Podcasts about borromeo string quartet

The murderer is caught red-handed, but there are still so many secrets left to uncover in this recursive museum. In this episode, Marcus desperately tries to tie up loose ends... yet somehow forgets about that tied-up lady in the closet til the last second. Will he achieve the Perfect Time Loop? We hope you've enjoyed the Gala Exhibit! We put a lot of work into it, and (dare I say it) we think it turned out pretty swell! If you feel so inclined, please consider leaving us a rate & review! Also, you can follow us on Instagram and Twitter at @murdermuseumpod. We'll be back next week with a recap discussion on this exhibit. Thank you for listening! CREDITS Hosts: Marcus Richardson and Nathan Hicken Additional Voiceover by Beth Mitchell Music and Editing by Marcus Richardson Additional music in this episode: String Quartet No.17 in B-flat major, K.458 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Recorded by Borromeo String Quartet (musopen.org/music/performer/borromeo-string-quartet) Licensed under Creative Commons: CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ Cuarto Cuarteto Para Cuerdas by Gustavo Becerra-Schmidt, Recorded by Philadelphia String Quartet (https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Philadelphia_String_Quartet/Becerra-Schmidt_Cuarto_Cuarteto_Para_Cuerdas) Licensed under Creative Commons: CC BY-SA 4.0 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ Lightless Dawn by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Into Dreamland by TRG Banks. https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/  Arctic Draba by Blue Dot Sessions. (https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Blue_Dot_Sessions/Resolute/Arctic_Draba) Licensed under Creative Commons: CC BY-NC 3.0 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/

The body count is rising in this time-looping murder mystery. In this episode, Marcus forms theories, hides in a foam pit, and changes the very essence of the time loop with a literal twist. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @murdermuseumpod Thank you for listening! CREDITS Hosts: Marcus Richardson and Nathan Hicken Message from the Curator by Jared Richardson Music and Editing by Marcus Richardson Additional music in this episode: String Quartet No.17 in B-flat major, K.458 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Recorded by Borromeo String Quartet (musopen.org/music/performer/borromeo-string-quartet) Licensed under Creative Commons: CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ Into Dreamland by TRG Banks. https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/ 

It's the third time loop, and Marcus is determined to make things go differently. In this episode, he orchestrates a fateful "swap", finally takes a stand against fire hazards, and scolds Nathan for leaving bodies laying around. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @murdermuseumpod Thank you for listening! CREDITS Hosts: Marcus Richardson and Nathan Hicken Message from the Curator by Jared Richardson Music and Editing by Marcus Richardson Additional music in this episode: Echoes of Time v2 by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Hard Boiled by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Kalimba Relaxation Music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ String Quartet No.17 in B-flat major, K.458 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Recorded by Borromeo String Quartet (musopen.org/music/performer/borromeo-string-quartet) Licensed under Creative Commons: CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ Cuarto Cuarteto Para Cuerdas by Gustavo Becerra-Schmidt, Recorded by Philadelphia String Quartet (https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Philadelphia_String_Quartet/Becerra-Schmidt_Cuarto_Cuarteto_Para_Cuerdas) Licensed under Creative Commons: CC BY-SA 4.0 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

It's time for round two of this time-looping murder mystery! In this loop, Marcus explores the museum-within-a-museum, chats with the deceased, and does nothing to help extinguish a fire. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @murdermuseumpod Thank you for listening! CREDITS Hosts: Marcus Richardson and Nathan Hicken Message from the Curator by Jared Richardson Music and Editing by Marcus Richardson Additional music in this episode: Echoes of Time v2 by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Hard Boiled by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Kalimba Relaxation Music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ String Quartet No.17 in B-flat major, K.458 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Recorded by Borromeo String Quartet (musopen.org/music/performer/borromeo-string-quartet) Licensed under Creative Commons: CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/

We begin Nathan's newest murder mystery, The Gala Exhibit! Marcus finds himself in the Museum of Exploration and Discovery, a museum-inside-the-museum full of mysterious characters and secrets... This Exhibit was a blast to record and we're excited to share it with you! You'll want to stick around for the full mystery; there are plenty of twists and turns! Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @murdermuseumpod Thank you for listening! CREDITS Hosts: Marcus Richardson and Nathan Hicken Message from the Curator by Jared Richardson Music and Editing by Marcus Richardson Additional music in this episode: Echoes of Time v2 by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Darkest Child by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ String Quartet No.17 in B-flat major, K.458 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Recorded by Borromeo String Quartet (musopen.org/music/performer/borromeo-string-quartet) Licensed under Creative Commons: CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ Cuarto Cuarteto Para Cuerdas by Gustavo Becerra-Schmidt, Recorded by Philadelphia String Quartet (https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Philadelphia_String_Quartet/Becerra-Schmidt_Cuarto_Cuarteto_Para_Cuerdas) Licensed under Creative Commons: CC BY-SA 4.0 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Barrett Griffith is CEO of CarePaths, where he has served for over five years, previously as a developer and then as CTO. He has two decades of experience in the tech industry, with much of that time in healthcare IT.Maureen Hart, PhD and Geoff Gray, PhD are both psychologists with years of clinical and managerial experience who saw the potential for technology to improve the quality of mental health care. Together they started CarePaths over twenty years ago as an electronic health records system which now includes practice management and outcomes measurement tools. In 2022 they teamed up with Professor Wampold to launch Making Therapy Better, an educational initiative including a blog, webinar and this podcast, coinciding with the release of Automated Measurement Based Care by Bruce Wampold, PhD, a feature of the new CarePaths Connect Digital Front Door and Mobile app for patients. Their hope is to improve mental health outcomes by providing therapists with reliable information on the benefits and practice of MBC as well as effective and affordable tools for implementing it.In the final episode of Season 1, Bruce talks with the CarePaths team about the founding of their company and the origins of the Making Therapy Better project. They also review some of the most important themes from the first eleven episodes of the podcast and discuss what's in store for Season 2.Follow Making Therapy Better on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/making_ther... Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/makingtherap... Twitter: https://twitter.com/therapybetter LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/917...The intro and outro music is the Borromeo String Quartet performing Beethoven's "String Quartet No. 3 in D Major"www.makingtherapybetter.comSponsored by CarePaths EHR and Measurement Based Care

