringing vibrato and unadorned guitar style making traditional ballads and spirituals feel both ancient and immediate. Her breakthrough came with performances at the Newport Folk Festival (1959–60) and early albums that brought folk music—and later protest music—to a mass young audience. Support the showThank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.

Send us a textIn a recent episode, we spent time with a man who changed popular culture and then became a warning about what fame, isolation, and addiction can do to a single human body—Elvis Presley. Brilliant, iconic, but ultimately tragic.Today… similar voltage. Very different story.This is about a band that came out of the same storm system of sex, drugs, and rock and roll… but somehow did not end as a cautionary tale on a bathroom floor. Instead, they turned danger into discipline, scandal into strategy, and raw rebellion into one of the longest-running creative partnerships in modern music.In this series, we've already met Frank Sinatra, who turned phrasing and breath into a method—and Chuck Berry, who wired the circuitry of rock and roll into the American imagination. Elvis showed us how a single, fragile human can be crushed under the weight of that circuitry.Today's story is different. This is what happens when that same dangerous current is handed to a band that refuses to burn out.The Rolling Stones.This is not just a tale of sex, drugs, and rock and roll. This is the story of staying power.Support the showThank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.

Send us a textI'd like to begin, not in Liverpool or Hamburg or Abbey Road, but in an American living room—mine, and millions of others—on a Sunday night in 1964.It's February 9th. The television is a piece of furniture. The picture is black and white. Ed Sullivan is the gatekeeper of what “really matters.” We've heard rumors about four long-haired boys from England. Maybe we've seen a little newspaper photo. Maybe a DJ has spun “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and sounded half amused, half alarmed, while the phone lines lit up.And then there they are.John. Paul. George. Ringo.Matching suits. Hair just long enough to scandalize parents without terrifying them. Tight harmonies. Songs that feel simple and impossibly fresh at the same time. Sullivan reading his cards. Teenage girls screaming. Camera cutting to faces in the audience already past language.Seventy-three million people watching at once. Almost 40 percent of the country. Support the showThank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.

Send us a textToday we're stepping into complicated territory.Not a personal hero of mine.Not a composer whose scores I pore over, or a bandleader whose arrangements I quote with delight or a singer I enjoy listening to.We've just spent time with artists like Frank Sinatra, who turned phrasing into a method, and Chuck Berry, who wired rock's circuitry with wit and precision. Both, in their own ways, were architects of how modern music sounds.Today's subject is someone you simply cannot walk around if you're tracing how popular music, celebrity, and American culture twisted themselves together in the second half of the twentieth century.Elvis Presley.For some, he's the thrilling young rebel in black and white. For others, he's a cartoon in a white jumpsuit. For many, he's a brand—lunchboxes, impersonators, Halloween costumes—more than a musician.For me, and for this podcast, he's something else: a case study in what happens when a very real, very shy Southern kid with a remarkable voice is plugged directly into a machine that never turns off.Support the showThank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.

Send us a textBefore we talk about charts and riffs and influence, I want to begin with a memory.Years ago, I saw Chuck Berry live at the Paramount Theatre in Manhattan. I later learned that a few years after that, the Paramount Theater was completely shut down.  Anyway, that night Chuck Berry was on a bill with The Animals and The Dixie Cups—a lineup that already told you how fast the musical world was changing.  The British Invasion bands were arriving with their sharp suits and American R&B records tucked under their arms. In fact, the animals had the number one song in the country with the house of the rising Sun. And there were girl groups with immaculate harmonies. The Dixie Cups had the number two song in the country with chapel of love.  Here was a crowd already fluent in the new language of pop.And then one of rocks pioneers - Chuck Berry - walked onstage.No elaborate light show, no army of amplifiers, no sentimental introduction. Just that stance, that sly half-smile, and a guitar tone as clean and cutting as a bell. You could feel the air in the room shift. Support the showThank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.

Send us a textBirthdays - as well as the  500th episode of a podcast - are times that generally you might want to slow down and look at the past, the present, and the future. Using that logic, I'd like to touch on the past of this podcast by calling on none other then the ghost of Edgar Allan Poe.Ghost soundWell hello, Mr. PoeGreetings Mr. Bartley.  Congratulations on your 500th episode.And I couldn't have done it without you, Mr. Poe.Certainly Mr. Bartley - you devoted the majority of your podcast episodes to my life and works when the podcast was known as Celebrate Poe.Mr. Poe, Yes, at first I had difficulty in finding a subject for a podcast - then I realized that I had worked at the Edgar Allan Poe Museum in Richmond, and it hit me that you might be an excellent subject.And I do admit that I miss those days.Mr. Poe, That doesn't mean that I can't have some more episodes regarding you and your works. You're very existence fits in with the topic of creativity.Support the showThank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.

Send us a textLeonard Bernstein played piano from age 10, and attended Boston Latin School and Harvard University.  So he studied music theory before studying conducting and orchestration. In 1943, he was appointed assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic. Then on November 14, 1943 he was summoned unexpectedly to substitute for the regular conductor Bruno Walter. His confidence and skill under such difficult circumstances and his overall talent marked the beginning of a new career. He later conducted the New York City Center Orchestra and appeared as a guest conductor in countries all over the world. In fact in 1953 he became the first American to conduct at La Scala in Milan. And from 1958 to 1969 Bernstein was conductor and musical Director of the New York Philharmonic. He made several international tours, and his popularity increased because of his skills as a conductor and pianist, but also as a commentator and even an entertainer.Support the showThank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.

