Between the Barlines

Welcome back to Between the Barlines! I have a very fun episode planned for us today where we will take a hiatus from talking about strict classical music and explore the formation of jazz. Buy me a Coffee: buymeacoffee.com/betweenthebarlines

Welcome to Between the Barlines! We learned in our first episode a little about modernism, but to refresh your memory about this term, MODERNISM in music is less a style than a mindset. Composers questioned traditionalism in tonality, form, rhythm, and timbre. Romantic emotional excess gave way to experimentation and abstraction. Key modernist traits include:Fragmented melodies and asymmetrical formsNew harmonic languages, including atonality and polytonalityEmphasis on rhythm, percussion, and timbreInterest in machines, cities, and modern lifeA deliberate break from the past—or a radical reimagining of itBuy me a Coffee: buymeacoffee.com/betweenthebarlines

Welcome Back to Between the Barlines! I am excited to talk about today’s episode topic because I feel like it is especially pertinent to the music being created in the USA during this part of the century. As we are celebrating the 250th anniversary of the USA this year, I want to draw your attention to something I mentioned last season; that is, if you think about it, our country was really shaped by foreigners in many senses of the word “shape.” It wasn’t until about the 20th century where America embodied nationalism and created their own voice - vernacular music was a humongous part of this transformation. Buy me a Coffee: buymeacoffee.com/betweenthebarlines

Welcome back to Between the Barlines! Happy New Year! This season, we are exploring the 20th century up until 1950. Today, we will talk about Modernism and technology's impact on music during the 20th century.

Welcome back to Between the Barlines. We’ve made it to the last episode of season 5! Thanks for joining me this season. I’m excited about next season, because we will be exploring the first half of the 20th century. This is also where our musical history becomes extremely dense - I’m going to split the 20th century into at least 2 seasons, so be on the lookout! Today, we are going to chat about the transition from the 19th century into the 20th century to wrap up the season.Buy me a Coffee: buymeacoffee.com/betweenthebarlines

Welcome back to Between the Barlines! Today, we are going to continue our chat about nationalism, but this time we will be focusing on American nationalism in the late 19th century.Buy me a Coffee: buymeacoffee.com/betweenthebarlines

Welcome back to Between the Barlines! Today, we’re going to speak about England in the 19th century. As you may have noticed, we really haven’t spoken too much about this country in our episodes since maybe the renaissance era. I think that is especially poignant in today’s episode because we can finally understand why - it took a while, but eventually England was able to find its own national voice, much like other countries that we’ve spoken about at the end of the 19th century. This is the topic of the English Musical Renaissance.Buy me a Coffee: buymeacoffee.com/betweenthebarlinesMusic mentioned in this podcast:Hubert Parry - Jerusalem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XfbEOFLqPEC. V. Stanford - Three Latin Motets, Op. 38: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4uvUwD81-8Edward Elgar - The Enigma Variations: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLNLvcBmoqoElgar - Sea Pictures: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GauIMo8Manc

Welcome back to Between the Barlines! Today, we turn our attention to 19th-century Russia, which at this time was a country bursting with folk traditions, vast landscapes, and an identity that hadn’t yet found its place on the classical stage. That is until five composers decided to change everything. They called themselves The Mighty Handful. We know them today as The Mighty Five: Mily Balakirev, César Cui, Modest Mussorgsky, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, and Alexander Borodin. Buy me a Coffee: buymeacoffee.com/betweenthebarlines

Welcome back to Between the Barlines! I am your host, Dr. Maeve Berry! Today, we have a very interesting discussion about hybrid styles. You might be wondering what this means, and I think it actually revolves around one question: What happens when composers merge national traditions, older musical forms, and new harmonic languages all at once? Composers mentioned as hybrid composers: Franck, Fauré, Saint-Saëns, Chausson, D'Indy, Dvořák, Grieg, Tchaikovsky, and Borodin.Buy me a Coffee: buymeacoffee.com/betweenthebarlinesMusic mentioned in this podcast:Franck Symphony in D minorFranck Violin Sonata in A majorFranck Symphonic VariationsFranck String Quartet in D majorFauré RequiemFauré NocturnesFauré Pelléas et Mélisande SuiteSaint-Saëns Organ SymphonySaint-Saëns Piano Concerto No. 2Chausson PoèmeChausson Symphony in B-flat majorD'Indy Symphony on a French Mountain Air