Catherine Eubanks, PhD is co-director of the Center for Alliance-Focused Training, and professor of clinical psychology at Adelphi University. She is a fellow of the American Psychological Association and received the Outstanding Early Career Achievement Award from the Society for Psychotherapy Research in 2015. Dr. Eubanks helped to develop the Rupture Resolution Rating System and is coauthor of Therapist Performance under Pressure: Negotiating Emotion, Difference and Rupture. She also recently released Rupture and Repair in Psychotherapy as part of the APA Video Series.In this episode, Bruce and Catherine discuss the importance of a good working therapeutic alliance, particularly how to recognize and repair ruptures in the alliance, both big and small. They identify the most common markers of alliance ruptures, and talk about how clinical supervisors can work with therapists in training to better recognize these markers. They also talk about supervision of supervisors, and other applications of the alliance rupture framework outside of psychotherapy.Learn more about Catherine's work at: https://www.therapeutic-alliance.org/References:Bordin, E. S. (1979). The generalizability of the psychoanalytic concept of the working alliance. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research & Practice, 16(3), 252–260. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0085885Stiles, W. B., Glick, M. J., Osatuke, K., Hardy, G. E., Shapiro, D. A., Agnew-Davies, R., Rees, A., & Barkham, M. (2004). Patterns of alliance developmentand the rupture-repair hypothesis: Are productive relationships U-shaped orV-shaped? Journal of Counseling Psychology, 51, 81–92. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.51.1.81Safran, J. D., & Muran, J. C. (1996). The resolution of ruptures in the therapeuticalliance. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 64, 447–458.http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.64.3.447Follow Making Therapy Better on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/making_therapy_better/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/makingtherapybetter Twitter: https://twitter.com/therapybetter LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/91731994The intro and outro music is the Borromeo String Quartet performing Beethoven's "String Quartet No. 3 in D Major"www.makingtherapybetter.comSponsored by CarePaths EHR and Measurement Based Care

Jonathan Shedler, Phd is a clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and faculty member at the San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis. He is author of numerous scientific and scholarly articles, and his article The Efficacy of Psychodynamic Psychotherapy won worldwide acclaim for firmly establishing psychoanalytic therapy as an evidence-based treatment. He has more than 25 years' experience teaching and supervising psychologists, psychiatrists, and psychoanalysts.In this episode Jonathan and Bruce talk about what constitutes meaningful psychological change and whether or not randomized clinical trials of eight to sixteen sessions are actually relevant to real-world psychotherapy. Jonathan also discusses some of the evidence for psychodynamic therapy as an effective long term psychological intervention.Find out more about Jonathan and his work at https://jonathanshedler.com/References:Ormel J, Hollon SD, Kessler RC, Cuijpers P, Monroe SM. More treatment but no less depression: The treatment-prevalence paradox. Clin Psychol Rev. 2022 Feb;91:102111. doi: 10.1016/j.cpr.2021.102111. Epub 2021 Dec 11. PMID: 34959153. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34959153/Beutel, M., Rasting, M., Stuhr, U., Ruger, B., & LeuzingerBohleber, M. (2004). Assessing the impact of psychoanalyses and long-term psychoanalytic psychotherapies on health care utilization and cost. Psychotherapy Research, 14, 146-160.The intro and outro music is the Borromeo String Quartet performing Beethoven's "String Quartet No. 3 in D Major"www.makingtherapybetter.comSponsored By CarePaths EHR and Measurement Based Care

Edward R Jones, PhD is a clinical psychologist with years of executive leadership experience in the behavioral healthcare industry, including Vice President roles at Pacific Care Behavioral Health and Value Options. He has worked as a healthcare consultant in connection with both established and start-up companies. In recent years he has focused on health and wellness services, digital health services, and consultation to employers on the economic value of health and productivity.In this episode, Bruce and Ed talk about the future of behavioral healthcare, and how a new model of trained therapists integrated into the primary care system could help improve access to mental health services, as well as some of the potential pitfalls of the new age of digital therapeutics.The intro and outro music is the Borromeo String Quartet performing Beethoven's "String Quartet No. 3 in D Major"www.makingtherapybetter.comSponsored by CarePaths EHR and Measurement Based Care

Terri Moyers, PhD is a Professor in the Psychology Department at the University of New Mexico. Her research has focused on the active ingredients of empirically supported interventions for substance use treatments, particularly motivational interviewing. She also has an active line of research investigating therapist characteristics that support more favorable client outcomes. Dr. Moyers has more than 30 peer-reviewed papers in these areas, and has been a keynote speaker and workshop teacher in 11 countries.William R. (Bill) Miller, PhD is Emeritus Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at the University of New Mexico. Fundamentally interested in the psychology of change, he has published 65 books for public and professional audiences including texts on the method of motivational interviewing that he first described in 1983.Together, they are the authors of Effective Psychotherapists: Clinical Skills that Improve Client OutcomesIn this episode, Bruce talks with Terri and Bill about empathy as one of the eight skills that they have identified in their book as important for successful therapists. They discuss different understandings of empathy and how it relates to motivational interviewing. They also address the questions of whether empathy is an inherent trait or an acquired skill, whether it can lead to burnout, and the differences between empathy and compassion.The intro and outro music is the Borromeo String Quartet performing Beethoven's "String Quartet No. 3 in D Major"www.makingtherapybetter.comSponsored by CarePaths EHR and Measurement Based Care

Helene Nissen-Lie is a professor of clinical psychology at the University of Oslo and a practicing psychologist. She participates in a number of research projects in Norway as well as internationally, including collaborations with the University of Sheffield and the University of Chicago. She has published over 50 papers and articles, and her research interests include therapist effects, the therapeutic alliance, mechanisms of change in psychotherapy, and outcomes research, among many others.In this episode, Bruce talks to Helene about her research and her surprising finding that therapists who expressed more professional self-doubt, which they both agree may be better thought of as "professional humility" end up with better outcomes for their clients. They also talk about some of the applications of measurement-based care and the differences between the Norwegian and American systems of mental-health care.The intro and outro music is the Borromeo String Quartet performing Beethoven's "String Quartet No. 3 in D Major"www.makingtherapybetter.comSponsored By CarePaths EHR and Measurement Based Care