Send us a textToday, we're going to begin in Hoboken, New Jersey, walk through the apprenticeship years, and then trace how partnerships, heartbreak, movies, and business instincts turned a talented singer into a blueprint many still follow.Frank Sinatra was born December 12, 1915, in Hoboken, New Jersey, to Dolly and Marty Sinatra, Sicilian immigrants. The home soundtrack mixed Italian song with the everyday music of labor, argument, and celebration. Outside the door, radio—that mid-century hearth—taught him something different: how a voice could cross a continent and still sound like it was sitting at your kitchen table.As a teenager, Frank Sinatra studied Bing Crosby the way a watchmaker studies gears. Crosby wasn't just stylish; he was quiet, and the microphone made quiet powerful. Before amplification, singers had to push air to the balcony. With amplification, you could saying exactly what you wanted and be understood.  You didn't have to shout your feelings; you could aim them.Support the showThank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.

Send us a textToday's episode is the first in a look at several dozen musicians who lived after 1900, roughly in chronological order.  And let me emphasize this is a extremely subjective look - it seems like every time I would look at my list, I f would find a new musician that just had to be on there - so I'm not presenting this in any way as an ideal selection of the most popular or talented or well known musician - just a deep dive into the lives and talents of some of the greatest singers and musicians of the 20th and 21st centuriesAnd I'm going to start with Bing Crosby mainly because he is widely considered the first multimedia star.  Bing Crosby was able to achieve unprecedented and simultaneous superstardom across the three dominant entertainment mediums of his time: recorded music, radio, and motion pictures. In other words, Crosby's career was characterized by his massive and concurrent success in multiple platforms, a feat unmatched by performers who came before him.Crosby was by far the best-selling recording artist of his time and remained so until well into the rock era. His recording of "White Christmas" is the best-selli Setting a standard for future male vocalist such as Frank Sinatra and he was also a major    ng single of all time. And he had 41 number one hits, a number that even surpassed Elvis Presley and The Beatles.Support the showThank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.

Send us a textMerci, Monsieur Bartley. I was born in 1875 in the little town of Ciboure, in the Basque country of southwestern France. My father was an inventive man, an engineer with a passion for mechanics. My mother was of Basque and Spanish descent, and it was from her that I inherited my love of Spanish rhythms and colors. Those two influences—precision and passion—shaped me from the beginning.That's fascinating—the mechanical precision of your father and the Spanish warmth of your mother. Did music enter your life early?Very early. I began piano lessons around the age of seven, though I must confess I was not a prodigy. I studied diligently, but what fascinated me most was sound itself—its clarity, its structure, its elegance. By the time I entered the Paris Conservatoire at fourteen, I was already dreaming of becoming a composer, though I was never the favorite student. In fact, I was often considered… how shall I put it… a bit stubborn.Support the showThank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.

Send us a textMaestro, thank you for joining me. Before we dive into your music, I'd really like to hear about your beginnings. Could you tell us about your background?Of course. I was born in 1862, just outside Paris. My father was a baker—always kneading dough while humming—and my mother dabbled in piano. I remember sneaking into the living room to press the keys while she played. My first memories of music are not concerts or lessons, but the hum of the street, the ringing of church bells, and my mother's faint piano melodies. At seven, I began formal piano lessons, though I often daydreamed through them.Support the showThank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.

Send us a textWelcome, Maestro Gustav Mahler. You've been called a composer of contradictions—cosmic in scope, but also obsessively detailed. If you could describe yourself in just a few words, how would you begin?Contradictions, yes—that is my very essence. I am a man who lived with one foot in heaven and the other in the street. My symphonies hold the singing of birds and the cries of the market, but also the silence of eternity.Your music often feels like it contains the whole world. Did you set out with that ambition consciously?Always. I once said, “The symphony must be like the world—it must embrace everything.” For me, a symphony was not just a piece of music—it was a life lived, with all its chaos, its laughter, its terror, and its final redemption.Support the showThank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.

Send us a textNow in a nutshell, the history of Halloween and how it developed can be described in a few sentences.  You see, Halloween originated from the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, which marked the end of summer and the harvest, and the beginning of the dark, cold winter. The Celts believed that on the night of October 31st, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred, allowing spirits to return to Earth. They would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts. Later, the Roman Empire combined Samhain with their own festivals, and as Christianity spread, the church established All Saints' Day on November 1st, making October 31st "All Hallows' Eve," or Halloween.  In this episode,I would like to describe what I believe are the five best pieces of classical music associated with Halloween - in other words the scariest music.I would like to start - in each case after an introduction and description -  with a beautiful piece of music by the great French composer Camille Saint-Saëns.  This music is from a CD I did called FallingWater Dreams where I used basic midi files to start with, and do some arrangements of classical music.  You know this was many years ago ago, because this was back in a time when basic midi files were not copyright. This selection is called Aquarium and is from the Carnival of Animals. In the spirit of this podcast episode, I think Aquarium has a beautiful, but extremely eerie quality about it - not the kind of hard-core horror that is associated with some upcoming pieces in this podcast episode.  You could almost call aquarium to be creepy creepy.  Again, first before playing each specific piece of music - and there should be five - I am going to make some comments about that piece of music, it's history, and in some cases = it's influences.Support the showThank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.

Send us a textI am most happy to be here today with you, Mr. Bartley.And we are glad that you're here, Maestro Greig Could you tell us about your early life.Ya, I was born in Bergen, Norway, on the 15th of June 1843. My father was a merchant and my mother was musical; she gave me my first piano lessons. From a young age, I loved the sound of Norwegian folk tunes, their rhythms, their melodies, their stories.I studied at the Leipzig Conservatory in Germany, where I learned the techniques of composition, but my heart always remained in Norway. I wanted to create music that spoke of my homeland, its landscapes, its seas, its mountains, and its people.I became known for my piano music and for my orchestral works, but perhaps my greatest love was writing music that told stories of Norway, its legends, and its spirit.Support the showThank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.

