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Ever wonder who were the Florentine Camerata? Where did the conductor’s baton come from? Or the difference between Opera Buffa and Opera Seria? These little nuggets of classical music trivia are what this podcast is all about. Come hop around music history with me, Steven Hobé, as we take a minute to get the scoop!
239 Episodes
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Send us a text Description Showtime with Strings Attached: The Romantic Concerto in 60 Seconds. Take a minute to get the scoop! Fun Fact Franz Liszt’s piano concertos were so demanding that critics sometimes accused him of showing off. He didn’t mind—he once said performing should “transport the listener.” Paganini caused similar uproar: audiences whispered he’d sold his soul to the devil to master the violin. Marketing hype, 19th-century style. About Steven, Host Steven is a Canadian compos...
Send us a text Description Bigger, Louder, Wilder: The Romantic Orchestra Arrives in 60 Seconds. Take a minute to get the scoop! Fun Fact Wagner was so ambitious he built his own opera house in Bayreuth just to fit the expanded orchestra he envisioned. His pit design hid the musicians from the audience—so all you saw was drama on stage while an enormous, unseen orchestra unleashed waves of sound beneath. About Steven, Host Steven is a Canadian composer & actor living in Toronto. Through ...
Send us a text Description Berlioz & the Program Symphony: When Music Told the Whole Story in 60 Seconds. Take a minute to get the scoop! Fun Fact Berlioz claimed Symphonie fantastique was inspired by his infatuation with Irish actress Harriet Smithson, whom he later married—briefly. She didn’t attend the premiere, but when she finally heard it, she was impressed… and a little alarmed. Courtship tip: maybe don’t include a beheading scene when wooing your future spouse. About Steven, Host...
Send us a text Description Small Rooms, Big Genius: Mozart’s Chamber Music in 60 Seconds. Take a minute to get the scoop! Fun Fact Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet was written for his friend Anton Stadler, whose extended-range clarinet could play lower notes than normal. Mozart adored the instrument’s warm tone—so much so that he later wrote his famous Clarinet Concerto for Stadler. Friendship goals: writing one of the most beautiful pieces in the repertoire just for you. About Steven, Host Steven ...
Send us a text Description Lutes, Lyrics, and Life on the Road: Meet the Medieval Minstrels in 60 Seconds. Take a minute to get the scoop! Fun Fact Minstrels had to pass on their songs by memory, since music printing wouldn’t arrive until the 15th century. That meant performances changed over time—sometimes intentionally, sometimes forgetfully. A tale sung in France might sound very different once it reached England… with a new punchline and an extra verse or two. About Steven, Host Steven i...
Send us a text Description If the Music Fits, Sing It: The Art of Word Painting in 60 Seconds. Take a minute to get the scoop! Fun Fact In Weelkes’ madrigal "As Vesta Was from Latmos Hill Descending", the word “descending” is literally sung with downward scales—meanwhile, “ascending” climbs right back up. Even “running down” gets a rapid, breathless passage. It’s one of the earliest—and cheekiest—examples of word painting pushed to delightful extremes. About Steven, Host Steven is a Canadian...
Send us a text Description Notes on Repeat: How the Printing Press Changed Music Forever in 60 Seconds. Take a minute to get the scoop! Fun Fact Petrucci’s music prints were so beautifully done that people treated them like prized books. His triple-impression method printed staves, then notes, then text—a slow process, but incredibly precise. Later printers opted for faster techniques, but Petrucci’s editions set a gold standard for music printing that lasted well into the 16th century. Abou...
Send us a text Description When One Voice Became Many: The Rise of Polyphony in 60 Seconds. Take a minute to get the scoop! Fun Fact In early polyphonic music, singers didn’t always have rhythm notated. They had to feel their way through the parts. Imagine performing complex interwoven melodies… by ear! It wasn’t until the 13th century that rhythmic notation caught up. Until then, performances were part skill, part educated guess. About Steven, Host Steven is a Canadian composer & actor ...
Send us a text Description Opera à la Carte: Rossini, Risotto, and the Birth of a Beloved Aria in 60 Seconds. Take a minute to get the scoop! Fun Fact Rossini retired from composing operas at just 37, choosing to focus on fine food and entertaining. He invented or inspired several gourmet dishes—like Tournedos Rossini, topped with foie gras and truffles. For Rossini, music and food weren’t separate pleasures—they were two ways of feeding the soul. About Steven, Host Steven is a Canadian comp...
Send us a text Description Knock Knock... It’s Fate: The Four Notes That Shook the World in 60 Seconds. Take a minute to get the scoop! Fun Fact During WWII, Allied radio broadcasts began with the da-da-da-DUM motif because its rhythm matched the Morse code for “V” (•••–), symbolizing “Victory.” Beethoven’s Fifth thus became a sonic emblem of resistance—proof that four notes written in 1808 could help rally hope more than a century later. About Steven, Host Steven is a Canadian composer &am...