Robbie Babins-Wagner, PhD has contributed to the mental health field as a clinician, researcher, teacher, and manager. She is CEO of the Calgary Counseling Center, widely recognized as a leading institution in accessible, evidence-based, community mental health care. She is also an adjunct professor in the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Calgary, and serves on the board of directors for PolicyWise. She has conducted leading research on Counseling Outcomes, Social Finance, and Social Innovation, and has received several awards, including the University of Calgary Alumni Achievement Award and the 2017 Grant MacEwan Lifetime Achievement Award.In this episode, Bruce talks to Robbie about her experience directing the Calgary Counseling Center, specifically about her decision to make Measurement-Based Care mandatory for all clinicians employed at the center and the exciting results that are emerging from their efforts to track client outcomes.Learn more about the Calgary Counseling Center at https://calgarycounselling.com/Papers referenced:Goldberg, S. B., Babins-Wagner, R., Rousmaniere, T., Berzins, S., Hoyt, W. T., Whipple, J. L., Miller, S. D., & Wampold, B. E. (2016). Creating a climate for therapist improvement: A case study of an agency focused on outcomes and deliberate practice. Psychotherapy, 53(3), 367-375. https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pst0000060The intro and outro music is the Borromeo String Quartet performing Beethoven's "String Quartet No. 3 in D Major"www.makingtherapybetter.comSponsored By CarePaths EHR and Measurement Based Care

George Silberschatz, PhD is a licensed psychologist in San Francisco and has been practicing, teaching, and doing research on psychotherapy for over 40 years. He is a clinical professor in the department of psychiatry at University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, a past president of the North American chapter of the Society for Psychotherapy Research, and a past president of the International Society for Psychotherapy Research. He advocates for grounding practice in scientific evidence, as well as grounding research in clinical reality.In this episode, Bruce and George talk about the divide between researchers and practitioners of psychotherapy and what the two groups can do to help one another. They also discuss the importance of case formulation, and why flexibility is one of the most important characteristics a therapist can have.Learn more about George and his work at https://georgesilberschatz.com/The intro and outro music is the Borromeo String Quartet performing Beethoven's "String Quartet No. 3 in D Major" www.makingtherapybetter.comSponsored By CarePaths EHR and Measurement Based Care

Dr. Jesse Owen is a Professor in the Counseling Psychology Department at the University of Denver. He is a licensed psychologist with clinical specializations including couple and family therapy and multicultural therapy. He holds various positions including lead psychologist at Lifelong, Inc; Research Director for CelestHealth; Senior Research Advisor for SonderMind; Editor for Psychotherapy. He has co-authored three books: Mindfulness-based practices in therapy: A cultural humility approach; Therapists' cultural humility; and Research design in counseling. He also has over 180 publications/book chapters. His research focuses on process and outcomes of psychotherapy with a focus on therapist expertise and multicultural orientation. His research has been supported by foundations, federal agencies, and private companies (e.g., John Templeton Foundation, NIMH, DHHS-ACF, and SonderMind).In this episode, Bruce and Jesse talk about the Multicultural Orientation to therapy framework, the challenges that minority populations face in accessing quality mental healthcare, and some things therapists can do to better serve a diverse body of clients.Read about Jesse's work at the University of Denver and the Society for PsychotherapyLearn about MCO at: https://www.multiculturalorientation.com/The intro and outro music is the Borromeo String Quartet performing Beethoven's "String Quartet No. 3 in D Major"www.makingtherapybetter.comSponsored by CarePaths EHR and Measurement Based Care

Michael Barkham, Ph.D., is a Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Sheffield, UK. He has spent the past 35 years promoting the measurement of psychological therapies in routine practice and the paradigm of practice-based evidence as a complement to trials-based methodologies. His research has also focused on the contribution of therapists as well as securing evidence supporting various models of psychological therapy. Most recently, with Wolfgang Lutz and Louis Castonguay, he was editor of the 7th edition of Bergin and Garfield's Handbook of Psychotherapy and Behavior Change (2021) and the recipient of the 2019 Society for Psychotherapy Research (SPR) Senior Distinguished Research Career Award.Dr Jaime Delgadillo is a professor of clinical psychology at the University of Sheffield, and director of psychological therapies research at RDaSH NHS Foundation Trust. He has twenty years of clinical experience and has published over 90 scientific papers and book chapters in the field of mental health. He has been a principal investigator in clinical trials of psychotherapy and digital health interventions, supporting people with problems such as depression, anxiety, addictions, and occupational burnout. He is a member of the international Society for Psychotherapy Research and an associate editor of the society's journal, Psychotherapy Research.In this episode, Bruce talks with Michael and Jaime about their work with the IAPT (Increased Access to Psychological Treatment) program in the UK and the benefits as well as some of the problems associated with a “stepped care” model of treatment.Michael and Jaime on the University of Sheffield websiteMichael Barkham on twitter: https://twitter.com/mjbarkhamLearn more about IAPT at https://www.england.nhs.uk/mental-health/adults/iapt/The intro and outro music is the Borromeo String Quartet performing Beethoven's "String Quartet No. 3 in D Major"www.makingtherapybetter.comSponsored By CarePaths EHR and Measurement Based Care

Scott D. Miller, PhD is the founder of the International Center for Clinical Excellence, a consortium of clinicians, researchers, and educators dedicated to promoting excellence in behavioral health. He conducts workshops and training in the United States and abroad, helping hundreds of agencies and organizations, both public and private, to achieve superior results. He has written numerous books and articles, including Better Results: Using Deliberate Practice to Improve Therapeutic Effectiveness.In this episode, Bruce talks with Scott about his experience using client feedback to improve his own practice, and why Deliberate Practice is so important if we want to get better as therapistsLearn more about Scott's work at https://www.scottdmiller.com/The intro and outro music is the Borromeo String Quartet performing Beethoven's "String Quartet No. 3 in D Major"www.makingtherapybetter.comSponsored By CarePaths EHR and Measurement Based Care

John Norcross is Distinguished Professor and chair of psychology at the University of Scranton and Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at SUNY Upstate Medical University. He also maintains a part-time practice as a clinical psychologist. He is the author of Changeology and co-author of Changing for Good. Professor Norcross has served as president of the American Psychological Association Division of Psychotherapy, the Society of Clinical Psychology, and the Society for the Exploration of Psychotherapy Integration. He has received many awards, including the APA's Distinguished Lifetime Contributions to Education & Training Award. Some of his most significant contributions to the field have been in the areas of the transtheoretical model of change and empirically supported psychotherapy relationships.n the first episode of the Making Therapy Better Podcast, Bruce and John talk about the future of mental health care, the need to increase access to mental health services, and the value of interventions outside of traditional psychotherapy such as support groups and digital therapeutics.You can learn more about John at https://www.changeologybook.com/dr-john-norcross/John is also on twitter, Wikipedia, and at the University of ScrantonThe intro and outro music is the Borromeo String Quartet performing Beethoven's "String Quartet No. 3 in D Major"www.makingtherapybetter.comSponsored By CarePaths EHR and Measurement Based Care