Send us a textMaestro, could you begin by telling us a bit about your background?Ah, yes… I vas born in 1841, in a small village near Prague, in Bohemia. My father vas a butcher, my mother a simple, steadfast voman vith a love for folk songs. My family had little vealth, little expectation beyond the ordinary trades of life. Yet I felt Music as a calling — not for fame, but as a vay to capture the spirit of Bohemia itself. I vas not born a prodigy like some; I had to vork, to study, to listen, and to shape my gift slovly.Music vas everyvhere around me, even though I vas not born to it professionally. I learned the violin in the village, and at the church, I played in the local ensembles — but I vas alvays dravn to the melodies of our people, the dances, the songs sung in the fields.Support the showThank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.

Send us a text2 Ghost soundI am most happy, to be here, and as a ghost, my heart carries the weight of a funeral march, even in moments of applause.Interesting analogy, Maestro Tchaikovsky, but could you tell us a bit about your earthly background? Ah, yes… earthly my background. I was born in 1840, in a small Russian town  nestled in the Ural Mountains. My father was an engineer in the mines, my mother of French ancestry, gentle but distant. Music was not the profession expected of me — Russia had no conservatory system then, no path for a composer. I was meant to become a civil servant, a reliable bureaucrat in the machinery of empire.What were your feelings about music as a young person?Ah music… music was in my blood. Even as a boy I could hear it whispering everywhere — in the birch forests, in the peasant songs that drifted on the wind, in the melancholy of Russian church bells. I studied law and served dutifully in the Ministry of Justice, but my heart withered there. When the Saint Petersburg Conservatory opened, I knew I must leave behind the safety of that life and risk everything for composition.Support the showThank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.

Send us a textToday I vant to talk vith the final Composer of the three Bs - this podcast has previously Broadcast episodes regarding Bach and Beethoven - and vill certainly have more regarding those musicians - but today I vant to talk about another composer vhose last name also begins vith B, and is also considered one of the greats.  That composer is yo-HAH-nes Brahms. Unlike some composers of his era, he did not have any recorded middle names or additional given names—he vas vas alvays knovn as  yo-HAH-nes Brahms.  And by the vay, the musical opening to this podcast it's an excerpt from a remix of Brahms Hungarian danceGhost soundAh, here is the ghost of - or if you vill -       the spirit of Brahms.Maestro Brahms, thank you for joining me today. To begin, could you tell us a little about your early life in Hamburg?Ah, Hamburg. A fine city of ships and sailors, though not so fine ven hen one is poor. I vas as born in 1833, the son of a bass player—my father Johann Jakob—and my mother, a seamstress. had little but music and determination. From the beginning, it seemed I vas destined to live at the piano.I've heard you began playing in public quite young.Herr Bartley, By the time vas a boy, I played in taverns and dance halls to earn a fev  coins.Imagine a skinny lad of thirteen, pounding avay at the piano vile sailors shouted for more beer. Hardly the glamorous concert life! But those rough rooms taught me discipline. I learned to keep the music alive, even if no one cared to listen.Support the showThank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.

Send us a textWell, a logical place to begin would be to ask the Maestro about his beginnings“Ah, señor Bartley, I am pleased to be here. You ask about my beginnings? wery well. I was born October 10, 1813, in Le Roncole, a small willage in the Duchy of Parma. My father, Carlo, ran our taern, and my mother, Luigia, kept the household in order. We were not rich, nor were we musicians by trade, yet music found me nonetheless. The hymns of the willage church, the organ, the singing of neighbors — they became my earliest companions.”“So Maestro werdi you were drawn to music even as a child?”“Indeed. Herr Bartley, From the first I lowed the organ, its voices like a Conversation with the heavens. I studied with local teachers, but the most important influence was Antonio Barezzi, a wealthy merchant and music lower. He saw promise in a boy from the countryside, offered lessons, guidance, and even support. Without him, I might newer have left the Village where I was born. He became my mentor, my patron, and a friend.”“And yet life in a small Village must have had its challenges?”Support the showThank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.

Send us a textMusical attributions at end of transcriptHere the ghost - or if you will - the spirit of Richard Wagner -  is reminiscing about his existence in 1864.  A struggling genius. A lonely king. One shared dream that changed the sound of Western music forever. In Music and Majesty, Richard Wagner and King Ludwig of Bavaria revisit the passion, faith, and madness that forged a masterpiece.GeorgeWe left you in the last episode, Maestro Wagner, with you rather down on your luck - especially financially - in other words there was no way to make your dreams come true.Support the showThank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.

Send us a textMusic attribution at bottom of transcriptThat was a portion of ride of the Valkyries by Richard Wagner - and if you're old enough, like me, you might remember hearing that from cartoons - especially porky pig dressed in a hunting outfit and singing kill the wabbit , kill the wabbit about Bugs Bunny - but I digress This is the first episode where I would like to explore the world of Richard Wagner.   The reason I say that this is the first episode, is that the more I delved into the life of Richard Wagner, I began to realize that there is no way that I could even begin to cover his life in one episode. Oh certainly I will have some more episodes later on as appropriate regarding the lives of Beethoven and Bach, but I wanted to have at least two episodes about Richard Wagner together - one after another - so stay with me as we look into the life of this unique composer.Support the showThank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.

