Form- the way music is organized and structured from beginning to end- guides composers, performers, and listeners in all musics. Here, the traditional Western sonata, the blueprints behind improvisational jazz, the narrative structure of traditional Japanese music, call-and-response forms in West African music and American gospel, and Irish fiddle tunes exemplify worldwide variations in musical form.

Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leader of the U.S. House of Representatives, is considered the most powerful woman in American politics. Pelosi was the first female Speaker of the House and the first woman to be third in line for the presidency. Among her greatest accomplishments in government was the passage of the Affordable Care Act/Obama Care, providing millions of Americans access to medical insurance. She shares what it was like wielding such political...

There is no music more beautiful, more compelling, more American than Black Sacred Music. It is the soul of the Black Church and the Black Church is the foundation of the Black Community. This program from Tony Brown's Journal is the second part in the Thank God four-part series that started out as a documentary on the African oral tradition which manifested on these shores largely as America's indigenous music. As the scenes unfolded and research...

Are you a newcomer to the world of classical music? Do you want a clear introduction to the subject? Are you planning to start a collection of recorded music? TEACH YOURSELF CLASSICAL MUSIC is a clear, concise yet comprehensive introduction to the world of classical music for the newcomer. It takes your listening experience as the starting point and fills in factual details along the way. New topics are introduced step by step and are always presented...

Early musical notation was much like a road map that lacked names or places. The use of neumes gave the basic shape of the tune and a primitive notion of rhythm, but could not tell the performer what note to start on. This program shows how all of that changed around the year 1030, when the choirmaster Guido of Arezzo came up with the simple device of a thin red line: a dot directly on it would always represent the note "F"; a dot above it, G; a dot...

The Lyric Project celebrates how and why songs can have such a lasting impact on us. An anthological documentary, these themes are explored through submissions from the general public - recordings of people reading the lyrics from their favorite songs and reflecting on why the song had such a strong impact on them.

Like an actor's script, a sheet of music instructs a musician on what to play (the pitch) and when to play it (the rhythm). Sheet music may look complicated, but once you've gotten the hang of a few simple elements like notes, bars and clefs, you're ready to rock. Tim Hansen hits the instrumental basics you need to read music. [Directed by Thomas Parrinello, narrated by Tim Hansen].

In this program, Rattle presents an eclectic selection of works by living composers to illustrate the rich variety of new musical trends he believes pave the way to the future. The music of Berio and Henze illustrates how the past has become just one ingredient in today's world of instant access to sounds, pictures, and ideas from every continent and every era. Strange and compelling works by Gubaidulina and Kurtag echo with Eastern European and central...

Provides understanding of musical forms, techniques, and terms and of the reciprocal relationship of social context and musical creation, using digitally recorded music to illustrate points and examining the contributions of nearly every major western composer.