Nicholas Kitchen, one of the country's leading violinists is a founding member of the Boston-based Borromeo String Quartet. Nick is perhaps the most important protégé of the great Polish violinist Szymon Goldberg. Nick has been loaned his teacher's violin-- the Giuseppe Guarneri, Cremona, ca. 1730, "Goldberg-Baron Vitta" to play throughout his career. In his musical life, Nick was first nurtured by his musically hands-on parents and later through his mentorship with Goldberg.  Nick's rich and profound musical life is a beautiful paradox of old and new technology.Music credits:Schubert, Death and The Maiden String Quartet, Borromeo QuartetJP Sousa, Semper Fidelis, The President's Own Marine BandBeethoven, Violin Sonata, Op. 24 "Spring", Szymon Goldberg-violin, Lili Krauss-piano  JS Bach, Toccata and Fugue in D minor BWV 565, Hans-André Stamm-organBeethoven, Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61, mmt. 3 Rondo,  Henryk Szeryng-violin, Hans Zender-conductorSchubert, Mass No. 5 in A Flat Major, D.678 - 4. Sanctus Choir of St. John's College, CambridgeJS Bach,  Fantasia and fugue in G minor BWV 542 - Van DoeselaarBeethoven, String Quartet, Op. 18, No. 1, Borromeo QuartetJS Bach, Adagio, BWV 1110, Nicholas KitchenKreisler, Liebeslied, Fritz KreislerHandel, Op. 1, No. 13 mmt. 1 D Major Sonata, Szymon Goldberg-violin, Gerald Moore-pianoPolish folksong for mandolinesJS Bach, Violin Concerto in E Major, BWV 1042: I. Allegro, Syzmon Goldberg-violinBeethoven, Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61, mmt. 1, Syzmon Goldberg-violinMozart, Sonata for Piano and Violin in E Minor, K.304 - Tempo di minuetto, Syzmon Goldberg-violin and Radu Lupu-pianoMozart, Violin Concerto No. 5 in A Major, K219, mmt. 1Beethoven, String Quartet, No. 13, Op. 130,  Borromeo QuartetLouis Moyse, Second Sonata, Scherzo, Karen Kevra-flute, Paul Orgel-pianoStrauss, Don Juan, Op. 20, Berling Philharmonic, Von KarajanBeethoven, Symphony No. 9, mmt. 3 , Adagio molto e cantabile, FurtwänglerSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=42335511)

In the finale of our series on Ludwig van Beethoven, we look at the last few years of his miserable life. We see how he handled his final affairs with family and friends, how Karl was driven to the brink by his uncle, and how death finally caught up with the most important composer in history.  String Quartet No. 13 - Orion String QuartetSting Quartet No. 16 - Borromeo String Quartet

  Taboos abound in this week's episode, Thousandfurs, where things take a decidedly dark turn. On her deathbed, a queen makes an ill-judged demand of her husband, and he decides to marry his own daughter. Escaping into the woods, the princess is captured and put to work in a castle kitchen. But she sees the chance of salvation when the king of this castle throws an elaborate festival... After the story, we look into sparkly dresses and Germanic spinning courtship rituals, before turning our attention to the elephant in the room - incest, and it's place in folklore and myth. Finally, we hear the jaw-droppingly twisted Italian version of this fairy tale: She-Bear.  This episode is Certified Grimm and may not be suitable for all listeners.   Twitter Facebook Instagram Patreon grimmreadingpodcast@gmail.com Theme music: Bicycle Waltz by Goodbye Kumiko Other Music: Brahms' Symphony No. 4 - Allegro non troppo, Op. 98 performed by New York Philharmonic Orchestra // Brahms' String Sextet No. 1, Op. 18 performed by Musicians From Marlboro // Brahms' String Sextet No. 2, Op. 36 performed by the Borromeo String Quartet with Liz Freivogel (viola) and Daniel McDonough (cello)

Noiseman433 is Jon Silpayamanant, a musician, performance artist, and visual artist. As a musician, Silapayamanant has toured and performed nationally and internationally and has been a guest lecturer/instructor at DepPauw University. Recent projects saw him on tour with noise performance troupe Cock E.S.P. and power electronics group Think Machine, as well as organizing Indianapolis’ first festival of noise and performance art. He has performed in master classes for such musicians as Janos Starker, the Borromeo String Quartet, Gary Carr, Fritz Maag, Steven Kates, and the American String Quartet amongst others. As a performance artist Silpayamanant has given performances or performance/installations at the Emison Art Center, the Peeler Art Gallery, Penn State University Conference Center, DePauw School of Music and others and was performance artist in residence at the Art Loft (Indianapolis). He has participated with workshops with such performance artists/troupes as Goat Island, William Pope L, Robbie McCauley, Rachel Rosenthal and Tim Miller. A recent project allowed Silpayamanant to perform Fluxus works for a Dick Higgins retrospective exhibition curated by Hannah Higgins. In the past Silpayamanant has won several awards for his visual art and has had works published in carious publications. He has also participated in theater productions as director, musician, stage designer, and actor. From Bivouac Archive 01 (2003)

Noiseman433 is Jon Silpayamanant, a musician, performance artist, and visual artist. As a musician, Silapayamanant has toured and performed nationally and internationally and has been a guest lecturer/instructor at DepPauw University. Recent projects saw him on tour with noise performance troupe Cock E.S.P. and power electronics group Think Machine, as well as organizing Indianapolis’ first festival of noise and performance art. He has performed in master classes for such musicians as Janos Starker, the Borromeo String Quartet, Gary Carr, Fritz Maag, Steven Kates, and the American String Quartet amongst others. As a performance artist Silpayamanant has given performances or performance/installations at the Emison Art Center, the Peeler Art Gallery, Penn State University Conference Center, DePauw School of Music and others and was performance artist in residence at the Art Loft (Indianapolis). He has participated with workshops with such performance artists/troupes as Goat Island, William Pope L, Robbie McCauley, Rachel Rosenthal and Tim Miller. A recent project allowed Silpayamanant to perform Fluxus works for a Dick Higgins retrospective exhibition curated by Hannah Higgins. In the past Silpayamanant has won several awards for his visual art and has had works published in carious publications. He has also participated in theater productions as director, musician, stage designer, and actor. From Bivouac Archive 01 (2003)