Send us a textYou know, Every generation has its superstar — the one who turns talent into legend, and performance into art.  For us, that might mean Elton John or Lady Gaga. But in the 1800s, one name ruled the musical world like a comet blazing across the sky: Franz Liszt.A man whose concerts caused hysteria, whose charm        melted hearts, and whose fingers seemed touched by lightning.So let's pull back the velvet curtain and step into the age of Lisztomania!Ghost soundMaestro Liszt, welcome.Thank you, Herr Bartley. Speaking across centuries is a strange delight — music is the bridge that time cannot burn.Let's begin at the beginning. You were born in 1811 in Raiding, Hungary, the son of a musician employed by the Esterházy family. How did music first enter your life?Ah, Monsieur Bartley, Music was like breathing. My father played cello, piano, violin — he introduced me to the piano, and I was performing publicly at nine. By eleven, I studied with Czerny in Vienna, a pupil of Beethoven himself. The training was rigorous, but awe-inspiring.Support the showThank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.

Send us a textvelcome to Celebrate Creativity - episode 488 - in her voices. The opening bars to this podcast episode are from Robert schumann's troy mu ri - a word that means dreamingAnd today    ve speak vith the ghost of Robert Schumann—a man vhose music vas alive vith fire and reflection, vhose inner voices shaped every note. Step inside his vorld, if you dare.Nov before ve meet the ghost of or if you vill the spirit of - the great Robert Schumann, a quick note: you may hear me speak of his tvo sides—Florestan, fiery and bold, and Eusebius, dreamy and reflective. But don't be misled—Schumann definitely did not have multiple personalities -  at least until his final years. Florestan and Eusebius vere his artistic alter-egos, vays to explore contrasting emotions in music and vriting. Think of them as characters living inside his imagination, giving voice to the fire and the reflection that shaped his art.”  But enough of that for nov …Support the showThank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.

Send us a textGhost entersAh, here is the ghost of Maestro Frederick Chopin - one of my favorite composers.  vould you prefer that I call you Maestro Frederick or Maestro Chopin.Maestro Chopin vould be sufficient.You could refer to me as simply Herr Bartley - or in the style of the French salons, you may also refer to me as Monsieur Bartley.Ah, then Monsieur Bartley it is.Well first, Maestro Chopin, could you tell us about your early years.Support the showThank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.

Send us a textIf you have ever been to a wedding or seen a portion of one on television or in the movies, I am sure you have heard some of them music of Mendelson - such as the wedding March at the beginning of this episode. Today we are fortunate enough to speak vith the ghost or if you vill - the spirit of Felix MendelsonHerr Bartley, thank you for that vedy direct introduction to vhat has to be my most vell-knovn vork.  But Herr Bartley—allov me to step into the light once more. By name, I am Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, born in Hamburg, Germany, on February 3, 1809.      You are Mr. Bartley, I am here Herr Bartholdy.  Perhaps ve are related.Not that I know of, but Maestro Mendelson, could you tell us about your family?Ja, Herr Bartley, my family vas vealthy, cultured, and deeply musical; my father, Abraham, vas a banker and patron of the arts, and my mother, Lea, nurtured a love of literature and learning. From an early age, music vas ever-present in our home—my mother's piano, the violin in our hands, and evenings filled vith song and discussion.     Support the showThank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.

Send us a textToday we have the privilege of speaking With the ghost or if you will the spirit of Ludwig van Beethoven —arguably the greatest composer of all time.Ghost  soundMaestro Beethoven, thank you for joining us. Could you begin by telling us about your background?Herr Bartley, it is extremely strange to look back from beyond the grave, but let me oblige. I vas born in Bonn, December 1770, into a family of musicians. My grandfather, Kapellmeister Ludvig van Beethoven, vas a respected man, and my father, Johann, sang in the court chapel. From him I inherited both music and hardship. He drank heavily, and though he recognized my talent, his methods vere Vetty harsh.As a boy, I vas pushed to practice the clavier late into the night. Neighbors recalled hearing me sobbing over the keys, small fingers stumbling, vhile my father demanded brilliance. It vas a cruel apprenticeship, but it forged in me a stubborn resilience.By my early teens, I vas already performing publicly in Bonn and serving as assistant organist. The Elector of Cologne, vho ruled Bonn, supported my education. He sent me to study vith Christian Gottlob Neefe, vho introduced me to the vorks of Bach — those fugues became my daily bread, the grammar of my musical thought.Support the showThank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.

Send us a textAnd here, right on time is the ghost of maestro Haydn to tell us about his story - his life and his music - Maestro Haydn, why don't you start at the be ginning.Certainly, Herr Bartley. I, Joseph Haydn, vas born in 1732 in the small Austrian village of Rohrau, near the border of Hungary. My father, a humble vheelvright, could not imagine that his son vould one day travel to the grand palaces of Europe or have his music performed by orchestras in London. Yet music called me early. From my earliest years, I vas dravn to melody and harmony. I sang in the village choir, and it vas soon clear that my voice and my ear vere exceptional.From vhat I understand, Maestro Haydn, you vent to Vienna as a young lad to become a choirboy at St. Stephen's Cathedral vhen you vere only eight years of age.Support the showThank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.

Send us a textGavotteWelcome to celebrate creativity - in ze past few episodes, I'm afraid I've been a bit off in ze numbering of episodes - this is actually ze fourth season, and I believe that this is episode 483 - now we began this episode with ze Gavotte in G by ze ghost or if you will spirit - of our guest today.Ghost soundTaken a vastly different path than the one that my father had chosen for me well     Herr Bartley — good day. It is certainly good to meet you.Ya, I am Maestro George Frideric Handel; permit me first to speak plainly of those first years that zet me upon ze road of music.  That would be a very good place to start.Herr Bartley, I vas born in ze year 1685. My fazer vas a barber–surgeon and wished me to follow a sober, respectable profession — law vas his hope for me — and he forbade any serious musical study. My mozer, Support the showThank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.

