Ethercast
846 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 4 years ago - ★★★★★ - 1 ratingEthercast is the companion podcast to Ether Game, a weekly music trivia show produced by WFIU Public Radio in Bloomington, Indiana. On each episode of Ethercast, host Christopher Burrus explores big questions in the world of classical music.
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Episodes
Gershwin: Girl Crazy, “But Not For Me”
September 16, 2011 13:00 - 1 ByteCan you guess this piece? Here’s a hint: mad for the ladies…
Britten: Rejoice In The Lamb
September 15, 2011 13:00 - 1 ByteCan you guess this piece? Here’s a hint: a spiritual game of ‘cat-and-mouse’…
Handel: Orlando, Act II Conclusion
September 14, 2011 13:00 - 1 ByteCan you guess this piece? Here’s a hint: saving poor Roland from himself…
Based On The Book
September 14, 2011 00:00 - 1 ByteThe score for this film was nominated for an Oscar, but lost to another movie just as popular. If sheer musical girth had been a factor, the score heard here certainly would have won as it is present under nearly the entire movie, just under four hours of music. Even more amazing, the composer worked on eleven other film scores in this same year.
R. Schumann: Cello Concerto
September 13, 2011 13:00 - 1 ByteCan you guess this piece? Here’s a hint: rough mental waters ahead…
Richard Strauss: Don Quixote
September 12, 2011 13:00 - 1 ByteCan you guess this piece? Here’s a hint: sorrowful countenances and agile windmills…
Prokofiev: “The Crusaders In Pskov” From Alexander Nevsky
September 09, 2011 13:00 - 1 ByteCan you guess this piece? Here’s a hint: history meets the movie soundstage
Offenbach: “Can-Can” from La Gaité Parisienne
September 08, 2011 13:00 - 1 ByteCan you guess this piece? Here’s a hint: from the dance hall to the concert hall
Handel: 12 Variations on “See the Conquering Hero Comes”
September 07, 2011 13:00 - 1 ByteCan you guess this piece? Here’s a hint: musical down-sizing, anyone?
Before Email
September 07, 2011 00:00 - 1 ByteWhile finishing up this selection in a village outside Vienna, this composer also wrote a strange document that he never sent. It contains the composer's realization of that his worsening condition. Of course, that wasn’t his only mysterious letter – there’s still the one addressed to an unknown someone.
Robert Schumann: Dichterliebe
September 06, 2011 13:00 - 1 ByteCan you guess this piece? Here’s a hint: A meeting of music and theater
Gershwin: Suite from Porgy and Bess
September 05, 2011 13:00 - 1 ByteCan you guess this piece? Here’s a hint: Broadway meets the bayou
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 1
September 01, 2011 13:00 - 1 ByteHere’s a hint: Don’t “Egg” us on... or Good chocolate and good music go hand-in-hand
Humperdinck: Hansel And Gretel, Excerpts
August 31, 2011 13:00 - 1 ByteCan you guess this piece? Here’s a hint: A fairy tale gets the operatic treatment
Dog Days
August 31, 2011 00:00 - 1 ByteAlthough these concertos were originally published side-by-side with several others, four have been singled out and become a set. In the score, each concerto is accompanied by a poetic sonnet, possibly by the composer himself! But because of the massive amount of anonymous poetry in print from this period, it is likely we will never know for sure.
Ellington: Peanut Brittle Brigade
August 30, 2011 13:00 - 1 ByteCan you guess this piece? Here’s a hint: A jazzy twist on a Christmas classic
Strauss: Capriccio, Prelude
August 29, 2011 13:00 - 1 ByteCan you guess this piece? Here’s a hint: Not exactly a diva.
Floyd: Susannah, Ain’t It A Pretty Night
August 26, 2011 13:00 - 1 ByteCan you guess this piece? Here’s a hint: Trouble in the deep south. . .
Vaughan Williams: The Lake In The Mountains
August 25, 2011 13:00 - 1 ByteCan you guess this piece? Here’s a hint: A musical oasis. . .
Strauss: Alpine Symphony
August 24, 2011 13:00 - 1 ByteCan you guess this piece? Here’s a hint: Dude, check out THIS view!
Famous Johns
August 24, 2011 00:00 - 1 ByteIt can be hard to imagine the thorough craftsmanship, practical ingenuity, and innate sense of artistry that had to be available on a tight schedule in the world of this composer. However, he probably had a little more time than usual to work on his first large-scale work for his post in Leipzig.