Noiseman433 is Jon Silpayamanant, a musician, performance artist, and visual artist. As a musician, Silapayamanant has toured and performed nationally and internationally and has been a guest lecturer/instructor at DepPauw University. Recent projects saw him on tour with noise performance troupe Cock E.S.P. and power electronics group Think Machine, as well as organizing Indianapolis’ first festival of noise and performance art. He has performed in master classes for such musicians as Janos Starker, the Borromeo String Quartet, Gary Carr, Fritz Maag, Steven Kates, and the American String Quartet amongst others. As a performance artist Silpayamanant has given performances or performance/installations at the Emison Art Center, the Peeler Art Gallery, Penn State University Conference Center, DePauw School of Music and others and was performance artist in residence at the Art Loft (Indianapolis). He has participated with workshops with such performance artists/troupes as Goat Island, William Pope L, Robbie McCauley, Rachel Rosenthal and Tim Miller. A recent project allowed Silpayamanant to perform Fluxus works for a Dick Higgins retrospective exhibition curated by Hannah Higgins. In the past Silpayamanant has won several awards for his visual art and has had works published in carious publications. He has also participated in theater productions as director, musician, stage designer, and actor. From Bivouac Archive 01 (2003)

Stuart Kaminsky's irascible Soviet detective Porfiry Petrovich Rostnikov travels to Siberia to find a murderer in a village full of exiles and incompetents.   Music: String Quartet No. 1, Op 7, by Bela Bartok, performed by the Borromeo String Quartet.

Noiseman433 is Jon Silpayamanant, a musician, performance artist, and visual artist. As a musician, Silapayamanant has toured and performed nationally and internationally and has been a guest lecturer/instructor at DepPauw University. Recent projects saw him on tour with noise performance troupe Cock E.S.P. and power electronics group Think Machine, as well as organizing Indianapolis’ first festival of noise and performance art. He has performed in master classes for such musicians as Janos Starker, the Borromeo String Quartet, Gary Carr, Fritz Maag, Steven Kates, and the American String Quartet amongst others. As a performance artist Silpayamanant has given performances or performance/installations at the Emison Art Center, the Peeler Art Gallery, Penn State University Conference Center, DePauw School of Music and others and was performance artist in residence at the Art Loft (Indianapolis). He has participated with workshops with such performance artists/troupes as Goat Island, William Pope L, Robbie McCauley, Rachel Rosenthal and Tim Miller. A recent project allowed Silpayamanant to perform Fluxus works for a Dick Higgins retrospective exhibition curated by Hannah Higgins. In the past Silpayamanant has won several awards for his visual art and has had works published in carious publications. He has also participated in theater productions as director, musician, stage designer, and actor. From Bivouac Archive 01 (2003)

Noiseman433 is Jon Silpayamanant, a musician, performance artist, and visual artist. As a musician, Silapayamanant has toured and performed nationally and internationally and has been a guest lecturer/instructor at DepPauw University. Recent projects saw him on tour with noise performance troupe Cock E.S.P. and power electronics group Think Machine, as well as organizing Indianapolis’ first festival of noise and performance art. He has performed in master classes for such musicians as Janos Starker, the Borromeo String Quartet, Gary Carr, Fritz Maag, Steven Kates, and the American String Quartet amongst others. As a performance artist Silpayamanant has given performances or performance/installations at the Emison Art Center, the Peeler Art Gallery, Penn State University Conference Center, DePauw School of Music and others and was performance artist in residence at the Art Loft (Indianapolis). He has participated with workshops with such performance artists/troupes as Goat Island, William Pope L, Robbie McCauley, Rachel Rosenthal and Tim Miller. A recent project allowed Silpayamanant to perform Fluxus works for a Dick Higgins retrospective exhibition curated by Hannah Higgins. In the past Silpayamanant has won several awards for his visual art and has had works published in carious publications. He has also participated in theater productions as director, musician, stage designer, and actor. From Bivouac Archive 01 (2003)

Works by Bach and Bartók performed by the Borromeo String Quartet and Yoo Jin Jang, violin and Renana Gutman, piano on August 14, 2016 and March 8, 2015. Bach, Johann Sebastian: Preludes and Fugues from Well-Tempered Klavier Book 1 trans. Nicholas Kitchen: C Major, C Minor, E-flat Minor Bartók, Béla: Violin Sonata No. 1, Sz. 75 Today’s podcast features two works that present tests of sorts—for the listener, the performer, the composer. Sharpen your ears and let’s get to it. The Well-Tempered Clavier was likely written to test a few different things: the keyboard player’s technical skills; the advantages of equal temperament tuning, which enabled playing in every key; and also the listener’s ability to pick out the many, interweaving musical lines. Today, we’ll hear three movements from the WTC in a version for string quartet, created by violinist Nicholas Kitchen. Bartok’s Violin Sonata No. 1, written in 1921, also pushed boundaries. Today, Bartok is perhaps best known for his explorations of Hungarian traditional music and his folk-tinged, dance-infused symphonies. But he also had a period, between the world wars, of audacious musical experimentation, and this work dates from those years. We’ll hear the piece second on the podcast, played by violinist Yoo Jin Jang and pianist Renana Gutman.

Works by Bach and Brahms performed by the Borromeo String Quartet and Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute on August 7, 2016 and April 10, 2016. Bach: Preludes and Fugues from Well-Tempered Klavier Book 1 arr. Nicholas Kitchen: F Major, F Minor, B-flat Minor Brahms: String Quintet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 111 Both of the works on our podcast this week have a sort of finality, a sense of summing things up, or making a statement that is somehow comprehensive, and that’s saying a lot given the composers in question: Johannes Brahms and Johann Sebastian Bach. We begin with a novel setting of a familiar work: a selection of preludes and fugues from Bach’s Well-Tempered Klavier, arranged for string quartet by Nicholas Kitchen of the Borromeo Quartet, who we’ll hear playing on the recording. The Well-Tempered Klavier consists of 24 small pieces, one prelude and one fugue in each key, ascending chromatically from C to B. Then, we’ll hear a piece that Brahms apparently intended to be his last: the String Quintet in G Major, Opus 111. Brahms lovers may already be raising an eyebrow at that last statement, because this was not, in fact, the last piece Brahms wrote—he went on to publish another 11 works, much to the delight of the clarinetists, pianists, and singers who regularly perform these final few works today.