Send us a textI have the ghost of Herr Bach right here - Frst could you tell us about your early life and family.Herr Bartley, I vas born in 1685 in Eisenach, Germany. My family had been musicians for generations: organists, cantors, court players. To be a Bach vas, in truth, to be a musician. My father, Johann Ambrosius, vas Eisenach's town musician. From him, I learned the violin and the rudiments of theory.So in a sense you really didn't have a choice but to become a musician.Herr Bartley, it vas a choice that I made very, very gladly!Support the showThank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.

Send us a textHost: Welcome to the "Echoes of Genius series” -  the podcast where we explore the lives and legacies of the greatest classical composers.  This is episode 480 - Red Priest Rising.  The music that you have heard at the beginning of each episode, and will continue to hear throughout this podcast series is a brief the ghost of the composer who stands at the pinnacle of the Italian Baroque movement -maestro Antonio Vivaldi   section of spring from The Four Seasons written by the ghost or if you will spirit - of our guest today(Sound of a short, elegant musical flourish)Ghost soundCiao, Maestro Vivaldi! La tua musica ancora ci incanta musica.For our English listeners, that is  Hello, Maestro Vivaldi! Your music still enchants us.  And before we go any further, Maestro Vivaldi, I have to say, I never realized your hair was quite that red.  With that shock of red hair, you'd look at home in a rock bandSupport the showThank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.

Send us a textFirst I have a confession to make. I plan to do an episode regarding a musician every day, but my right hand started hurting and I mean excruciating painful. I worried about what to do, and realized if I continue to overdo it on an already injured hand/ I would have serious problems. I thought about giving up this podcast altogether but eventually decided to take a day by day approach. It seems to be getting much better than it was yesterday, so if I notice improvement I will certainly do a podcast/. I have already written the Scripps with voice control on the Macintosh, so I didn't really need to use my hands that much in what I consider the hardest part of doing a podcast, but there's no way that you can really use Voice control with an audio program.  So I'll just take it one day at a time, and I'm asking you to bear with me.Second,When I recorded my episode on Monteverdi, something unexpected happened. I'd worried I might not have enough to say, but as I began speaking in his rhythm — my approximation of his  lilting Italian cadence — the words seemed to sing themselves. I found myself moving my hand in slow circles as I spoke, and somehow the motion gave the voice its own kind of melody. The pauses stretched naturally, almost like rests in a score. What I thought would be a short reflection became nearly forty minutes, not because of the facts or analysis, but because Monteverdi's spirit reshaped the way I spoke.That experience stayed with me. It reminded me that a voice can be musical, even when it isn't singing — that the phrasing, the breath, the stillness between words are as expressive as the words themselves. And that's the insight I've carried with me into Purcell — another composer who understood that silence, rhythm, and human feeling are inseparable.”Today, we move forward in time — from Venice to London — to meet another spirit who carried that torch into a new century. Henry Purcell took the lessons of Monteverdi and shaped them into something deeply English yet profoundly human: the marriage of reverence and drama, sacred and stage.If Monteverdi taught us how to breathe through music, Purcell teaches us how to speak through it — to find the eternal note that echoes across time.Support the showThank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.

Send us a textThis is the first of what I hope to be a series of 25 podcast episodes regarding some of the most influential and creative musicians prior to the 1900s - all ranked chronologically - then the following month, I will deal to some of the most influential musicians after the 1900s.  It somehow didn't seem right to have Beethoven and the Beatles compete with each other in a list of the greats. Both Bach and Beyoncé are extremely influential in their own ways, but how can you possibly compare the two?Each episode is a conversation across time: we'll explore their lives, their work, and their personalities, with anecdotes, playful commentary, and yes—sometimes a little mischief. You'll hear the human side of genius, the struggles, the bold choices, and the moments of brilliance that made them unforgettable And we begin our journey with the man who changed the very sound of music: Claudio Monteverdi.Support the showThank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.

Send us a textWell, I checked my stats for Celebrate Creativity and I am now just 7 downloads 25,000 downloads in 100 countries and territories - something I could have never envisioned five years ago when I started this podcast as Celebrate Poe.  And I will soon be starting a new series of podcasts where I talk to the ghosts - or if you will - spirits of various musicians.  Therefore before I start that series, volume brimming with the knowledge of the ages snuggled into a big company chair I thought it would be interesting to go back to when I first encountered the ghost of a very talented creator - that this would be a great time to go back five years ago to the very first episode of Celebrate Poe and introduce the spirit of Edgar Allan Poe.In this reprise of one of the most downloaded episodes of Celebrate Poe, you'll hear how I first “met” the ghost — or spirit — of Edgar Allan Poe.Support the showThank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.

