In the period between the two World Wars, composers sought to express in music the jarring and discordant sense that civilization was giving way to barbarism. During the same time, jazz burst upon the international musical scene. Performers include the Moscow Classical Ballet Company, Maxim Shostakovich conducting his father's Symphony No. 7, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Sir Peter Pears and Galina Vishnevskaya in Britten's War Requiem, and an electric...

James Galway takes us backward through time to demonstrate how ageless and universal the human impulse is to make music. Working chronologically backward from Ligeti to Gregorian chant, Galway outlines the development of Western music. The impishness in his smile and tone are quickly submerged in the depth of his commitment to music and his enthusiastic conviction that knowledge of musical history is a prerequisite to understanding and that understanding...

This program covers the patronage of the Dukes of Burgundy and the Kings of France, and the continued influence of the Church. It shows how music, like philosophy, moved away from the elaborate formality of the Gothic and, like architecture, sought new and purer forms. Music of Binchois, Ockeghem, Josquin des Pres, Palestrina, de Lassus, Tromboncino, and Gabrieli is performed by the Schutz Choir, Emma Kirkby and the New London Consort. Includes excerpts...