Work by Handel performed by A Far Cry with Amanda Forsythe, soprano on November 16, 2014 and work by Beethoven performed by Borromeo String Quartet on October 24, 2010.Handel: Armida abbandonata, HWV 105Beethoven: Quartet No. 11 in F minor, Op. 95

Work for chorus by Sibelius performed by Boston Children’s Chorus on March 28, 2015 and work for string quartet by Tchaikovsky performed by Borromeo String Quartet on November 13, 2005.Sibelius: This is My SongTchaikovsky: String Quartet No. 1Our podcast begins with a brief, touching selection from the Boston Children’s Chorus: a setting of Sibelius’s theme from Finlandia, translated in English as “This is My Song.” The peaceful hymn tune was originally a part of Sibelius’s patriotic symphonic poem, but it was so beloved that it was excerpted, combined with lyrics by a Finnish poet, and became the de facto national hymn of Sibelius’s home country.After that sweet beginning, we leap into a string quartet that also has ties to its composer’s homeland: Tchaikovsky’s String Quartet No. 1. It is in the second and third movements that we especially hear the influence of the composer’s Russian homeland. The theme in the middle movement is a folk song. Stories vary: some say that Tchaikovsky learned it from a carpenter, others that he heard his sister’s gardener humming it on a visit to Ukraine. Several years later, Tchaikovsky looked back on a performance of the piece with pride, writing, “Never in my life have I felt so flattered…as when Leo Tolstoy, sitting next to me, heard my Andante with tears coursing down his cheeks.”We’ll hear the piece played with great feeling by the Borromeo Quartet.

Dec. 17, 2011. Violinist Nicholas Kitchen of the Borromeo String Quartet and composer Gunther Schuller discuss Schuller's compositions, including String Quartet no.4, which was performed as part of the 2011 Stradivari Anniversary Concert at the Library. For transcript, captions, and more information, visit http://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/feature_wdesc.php?rec=6726

Work for cello and piano performed by Wendy Warner and Irina Nuzova on February 26, 2012. Work for string quartet performed by Borromeo String Quartet on January 30, 2011.Beethoven: Variations in E-flat Major, WoO 46 on Mozart's "Bei Mannern welche Liebe fühlen" from The Magic FluteBeethoven: Quartet No. 8 in E minor, Op. 59, No. 2“A great composer doesn’t imitate; he steals.” You may have heard this quote—or some version of it—attributed to Stravinsky, and though the sources are a bit sketchy, it’s one of those lines that has stuck. It’s funny, and surprising—which is surely part of the appeal—but it also has a bit of the ring of truth.On this podcast, we’ll hear a couple “stolen” tunes as reinvented by Beethoven.We begin with the variations for cello and piano on Mozart’s aria “Bei Maennern,” from The Magic Flute. The original tune is a charming duet between the opera’s heroine, Pamina, and the comic lead, Papageno, about the blissful rewards of married life. The piece is performed by cellist Wendy Warner and pianist Irina Nuzova.The borrowed tune in the work that follows—Beethoven’s string quartet No. 8 in E Minor, the second of the “Razumovsky” quartets—is a Russian theme, in honor of the count to whom they were dedicated. In this particular quartet, a well-known tune crops up in the third movement, one that was also used by both Mussorgsky and Rachmaninoff in their works. We’ll hear the Borromeo String Quartet perform the piece.

Work for string orchestra and voice by Handel performed by Rebel Ensemble with Derek Lee Ragin on October 2, 2005. Work for string quartet by Beethoven performed by the Borromeo String Quartet on January 30, 2011. Handel: "Cara sposa" from RinaldoBeethoven: Quartet No. 9 in C Major, Op. 59, No. 3Loss is a topic that has often been explored in great works of art. Today, we’ll hear a couple of pieces inspired by losses of varying sorts.First, we have Handel’s aria “Cara sposa” from the opera Rinaldo, performed by counter-tenor Derek Lee Ragin and the early-music ensemble Rebel. As the aria begins, Rinaldo’s fiancée has just been abducted by the powerful sorceress Armida. He laments her disappearance and his sorrow and pain is evident in Handel’s writing, which contains moments of wrenching dissonance.Then, we’ll hear Beethoven’s Ninth String Quartet, in C Major, performed by the Borromeo Quartet. We cannot know exactly what Beethoven was thinking when he wrote this piece but the writer and composer Robert Simpson has suggested that the piece can be viewed as a literal narrative of Beethoven’s coming to terms with his deafness: the tonally unmoored, dissonant opening chords a depiction of deafness itself; the following consonant sections a representation of the discovery that Beethoven could still “hear” music in his head; and the finale a defiant triumph.First, we’ll hear Handel’s lament, “Cara sposa,” from Rinaldo.

Works for voice and piano performed by Jennifer Johnson Cano, mezzo-soprano, and Christopher Cano, pianist and string quintet performed by Borromeo String Quartet with Nathaniel Martin, bass.Dvořák: Gypsy Songs, Op. 55Dvořák: String Quintet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 77For our 185th podcast program, we’ll hear from Antonin Dvořák, focusing on two of his chamber works.We begin with Dvořák’s Gypsy Songs, opus 55. The cycle of seven songs is based on Czech poetry by Adolf Heyduk about the lives of Slovakian gypsies. But Dvořák chose to premiere and publish the songs in a German translation of the original text. The cycle was fairly successful; in particular, the song at the heart of the cycle—the fourth of seven—has become one of his best-known, usually translated in English as “Songs My Mother Taught Me.” Throughout, the songs are both lyrical and spirited, combining the flavor of gypsy music with the sophistication of Western art song.After the songs, we’ll turn to Dvořák’s second string quintet, opus 77. Written in 1874, the string quintet is among Dvořák’s earliest mature works. At the time of its composition, he had been working in relative anonymity in Prague. The music itself, though, reveals a composer already in possession of a unique and self-assured voice, with a gift for melody and a wonderful knack for writing spirited, dance-infused passages.