Send us a textSpring intro“Welcome, my friends, to The Microphone Episode. Yes, this is the one where the.  greatest composers of all time—individuals who shuffled off their mortal coil long ago—are handed a microphone for the very first time.Now you might also think of this episode as a promo or the introduction to the majority of the episodes in October where I take a deep dive into the life and music of approximately 25 noted classical musicians prior to 1900. Before I actually start, I wanna talk a little bit about the challenges involved in doing such a program.First, was the actual writing of the transcript for each podcast episode. I would read about and do research regarding each musician. Then I would know what questions to ask ChatGPT to give me a more interesting answer. For example, if I just asked ChatGPT to tell me about Beethoven - it really wouldn't have that much to go on - but if I specifically asked if Beethoven wrote any letters regarding his hearing loss, then it could give me some very useful answers.  In fact, in one of the most moving documents in all of music history, Beethoven wrote in a letter to his brothers Carl and Johann in October 1802. He was only 31 at the time, but his hearing loss was advancing, and he poured out his despair, frustration, and longing for life and art. He never sent the letter—it was found among his papers after his death in 1827.[Closing music – Spring from The Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi, Performed by John Harrison,. Source: Wikimedia Commons - CC BY-SA ,License: Public Domain (composition) / Creative Commons (recording)Ghost Entrance: Source: https://www.zapsplat.com/page/6/?s=ghost&post_type=music&sound-effect-category-idhttps://zapsplat.net/zapsplat-sounds/download.php?fileName=sound_design_texture_ghostly_pass.mp3&expiry=1601608139,LLicense: Creative Commons.“Vespro Della Beata Vergine/ Deus In Adiutorium - Domine Ad Adiuvandum”, by Claudio Monteverdi, Performed by Schwäbischer Singkreis; Hans Grischkat, Source: https://dn721902.ca.archive.org/0/items/lp_vespro-della-beata-vergine_claudio-monteverdi-schwabischer-singkredisc1/01.01.%20Vespro%20Della%20Beata%20Vergine%3A%20Deus%20In%20Adiutorium%20-%20Domine%20Ad%20Adiuvandum.mp3. License: Public Domain (composition) / Creative Commons (recording)  0:00-00:30.Support the showThank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.

Send us a textWelcome to Celebrate Creativity - Episode 475 - Echoes of Horror  Man is capable of tremendous atrocities against other individuals. An example is The Great Chinese Famine (1959-1961): This was a period of mass starvation under Mao Zedong's Great Leap Forward.  While the exact number of deaths is debated, estimates range from 15 to 55 million people. While not a direct campaign of extermination like the Holocaust, it was the result of deliberate and disastrous government policies that led to mass death.The Soviet Purges and Gulag System where a result of Joseph Stalin's policies. This period led to widespread repression, forced labor, and mass executions. The death toll from famines, executions, and the Gulag system is estimated to be in the tens of millions, with some sources citing numbers as high as 20 million people.The conquests of the Mongol Empire in the 13th century are considered one of the deadliest conflicts in history. It's estimated that military campaigns led by Genghis Khan and his successors resulted in the deaths of tens of millions of people, though a precise number is impossible to determine.And while these events often had a higher total number of victims, the Nazi Extermination Efforts - or Holocaust - is distinguished by its systematic, state-sponsored industrial-scale goal of exterminating an entire people.Support the showThank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.

Send us a textWhen people talk about the most successful writers of all time, one name is almost always among the first: J. K. Rowling. The author of the Harry Potter series didn't just sell books — she created a cultural earthquake. For millions of readers, Hogwarts was not a fictional castle, but a place they knew as well as their own schools. Her novels inspired midnight release parties at bookstores, fan conventions that filled stadiums, and a cinematic franchise that grossed billions. Children who had never finished a book before suddenly tore through six- and seven-hundred-page volumes. Adults, too, found themselves sneaking the books into briefcases or pretending they were buying them for their kids. “But Rowling's brilliance didn't appear out of nowhere. She was inspired by the masters who came before her, most notably Charles Dickens. In Dickens, she found a model for eccentric characters, worlds that felt alive, and the courage to confront cruelty — especially towards children. Much like Pip, Oliver, or the young heroes of Dickens' novels, Harry and his friends navigate a world that can be frightening, unfair, and full of moral complexity.”Rowling herself has acknowledged Dickens as a major influence, and it's easy to see why. Dickens' novels often center on children navigating worlds that are harsh, unfair, and sometimes cruel — think of the orphaned Pip in Great Expectations or Oliver Twist in Oliver Twist. Similarly, Rowling's young protagonists face dangerous and sometimes frightening circumstances: orphaned Harry navigating a neglectful household, children confronting magical and moral threats, and characters whose lives are shaped by the indifference or cruelty of adults.Rowling also mirrors Dickens in her love for eccentric and vividly drawn characters. From the strangely named and larger-than-life figures in Dickens' novels to the magical teachers, ghostly ancestors, and quirky classmates at Hogwarts, Rowling populates her books with personalities so distinct they feel almost tangible. Each character, no matter how minor, contributes to the richness of the world, giving readers a sense that they are peeking into a fully realized society.Cover art:Image of J.K. Rowling, Daniel Ogren, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia CommonsImage of J.K. Rowling, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0Support the showThank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.

Send us a textToni Morrison shows us that literature can be both beautiful and necessary. That stories, especially the hard ones, can teach us how to see, how to remember, and maybe even how to heal.Morrison's importance stems from several key aspects of her work:Her novels powerfully explore the complexities of Black life in America, often focusing on the perspectives of Black women and girls. She intentionally did not center the "white gaze" in her writing, instead creating a "canon of black work" that spoke directly to Black audiences.Now let me take a detour and deal with the concept of a “white gaze” in an individuals writing. The "white gaze" in literature refers to the unconscious assumption that the default reader is white. This forces authors of color to constantly consider how their work will be perceived by a white audience. This can lead to over-explanation, where authors feel the need to explain cultural nuances, historical context, or even everyday customs of their communities. Characters and situations may be simplified to fit preconceived notions of a white readership - in other words stereotyping. Writers may avoid certain topics or narrative choices for fear of alienating, confusing, or being judged by a white audience - also known as self censorship.Support the showThank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.