Send us a text Description When a Cello Speaks: The Heartbreaking Opening of Elgar’s Concerto in 60 Seconds. Take a minute to get the scoop! Fun Fact Elgar’s Cello Concerto premiered in 1919—and flopped. Overshadowed by rehearsal mishaps, it wasn’t until Jacqueline du Pré’s 1965 recording that the piece gained fame. Today, its opening bars are considered some of the most emotionally gripping in classical music—proof that some masterpieces just need time to be heard. About Steven, Host Steve...
Send us a text Description That Note from Heaven: The Top C in Allegri’s Miserere in 60 Seconds. Take a minute to get the scoop! Fun Fact The Vatican once banned copying Miserere, enforcing secrecy to protect its mystique. Young Mozart heard it once in 1770 and wrote it out entirely from memory. This musical jailbreak helped make the soaring top C famous—and added to Mozart’s legend as a prodigious musical genius with a photographic ear. About Steven, Host Steven is a Canadian composer &...
Send us a text Description Lip Gymnastics: The Wild World of Horn Embouchure in 60 Seconds. Take a minute to get the scoop! Fun Fact Horn players often practice just buzzing their lips into a mouthpiece—no horn needed—while driving, walking, or even watching TV! __________________________________________________________________ About Steven, Host Steven is a Canadian composer & actor living in Toronto. Through his music, he creates a range of works, with an emphasis on the short-form gen...
Send us a text Description Puff, Play, Breathe: The Oboe’s Magic Trick in 60 Seconds. Take a minute to get the scoop! Fun Fact Some oboists have used circular breathing to play continuous notes for over 45 minutes—long enough to make a sandwich between breaths! __________________________________________________________________ About Steven, Host Steven is a Canadian composer & actor living in Toronto. Through his music, he creates a range of works, with an emphasis on the short-form genr...
Send us a text Description Mahler’s Motto: Go Big or Go Back to Vienna in 60 Seconds. Take a minute to get the scoop! Fun Fact Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 premiered in 1910 with over 1,000 performers on stage. Though “Symphony of a Thousand” wasn’t his title, the name stuck. It was one of the largest-scale choral works ever attempted—and still gives orchestra managers mild panic attacks every time it’s programmed. __________________________________________________________________ About Steven, H...
Send us a text Description The Nutcracker? No Thanks, Said Tchaikovsky (At First) in 60 Seconds. Take a minute to get the scoop! Fun Fact Tchaikovsky didn't trust Russian composers not to steal his idea of using the celesta for The Nutcracker, so he had it secretly shipped from Paris. He needn’t have worried—now it’s hard to imagine Christmas without it. He didn’t love the ballet, but the celesta made magic. __________________________________________________________________ About Steven, Hos...
Send us a text Description Lisztmania: The First True Fan Frenzy in 60 Seconds. Take a minute to get the scoop! Fun Fact Lisztmania wasn’t just poetic—it was real, and intense. Fans fought over Liszt’s handkerchiefs, collected his hair, and wore cameos bearing his face. Some even claimed his music had healing powers. Critics struggled to understand the frenzy, but audiences simply couldn't get enough of the pianist who played like a storm. _____________________________________________________...
Send us a text Description When Titans Duel: Handel vs. Scarlatti in the Baroque Showdown in 60 Seconds. Take a minute to get the scoop! Fun Fact In early 1700s Rome, Handel and Scarlatti participated in a legendary keyboard duel judged by local nobility. Though equals on the harpsichord, Handel’s mastery of the organ gave him the edge. Scarlatti reportedly acknowledged Handel’s superiority—an extraordinary moment of respect between two of the Baroque era’s greatest composers. _______________...
Send us a text Description How Medieval Monks Invented the Way We Write Music Today in 60 Seconds. Take a minute to get the scoop! Fun Fact Before musical notation, music was passed down by memory! Around the 9th century, monks created neumes—squiggly symbols above lyrics—to guide melodies. Guido of Arezzo later added the staff and pitch names. His system was so effective, it’s still the basis for how we read and write music today! _____________________________________________________________...
Send us a text Description How Beethoven Composed Masterpieces Without Hearing a Sound in 60 Seconds. Take a minute to get the scoop! Fun Fact Beethoven composed some of his greatest works after going completely deaf! He couldn’t hear a single note but used his deep understanding of music and felt vibrations through the piano. His Ninth Symphony—featuring “Ode to Joy”—was written in total silence, yet it remains one of the most powerful pieces ever created. ___________________________________...
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