Works for voice and piano and string quartet by New York Festival of Song: James Martin, baritone and Michael Barrett, piano, sopranos Dina Kuznetsova and Julia Bullock, and Michael Barrett, piano; and Borromeo String Quartet:Dvořák: Bože! Bože! Píseň novou, from Biblical Songs No. 5, Při řekách babylonských, from Biblical Songs, No. 7, Zpívejte Hospodinu píseň novou, from Biblical Songs, No. 10Dvořák: A já ti uplynu, from Moravian Duets, Op. 32, No. 1Dvořák: String Quartet no. 14 in A-flat Major, Op. 105We’ve heard fairly regularly from Antonin Dvořák on the podcast, but today’s program offers a unique opportunity to hear works from both the beginning and the end of his fruitful career as a composer.First, there will be excerpts featuring the baritone James Martin, all taken from Dvořák’s Biblical Songs. These were the composer’s final set of songs, though he would go on to write operas and choral music.Situated right in the middle of the program we have the first of Dvořák’s Moravian Duets for female voices. These duets, written fairly early in the composer’s career, were Dvořák’s entry ticket into European musical society. The duets became Dvořák’s first international publication and truly launched his career in Europe.The duet we’ll hear is sometimes translated as “The Fugitive.” It is a playful text, telling the tale of two lovers engaged in a fanciful pursuit in which they transform from fish to doves to stars, chasing each other through the sea, sky, and heavens. We’ll hear the duet performed by sopranos Dina Kuznetsova and Julia Bullock, who appeared at the museum with the New York Festival of Song.Then we have Dvořák’s last string quartet, number 14 in A-flat Major, and by broad consensus one of his greatest. In this work, Dvořák was able to bring together his flair for lively, Bohemian dance music, which animates the quartet’s second movement, with his sophisticated craftsmanship and gift for melody. We’ll hear the piece as performed at the museum by the Borromeo String Quartet back in 2006.

Songs for string quartet by A Far Cry and the Borromeo String Quartet:Bartók: Romanian Folk Songs BB 68 Arr. for String QuartetBartók: String Quartet No. 1 in A Minor, Op. 7When Bartók composed his first string quartet, in 1909, the idea of Hungarian folk music had already found its way into the musical consciousness of Western Europe. Liszt had his Hungarian Rhapsodies, Brahms his Hungarian Dances--written in the 1840s, 50s, and 60s, several decades before Bartók was even born.While studying in Budapest at the Royal Academy of Music, Bartók had befriended a fellow pupil, Zoltan Kodály. In 1908, the two decided to travel beyond the cafes of downtown Budapest, deep into the countryside, to hear what they could hear.It was early the following year that Bartók completed his first string quartet, and it can easily be read as a sort of musical dramatization of his path. We’ll hear the piece played by Gardner Museum regulars the Borromeo String Quartet.We have a recording by the chamber ensemble A Far Cry of another of Bartók's folk-inspired works: his Romanian Folk Dances, arranged for string quartet. Originally written for piano, the brief piece is a set of six songs, all arrangements of folk tunes.

Songs for voice and keyboard and string quartet by the New York Festival of Song and the Borromeo String Quartet.Dvořák: "Goin' Home"Dvořák: String Quartet in E-Flat Major, No. 10, Op. 51Many of us have heard the narrative of “Dvorak: the champion of Czech folk music.” And in a way it’s true: he did popularize Czech--and more broadly, Slavic--folk music, combining it with Western classical forms in a way that made it accessible and appealing to a broad European audience. But, as with so many artists, he was constantly fighting against the very “box” he had created for himself.The string quartet we’ll hear on today’s program--Dvorak’s 10th--was, perhaps, a halfway point. In it, Dvorak at times drifts fairly far afield from the well-worn terrain of the “Slavonic Dances.” Indeed, the third movement of the quartet could be mistaken for the work of one of Dvorak’s German contemporaries. But at other times--the second-movement “dumka,” for example--Dvorak was clearly playing to the crowd, and giving them what they expected of a composer who was, at the time, still a bit pigeonholed.We’ll begin with a recording of “Goin’ Home” by the New York Festival of Song, and continue with the complete string quartet in E-Flat Major, performed by the Borromeo String Quartet.

Songs for solo keyboard and string quartet by Seymour Lipkin and the Borromeo String Quartet.Beethoven: 32 Variations on an Original Theme in C MinorBeethoven: Quartet No. 10 in E-Flat Major, Op. 74The ability to create brilliant, complex, sprawling symphonies out of a small musical ideas--essentially, the art of variation--is probably Beethoven’s greatest achievement. In today’s podcast, we’ll listen to two of Beethoven’s more straightforward variations--one, his set of 32 variations on an original theme in C minor, for piano, and the other a part of a string quartet, his 10th.We’ll start with the piano work, played by Seymour Lipkin. The source material here exhibits Beethoven’s extraordinary economy: it’s just 8 bars, a chord progression in the bass with a little flourish of melody in the treble. After that, we’ll settle into Beethoven’s more generously proportioned string quartet number 10, Op. 74, sometimes called the “Harp” quartet. The nickname, like most of Beethoven’s, was bestowed by the publisher, an allusion to the plucked arpeggios in the first movement that sound a bit like the strumming of a harp. We’re interested in variation, though, and for that, we’ll focus on the final movement, marked allegretto con variazione, or quickly, with variations. We’ll hear the piece as performed by the Borromeo Quartet.First, the lightning-fast 32 variations in C minor.

Works for string quartet by the Borromeo String Quartet and the Daedalus Quartet.Brahms: Quartet No. 3 in B-flat Major, Op. 67Lerdahl: Quartet No. 3We’ll begin the podcast with Brahms’ third string quartet, performed by the Borroemo Quartet. This quartet, Brahms’ opus 67, came some two years after the first two quartets, which were published as opus 51. Brahms himself remarked—with some humor—on the difficulty he faced in writing his first two string quartets, a process he described as a “forceps delivery.” The pieces went through extensive revisions, taking at least four or five years to reach their final form, perhaps even longer. The third quartet, by contrast, seemingly flowed from his pen; it came together in four short months, between August and November of 1875. The piece has a sort of ease about it that one can’t help but attribute to Brahms’ growing comfort with the form—an airy, carefree quality.Next, we’ll hear another string quartet—in fact, another third string quartet—this one by contemporary composer Fred Lerdahl. And this piece had an even longer gestation than the Brahms. We’ll hear Lerdahl’s Third String Quartet as it was recorded in a Composer Portrait this past October, at which the Daedalus Quartet—for whom the piece was written—played all three of Lerdahl’s quartets in sequence, culminating with this one. We begin our program with the Brahms.

