Today's episode is dedicated to troubadours who were popular in the middle ages and have left an unparalleled trace in the history of world art.

The broadcast is dedicated to the most famous series of Georgy Sviridov's works, "The Snowstorm" (or "The Blizzard") which the composer titled as "Musical illustrations after Pushkin’s The Blizzard."

In 1878, the Bartholf Senff publishing house in Leipzig printed Spanish composer Pablo de Sarasate's Opus 20, the Gypsy Melodies (Airs). After five years, in 1883, Sarasate received a strange letter from the Hungarian composer Elemér Szentirmay, who wrote that he was the author of one of the parts in Gypsy Melodies.

The Heroic Symphony by Beethoven initiated a notable era for  European symphonism, which was elevated by this work to a new innovative level. The Symphony was created in a psychologically very hard period for the composer. 

At the end of the broadcast, you'll listen to the 1st and 2nd parts of the Symphony performed by Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Herbert von Karajan.

Today’s broadcast is dedicated to the history of creation of Slavonic Dances by Czech composer Antonín Dvořák. You can listen to this work performed by Cleveland Symphony Orchestra at the end of the broadcast (conductor George Szell).

Polish composer Michal Oginski's polonaise "A Farewell to the Homeland" is considered the musical symbol of modern Poland. Some even proposed to choose it as the Polish national anthem but abandoned this idea because this polonaise is very difficult for singing.

Since ancient times, people have woven legends and myths about swan, considering it a symbol of purity and grandeur.  Its beauty inspired a number writers, artists and composers, including the French composer Camille Saint-Saëns. Today's broadcast is about the movement "Swan" from his Suite "The Carnival of the Animals."

Benediktbeuern Abbey (or Beuern), a medieval monastery of the Benedictine Order, in Benediktbeuern in Bavaria, Germany. For many years, its monks have collected and preserved books of different content. The most popular among these books is perhaps "Carmina Burana," which, translated from Latin, means "Songs from Beuern." The poems of the collection became popular especially thanks to the famous cantata "Carmina Burana" by German composer and educator Carl Heinrich Maria Orff.

Bolero is a national Spanish dance, whose initial types originated in the second half of the 18th century. In the 19th century, bolero became so popular that  became a part of musical theater and was taught with the rules of classical ballet.

In 1735, composer, violinist and organist Giovanni Battista Pergolesi moved from Naples, where he lived and worked, to a Franciscan monastery in the nearby small town of Pozzuoli. The reason was tuberculosis. After a year, on March 16, 1736, the sickness caused the death of the 26-year-old composer.  During this year, Pergolesi created his most significant work, the Stabat Mater cantata in F minor.

Lullabies are an ancient genre of music folklore that comes from human prehistory.  Each nation has had lullabies peculiar to its mythology, world view and philosophy, and almost nothing has changed in these lullabies so far.

The most wonderful, "singing" cave is in Scotland, on the Isle of Staffa…

In the 14th-15th centuries, Western culture was entirely saturated with the theme of death. This direction in art soon received its name – "Danse macabre " or "Dance of death."

The Vltava is the longest river of the Czech Republic (about 430 km), the left tributary of the Elba. In the entire history of the Czech lands, this river has played a unique role in the country's life. The symphonic poem "Vltava" by Czech composer Bedřich Smetana is considered to be the unofficial anthem of the country. 
Today's broadcast is dedicated to the history of creation of this brilliant work.

We continue the topic covered in our latest episode dedicated to the Catholic prayer "Ave Maria." Today we present another interesting story about one more song called "Ave Aria," which is a result of the so-called cooperation between 18th-century German composer Johann Sebastian Bach and 19th-century French composer, music critic Charles Gounod.

"Ave Maria" is one of the most famous Catholic prayers dedicated to the Holy Virgin Mary. In different periods, musical masterpieces were created on the basis of this prayer.
Today we present Franz Schubert's "Ellen's Third Song" that is often wrongly called "Ave Maria."

The ability to see creative dreams is one of the unexplained mysteries inherent to geniuses. Many stories have reached us that tell how the author of an important invention or the creator of a wonderful art work received a hint for it in a dream.

Austrian composer Franz Joseph Haydn spent about three decades in the palace of the Esterházy princes, which was so rich and luxurious that was not inferior to the palace of the Emperor.

About 300 years ago, in 1732-1734, the German Baroque composer, organist and violinist Johann Sebastian Bach wrote his famous Coffee Cantata, which is considered to be the first music composition that advertises coffee.

The broadcast is dedicated to the history of the last Symphony (No. 6 in b minor) of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, the famous Russian composer, conductor, pedagogue, music critic, and author of more than 80 works. This symphony can be considered the composer's musical autobiography.

The Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor that was called by Ludwig van Beethoven a “sonata like a fantasy” (“sonata quasi una fantasia”) was printed by the publisher Nikolaus Simrock in Bonn, in the winter of 1802. The title page of the work had the words “Dedicated to Countess Giulietta Guicciardi”…

Adagio in G minor for organ and stringed instruments that is attributed to the Baroque Italian composer and violinist Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni is one of the most popular and most frequently performed piece of music in the world today. But many do not know that Albinoni has almost no relation to the creation of this work.

The final episode of our program is dedicated to the king of dances, waltz...

In today's episode, we tell when and why marches were created and what types of marches exist. You also have the opportunity to listen to excerpts from some of the best samples of this genre.