Welcome back to Between the Barlines! Today we finally stop talk about opera and switch gears to speak strictly about what was happening in the late 19th century in Germany. Some of our most popular and renowned composers are coming from this time frame, like Brahms, Wagner, Bruckner, Wolf, and Strauss.Buy me a Coffee: buymeacoffee.com/betweenthebarlinesMusic mentioned in this episode:Brahms Symphonies 1-4Brahms Violin ConcertoBrahms Ein Deutsches RequiemBrahms Violin Sonatas 1-3Brahms Clarinet Sonatas 1 & 2Wolf Mörike LiederWolf Italienisches Liederbuch 1 & 2Strauss Don JuanStrauss Till EulenspiegelStrauss Also sprach ZarathustraStrauss AllerseelenStrauss September

Welcome back to Between the Barlines! I am your host, Dr. Maeve Berry! Today, we’re discussing the changes happening in the late 19th century. This was the era of French lyricism, Italian verismo, and the beginnings of Russian opera. By the 1870s and 1880s, audiences wanted something new. The grandeur of earlier Romantic opera was there, but people yearned for realism and emotional immediacy. The result was an operatic world more intimate, visceral, and recognizably human than ever before.Buy me a Coffee: buymeacoffee.com/betweenthebarlinesOperas mentioned in this episode:Gounod - FaustBizet - CarmenMassenet - ManonMassenet - WertherSaint-Saëns - Samson et DalilaDelibes - LakméMascagni - Cavalleria rusticanaLeoncavallo - PagliacciTchaikovsky - Eugene OneginTchaikovsky - The Queen of SpadesMussorgsky - Boris Godunov

Welcome back to Between the Barlines! We are almost done with our episodes addressing opera in the 19th century. Today’s episode is one that I have been looking forward to the most, because as of last year, Giacomo Puccini broke into my top five favorite composers, specifically because of his operas Tosca and Madama Butterfly that we did at Pittsburgh Opera. I’m really excited to talk to you about him today and encourage you to take a listen to some of the operas listed in the episode notes for an extended treat. In this episode, we will also discuss the verismo style of Italian opera.Buy me a Coffee: buymeacoffee.com/betweenthebarlinesOperas mentioned in this episode:Manon LescautLa BohèmeToscaMadama ButterflyLa Fanciulla del WestGianni SchicchiTurandot

Welcome back to Between the Barlines! We are going to continue our chat on 19th century opera today with another innovator of opera, Giuseppe Verdi. Or as we refer to him sometimes in the opera world - Mean Joe Green!! Throughout Verdi’s lifetime, he wrote 28 operas, all of which continued the innovations that we saw at the beginning of the century with bel canto singing. Today we will see what these traits and innovations were as well as touch on many of his operas.Buy me a Coffee: buymeacoffee.com/betweenthebarlinesOperas mentioned in this episode:ObertoNabuccoErnaniMacbethLuisa MillerRigolettoIl TrovatoreLa TraviataDon CarlosAidaOtelloFalstaff

Welcome back to Between the Barlines! I am excited again to continue our chat about 19th century opera, with today’s focus being on the works of Richard Wagner. We will learn that Wagner wasn’t just a composer; he was a dramatist, philosopher, and provocateur whose ideas reshaped what opera could be. His music is monumental and his legacy is deeply complicated. TW: discussing antisemitism, Hitler, Third Reich.Buy me a Coffee: buymeacoffee.com/betweenthebarlinesOperas mentioned in this episode:The Flying DutchmanTannhäuserLohengrinDer Ring des NibelungenTristan und IsoldeDie Meistersinger von NürnbergParsifal

Welcome Back to Between the Barlines! I am your host, Dr. Maeve Berry! Today, we are going to continue our chat about 19th century opera by taking a closer look at the Bel Canto era of singing and operatic composition. We will be diving deeper into the works of the main three bel canto composers: Gioachino Rossini, Vincenzo Bellini, and Gaetano Donizetti. Buy me a Coffee:Operas mentioned in this episode:Rossini - The Barber of SevilleRossini - La CenerentolaRossini - Guillaume TellBellini - NormaBellini - La SonnambulaBellini - I PuritaniDonizetti - Lucia di LammermoorDonizetti - L’elisir d’amoreDonizetti - Don Pasquale