Works for piano and string quartet, performed by Paavali Jumppanen and the Borromeo String Quartet.Beethoven: Piano Sonata in F Major, Op. 54Beethoven: String Quartet No. 7 in F Major, Op. 59, No. 1In the 18th century, chamber music was—as the name suggests—played almost exclusively in the home. Much of the time these intimate performances featured amateur musicians—people playing for their own entertainment after dinner. The pieces we’ll hear on today’s podcast, however, sat at the crossroads of this shift from amateur to professional chamber-music-making, perhaps intentionally so. We’ll begin the program with Beethoven’s Piano Sonata in F Major, op. 54. The sonata begins simply enough, with a sweet minuet. Not one minute in, though, the bass thunders in and introduces an assertive passage of octaves that would give any beginning pianist a run for his money. Pianist Paavali Jumppanen plays it with aplomb.Concluding our program is Beethoven’s seventh string quartet, in F Major, a work that marked a transition in Beethoven’s development as a composer as he moved towards an increasingly complex and expansive Romantic sensibility. The recording we’ll hear features the Borromeo String Quartet, who are more than up to the task.

Works for clarinet and piano, and string quartet, performed by Carol McGonnell, clarinet; Steven Beck, piano; and the Borromeo String Quartet.Berg: Four Pieces for clarinet and piano, Op. 5Brahms: String Quartet No. 1 in C minor, Op. 51In 1933, Arnold Schoenberg—the founding father of atonality, and in many ways the very definition of “progressive”— turned the classical music establishment on its head when he declared Johannes Brahms one of the greatest innovators of the Romantic era. One of the pieces Schoenberg cited as evidence of Brahms’ pathbreaking sensibility is the featured work on today’s podcast: his first string quartet. Schoenberg felt that Brahms’ ability to spin out large sections of music from small motives foreshadowed twentieth-century techniques. We’ll begin with a twentieth-century work: Alban Berg’s Four Pieces for clarinet and piano, a series of brief miniatures. Apparently the piece caused some friction with Schoenberg, Berg’s teacher, who criticized his pupil for writing such small-scale works and encouraged him to think bigger. Interestingly, Berg would go on to become best-known for his operas—which were, without a doubt, larger in conception. Schoenberg’s criticism notwithstanding, the clarinet pieces are actually wonderful little works—atonal but strikingly lyrical.

Works for voice and chamber ensemble, and string quartet, performed by Rebel Baroque Orchestra with Derek Lee Ragin, countertenor, and the Borromeo String Quartet.Porpora: “Alto Giove” from PolifemoHandel: “Rompo i lacci” from FlavioBeethoven: String Quartet No. 16 in F Major, Op. 135, No. 16For any composer of vocal music, the text is an important and often driving force in determining musical content and structure. We begin this episode with two early examples from opera, Porpora’s gorgeous “Alto Giove” from his opera Polifemo—a beautiful prayer of thanks to Jove—and Handel’s fiery and melismatic “Rompo i lacci” from Flavio. Beethoven’s use of text is subtler, but just as important in his final string quartet, opus 135, number 16. At the beginning of the final movement, Beethoven scrawls a fateful-sounding title across the manuscript: “The Difficult Decision.” Alongside the beginning chords, he poses a question: “Must it be?” The quartet chews over the question for a while in the introduction until, all of a sudden, the key changes to F Major and Beethoven gives us his answer: “Yes, it must!” Historians and musicologists have batted around many theories as to what Beethoven meant by this ambiguous question and answer.

Works for voice, piano, and string quartet performed by Jeanine De Bique, soprano; Warren Jones, piano; and the Borromeo String Quartet.Wolf: Six SongsBeethoven: String Quartet No. 3 in D Major, Op. 18, No. 3Some composers distinguish themselves in a single genre: Hugo Wolf, for example, whose brilliant lieder are like mini-monodramas, containing a whole world of feeling in less than two minutes of music. We’ll start with a selection of six of Wolf’s songs. But our main order of business on this podcast is a composer who can’t be bound by one signature form: Beethoven. Though published as number three in his first set of string quartets, the D Major quartet was in fact the first string quartet Beethoven wrote. Beethoven had waited about eight years from the time he arrived on the scene in Vienna before trying his hand at string quartets; some have postulated that this may well have been due to the shadow that his own teacher at the time, Haydn, cast over the form. When Beethoven finally published the set of six quartets from which this piece hails, he did it right. These quartets aren’t yet the work of a revolutionary, but they demonstrate Beethoven’s complete command of the form, and they clearly positioned him as one of its greatest living proponents. It was an important turning point: in 1802, Haydn fell sick. Though he battled his illness for several more years, he wouldn’t live to complete another quartet. The quartet, it seemed, had a new king.

Works for solo piano and string quartet performed by pianist Benjamin Moser and the Borromeo String Quartet.Mendelssohn: Four Songs Without WordsMendelssohn: String Quartet in A minor, Op. 13First up: excerpts from the composer’s famous Songs Without Words. The origin of this set of lieder for piano is still a bit mysterious. The New Grove dictionary postulates that it may have been a bit of an inside joke between Felix and his sister, who used to improvise words to their favorite piano pieces. Regardless, they are lovely little gems. Next at bat: String Quartet in A minor. Though it was the second quartet published, this work was actually the first Mendelssohn wrote in the genre. The 18-year-old composer—like many in his generation—was living in the shadow of Beethoven, and it shows. Like Beethoven, Mendelssohn develops a single theme—a quote from his own song “Ist es wahr?”—over the course of the entire piece.

Works for solo violin and string quartet performed by violinist Ray Chen and the Borromeo String Quartet.Bach: Chaconne from Partita in D minor Bartók: String Quartet No. 2 in A minorMusic is an art of variation. From the cantus firmus masses of medieval Europe to the 12-bar-blues of early 20th century America, the art of the varying and building upon a set theme has a long history. Bach’s famous Chaconne from the D minor partita is regarded as the apotheosis of the genre—a four-bar ground bass, repeated some 64 times with incredibly rich variation. In Bartok’s second String Quartet, the mournful first and third movements draw on intervals from Hungarian peasant music. The contrasting second movement is a driving rondo—another classic form based on a returning, repeated theme. The folk music that inspired this energetic movement was from North Africa. Listen for the rhythmic, repetitive ostinato—inspired by Arabian drumming.

"Different Trains" tells the story of Steve Reich's childhood - his train trips between separated parents - and also the trains Jews were forced to take during the Holocaust.

"Different Trains" tells the story of Steve Reich's childhood - his train trips between separated parents - and also the trains Jews were forced to take during the Holocaust. The post The Borromeo String Quartet Meets Steve Reich! appeared first on ThoughtCast®.