Send us a text"Before Narnia ever existed, C.S. Lewis had a secret weapon: a band of Oxford friends who argued, challenged, and inspired him—the Inklings."Think C.S. Lewis wrote The Chronicles of Narnia all by himself? Think again. Lewis was part of the Inklings, a group of Oxford professors, writers, and thinkers who met to read aloud, debate, and challenge one another.When we think of CS Lewis today, we often picture The Chronicles of Narnia, or his rational, graceful Christian apologetics. But to really understand him, we need to see him inside a unique circle of writers and thinkers: the Inklings—a group that met in Oxford in the 1930s and '40s to read aloud, critique, and sometimes spar over each other's works.In fact, I was aware that C.S. Lewis was an extremely influential modern writer when I began this episode and intended to write it just about Lewis, but came to quickly realize that he was only a part of the “creative puzzle.Support the showThank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.

Send us a text=Eugene O'Neill's development as a playwright was deeply rooted in his turbulent personal life and a deliberate rejection of the popular theater of his time. He evolved from a young man adrift to become a revolutionary force in American drama.O'Neill's upbringing was steeped in theater, but not in a way that he admired. His father, James O'Neill, was a successful actor known for a single, melodramatic role - that of playing Edmond Dantès in a stage adaptation of Alexandre Dumas's novel, The Count of Monte Cristo.James O'Neill first performed the role of Dantès in 1883 and it became his career-defining part. While it brought him immense financial success, he felt trapped by it, as audiences only wanted to see him in that role. This frustration over his squandered artistic talent became a central theme in Eugene O'Neill's autobiographical play, Long Day's Journey Into Night, where the father figure, James Tyrone, is a famous actor who regrets giving up classic roles for a lucrative, but repetitive part.Eugene O'Neill grew up on the road, traveling with his father and witnessing firsthand the "ranting, artificial" nature of the American stage, which he grew to despise. He wanted to create something more profound and truthful.He lived a restless and often desperate life, working as a sailor, a prospector, and a journalist. These experiences exposed him to the harsh realities of life and the people on the fringes of society—sailors, derelicts, and prostitutes—characters who would become central to his works.Support the showThank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.

Send us a textThe subject of today's podcast, Oscar Wilde is extremely important because of his efforts in making wit an art form. His plays — such as The Importance of Being Earnest — are still laugh-out-loud funny more than a century later, which almost no other Victorian writer can claim. He exposed the hypocrisy and absurdity of his society with dazzling one-liners that still feel sharp in our own age of image-making and social performance.But beyond the jokes, Wilde's life gives him lasting weight. He lived boldly, at enormous personal risk, in an era when his sexuality was criminalized. His downfall — from London celebrity to prison — makes his art feel all the more courageous.Support the showThank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.

Send us a textLeo Tolstoy is Russia's other literary giant — a master of epic storytelling, moral inquiry, and psychological insight. His genius lies in observing the human soul with relentless curiosity, asking the questions every creative mind wrestles with: How do we live well? How do we understand ourselves and others? In Tolstoy, as in Dostoyevsky, we see that the tension between human desire, conscience, and society fuels some of the most enduring art ever written.""Imagine a man who could stage a battlefield in words… then lecture his kids on morality like a drill sergeant. That's Leo Tolstoy — genius, eccentric, and totally obsessed with the human soul. Come meet the Russian titan who made storytelling feel like an epic adventure and a moral debate at the same time.”"He wrote battles you can feel and love affairs you can't forget. Leo Tolstoy was a genius storyteller, a relentless moral thinker, and a man whose life was as epic as his novels. Join me as we dive into the world of Russia's literary titan — his triumphs, his crises, and the creativity that made him unforgettable."Leo Tolstoy was a genius storyteller who lived through enormous personal and societal change. “Imagine a man who could write war scenes so vivid they feel like battle — and domestic life so intimate you feel you're eavesdropping. That's Leo Tolstoy.”Support the showThank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.

Send us a textIn the previous episode, we walked with Walt Whitman down the open roads of America, hearing the chorus of ordinary lives. Now we cross continents and step into the narrow corridors of the human soul with Fedor Dostoevsky—where freedom and conscience wrestle in shadows. Whitman's poetry celebrated the sweep of America, the chorus of countless lives, and the boundless possibilities of freedom. Across the ocean and slightly later in time, Dostoevsky turned his gaze inward, exploring the shadowed recesses of the human heart. Whereas Whitman's lines embraced the world, Dostoevsky's narratives probe the tensions, doubts, and moral struggles that define our inner lives. In moving from Whitman to Dostoevsky, we travel from the expansive optimism of a young nation to the intense psychological and ethical landscapes of nineteenth-century Russia—a shift that reminds us just how varied, yet universally human, the work of great writers can be.Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821–1881) is one of the towering figures of 19th-century literature and is often credited with deeply influencing modern psychological fiction. Born in Moscow into a middle-class family, he faced hardship early: his mother died when he was young, and his father was reportedly a strict and harsh figure. Dostoyevsky originally trained as an engineer, but his passion for literature led him to the literary scene in St. Petersburg.His life was marked by intense personal struggle. He was arrested in 1849 for involvement in a group promoting liberal ideas and was sentenced to death— On December 22, 1849, Fyodor Dostoyevsky stood on a frozen parade ground in St. Petersburg. He and his fellow prisoners were blindfolded, tied to stakes, and told they had only moments left to live. The firing squad raise  d their rifles. - the prisoners realized they only had a few seconds to live …And then—at the very last instant—the sentence was commuted. Death was postponed and his sentence was commuted at the last moment to imprisonment in a Siberian labor camp.  Life returned, with an almost unbearable intensity.Support the showThank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.