Welcome back to Between the Barlines! I am your host, Dr. Maeve Berry! Opera became more than entertainment during this time; it became a mirror of political upheaval, national identity, and human passion. From the grandeur of Italian bel canto to the sweeping psychological landscapes of Wagner, 19th-century opera redefined what it meant to tell stories through music.Buy me a Coffee: buymeacoffee.com/betweenthebarlinesOperas mentioned in this episode:Rossini -The Barber of SevilleBellini - Norma,Donizetti - Lucia di LammermoorVerdi - NabuccoVerdi - RigolettoVerdi - La TraviataVerdi - AidaWagner - Tristan und IsoldeWagner -The Flying DutchmanWagner - The Ring CycleMeyerbeer - Robert le diableMeyerbeer - Les HuguenotsGounod - FaustBizet - CarmenMascagni - Cavalleria RusticanaPuccini - La bohèmePuccini - ToscaPuccini - Madama ButterflyPuccini - Turandot

Welcome back to Between the Barlines! Today, we’re exploring programmatic music—music that tells a story, paints a picture, or captures an emotion beyond the notes on the page.Buy me a Coffee: buymeacoffee.com/betweenthebarlinesMusic used and mentioned in this episode:Berlioz - Symphonie fantastique idée fixe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTWbh4ffwGYSmetana - Má vlast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kl0-Pdo0vi8Strauss - Don Juan: https://youtu.be/XG4uBRBMdzY?si=qGI8lya-loOJm5BdStrauss - Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks: https://youtu.be/K02qkwc7dxQ?si=-vpyP1hVYLEcPIfFStrauss - Also sprach Zarathustra: https://youtu.be/GfwAPg4rQQE?si=xovQLvoLiDmLBQ0z

Welcome back to Between the Barlines! I am your host, Dr. Maeve Berry! We have somewhat of a baseline episode today; what I mean by that is we are going to touch on a few composers and what they did for orchestral and chamber music in the 19th century. These are composers like Berlioz, Liszt, Brahms, Wagner and more. Let’s get started!Buy me a Coffee: buymeacoffee.com/betweenthebarlinesMusic mentioned in this episode: Beethoven - Symphony No. 9: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IqnVCc-YqoBerlioz - Symphonie Fantastique: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgXW-57UDMc

Welcome Back to Between the Barlines! I am very very excited to introduce today’s episode to you because it is all about choral music! This is a genre that is very near and dear to my heart, and this repertoire coupled with renaissance choral music is some of my favorite to study AND sing! When most of us think of the Romantic period, we imagine the piano works of Chopin or the symphonies of Tchaikovsky. But alongside those grand orchestral gestures, the human voice became one of the most powerful vessels of Romantic emotion.Buy me a Coffee: buymeacoffee.com/betweenthebarlinesMusic mentioned in this episode:Brahms - Ein deutsches Requiem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXU9vqVdudMMendelssohn - Elijah: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pduEw6cn5N0Mendelssohn - St. Paul: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VunSuDNKTBYVerdi.- Requiem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nlq9lJRElBkDvořák - Stabat Mater: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJr5Gzaa2igDvořák - Requiem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7YtmgNVGm8Tchaikovsky - 9 Sacred Pieces: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rump2-cOvcc&list=PL257B60AA65EB9902

Welcome Back to Between the Barlines! Today, we’re diving into the dazzling world of Franz Liszt, who was a superstar pianist, composer, and one of the most transformative figures in all of classical music. From virtuosic piano showpieces to profound symphonic poems, Liszt’s influence echoes far beyond his own century.Buy me a Coffee: buymeacoffee.com/betweenthebarlinesMusic mentioned in this episode:Transcendental Études: https://youtu.be/1O4h0AapdbQ?si=lwkUEV4PoUK90QopPaganini Études: https://youtu.be/eQrPEKrECOM?si=vGjnSnZlZBuofgESGrandes études de concert: https://youtu.be/4RCS99LVsls?si=i-2hpv1gRf9IKMscPiano Sonata in b minor (played by Jonathan Mamora): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsCApp8yUDgLes Préludes: https://youtu.be/jb2bkVQwtBs?si=_Y6yB1YEa7jhLvSkMazeppa: https://youtu.be/hb4H_9TKQ8I?si=q1kascyeIRg866gUMissa Choralis: https://youtu.be/j3wzaiynuTc?si=3EVOUBB2OIZbUOAS