Send us a textWalt Whitman's writing helped to capture and define the spirit of the growing United States during the challenging 1800s. He had a bold and unusual way of writing that created a new artistic style for America. Whitman's importance comes from three big changes that he led: a new way of writing poetry, a new way of thinking about democracy, and a new influence on American art.   Whitman called himself "an American, one of the roughs, a Kosmos,”  and he carefully created this public image, which matched the bold and rebellious style of his writing. He presented himself as a "rough working man,” and this wasn't just a part of his life story. It was a key part of his art. It showed he was rejecting the old European rules for poetry to create a new, truly American style.Support the showThank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.

Send us a textWithin the past few days, this podcast has dealt with Victor Hugo, Jonathan Swift, and Edgar Allan Poe - all these individuals were giants who challenged the status quo, but in vastly different ways. Today I would like to add Henry David Thoreau to the mix for a hopefully a compelling contrast. He's often misunderstood, just like Poe, but his rebellion was one of quiet solitude rather than gothic excess or satirical fury.Now when you think of a revolutionary, what comes to mind? A furious orator on a soapbox, a satirist wielding a pen like a sword, or a poet railing against the universe? We've talked about all of them: Jonathan Swift and his biting satire, Victor Hugo and his grand, sweeping social protests, and Edgar Allan Poe, the ultimate rebel of the interior self.But what about the man who rebelled by simply walking away?Support the showThank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.

Send us a textFirst you might ask - why should I read Victor Hugo.  Well I'm glad you asked.  You see, Reading Victor Hugo is an immersive and profound experience.  But before we deal into Les Miserables, I want to say a little bit about his earlier novels.You see, before his masterwork Les Misérables (1862), Victor Hugo wrote several other significant works, including novels, plays, and poetry. Two of his most important earlier novels are The Last Day of a Condemned Man (1829) and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (1831). These works were crucial for his development as a writer and established the themes that he would later fully realize in Les Misérables.The Last Day of a Condemned Man (1829)This short but powerful novel is told entirely from the perspective of a man awaiting execution by the guillotine. It is a raw and unflinching look at the psychological torment of a person facing death. Hugo doesn't reveal the man's name or his crime, forcing the reader to focus on his humanity rather than his guilt. Abolition of the Death Penalty: The novel is a direct and passionate plea for the abolition of capital punishment. Hugo uses the condemned man's thoughts and fears to expose the brutality and inhumanity of the state-sanctioned killing. This was a core moral conviction for Hugo and became a lifelong crusade. This work is considered a precursor to the social consciousness of Les Misérables. It shows Hugo's early commitment to using literature to champion the cause of the oppressed and challenge a justice system he viewed as flawed. The book's central argument—that the act of killing a human being is fundamentally wrong, regardless of the crime—is a theme he would revisit.Support the showThank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.

Send us a textI can't believe it, but we are halfway through the list of writers.   I have at least 13 of the 25 writers on the list finished - and today is Charles Dickens.Now, Charles Dickens was a brilliant storyteller, a powerful voice for social justice, and a master of crafting unforgettable characters.You could say that Charles Dickens was The Voice of the Common Person.Dickens used his novels to expose the harsh realities of Victorian England, particularly for the poor and working class. His own childhood, which included a stint in a blacking factory after his father was imprisoned for debt, gave him a unique and empathetic perspective. He wrote about the brutal conditions in workhouses, the exploitation of child labor, and the hypocrisy of the justice system. Through his writing, he gave a voice to those who had none, forcing the public to confront the social injustices of their time. For example, in Oliver Twist, he vividly depicted the squalor of London's slums and the plight of orphaned children. His work was so effective it led to real-world social reforms.Support the showThank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.

Send us a textImagine this: William Wordsworth, in the early 1800s, walking the hills of England's Lake District. He stops to watch a field of daffodils swaying in the breeze, and suddenly, the moment becomes eternal. For Wordsworth, nature is not just scenery — it is a teacher, a healer, even a kind of companion. The world outside reflects the life within.  And it's reflective moments like these that remind us: literature is never written in isolation… it's a conversation that stretches across centuries. Wordsworth's vision would echo far beyond his own time.” For Wordsworth, nature is not just scenery — it is a teacher, a healer, even a companion. The world outside reflects the life within.Now, shift forward a century. Robert Frost, in rural New England, standing at a fork in a snowy path. His tone is different. Nature is still the stage, but here it is a testing ground. The woods are ‘lovely, dark and deep,' but they are also a reminder of choices, obligations, even mortality. But Frost's world carried a sharper edge. If Wordsworth saw nature as a gentle teacher, Frost often saw it as a mirror of human struggle — full of choices, boundaries, and unanswered questions. Where Wordsworth sought transcendence, Frost leaned into ambiguity. Yet both, in their own ways, turned the soil of everyday life into poetry that still speaks to us today.What ties these two poets together? Both reject lofty, artificial language. They wanted poetry in the voice of ordinary people — the farmer, the shepherd, the walker on a country road. Both believed that truth could be found in the quietest moments: a walk by a river, a stone wall between neighbors, a road not taken.But here's the tension. Wordsworth looks at nature and sees transcendence — a spiritual renewal. Frost looks at the same natural world and sees ambiguity, sometimes even danger. And yet, together, they teach us how a flower, or a snowfall, or even the silence of the woods can become a doorway to the deepest truths about human life.Support the showThank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.