Haydn: The Creation, "Sing To The Lord"
August 23, 2011 13:00 - 1 ByteCan you guess this piece? Here’s a hint: God takes a much-needed break . .
Beethoven: Symphony No 6, First Movement
August 22, 2011 13:00 - 1 ByteCan you guess this piece? Here’s a hint: Green acres is the place to be. . .
Linke: The Glow Worm
August 19, 2011 13:00 - 1 ByteCan you guess this piece? Here’s a hint: you light up my life…
Britten: O Rose, Thou Art Sick
August 18, 2011 13:00 - 1 ByteCan you guess this piece? Here’s a hint: never trust a worm…
Bach: Through Adam’s Fall
August 17, 2011 13:00 - 1 ByteCan you guess this piece? Here’s a hint: was that ‘hiss’ just a leaky organ pipe?
Handel: Israel In Egypt, He Spake The Word
August 16, 2011 13:00 - 1 ByteCan you guess this piece? Here’s a hint: buzzing and croaking our way out of captivity…
Telemann: Concerto In A Major
August 15, 2011 13:00 - 1 ByteCan you guess this piece? Here’s a hint: Hundreds of concertos? We’ll ‘hop’ right to it
Arlen and Harburg: Lydia, The Tattooed Lady
August 12, 2011 13:00 - 1 ByteCan you guess this piece? Here’s a hint: a picture that looks back…
Debussy: Girl With The Flaxen Hair
August 11, 2011 13:00 - 1 ByteCan you guess this piece? Here’s a hint: picture or no picture…
Monteverdi: Eyes That Were Once My Life
August 10, 2011 13:00 - 1 ByteCan you guess this piece? Here’s a hint: merrie Mantuan melodies…
On Vacation!
August 10, 2011 00:00 - 1 ByteThe Alps is one of the greatest mountain ranges in Europe, and is a favorite vacationing spot for hikers and skiers alike. For our composer, the grandiosity of the Alps could only be matched by a composition of mammoth proportions played by an equally grand orchestra. The work requires 120 or more musicians and unusual percussion instruments.
Bach: St. Matthew Passion, O Sacred Head, Now Wounded
August 09, 2011 13:00 - 1 ByteCan you guess this piece? Here’s a hint: “holy” corporeal…
A Certain "Je Ne Sais Quoi"
August 08, 2011 15:48 - 1 ByteCan you guess this piece? Here's a hint: a philosóphe on the loose!
Handel: Messiah, How Beautiful Are The Feet
August 08, 2011 13:00 - 1 ByteCan you guess this piece? Here’s a hint: a theology, not a fetish…
Simon and Garfunkel: Homeward Bound
August 05, 2011 13:00 - 1 ByteCan you guess this piece? Here’s a hint: heading home in two-part harmony…
Harris: When Johnny Comes Marching Home
August 04, 2011 13:00 - 1 ByteCan you guess this piece? Here’s a hint: home from the All-American conflict…
Wagner: Mastersinger of Nuremberg, Overture
August 03, 2011 13:00 - 1 ByteCan you guess this piece? Here’s a hint: homesteading at the old “Chorale”…
Thrilling Exploits
August 03, 2011 00:00 - 1 ByteWhile stories of heroic courage, loyalty, and thrilling adventure are universal, similarities between the figures of the cowboy and the Japanese samurai have inspired several specific cases of cross-cultural borrowing.
Gottschalk: Caprice On "Home Sweet Home"
August 02, 2011 13:00 - 1 ByteCan you guess this piece? Here’s a hint: home in the U.S.A., but made in Europe…
Verdi: Nabucco, Va Pensiero
August 01, 2011 13:00 - 1 ByteCan you guess this piece? Here’s a hint: enslaved and homesick…
Berg: Round Dance
July 29, 2011 13:00 - 1 ByteCan you guess this piece? Here’s a hint: These guys loved to push the musical envelope!
Poulenc: Gloria
July 28, 2011 13:00 - 1 ByteCan you guess this piece? Here’s a hint: Church music with a 20th century twist
C.P.E. Bach: Flute Concerto
July 27, 2011 13:00 - 1 ByteCan you guess this piece? Here’s a hint: It’s all in the family
Sport of Kings
July 27, 2011 00:00 - 1 ByteIn the hands of our composer, this story originally by Voltaire still managed to retain its satirical edge. In the scene we just heard, our world-traveling hero lands in Venice. There, he is drawn into the cynical world of gambling and corruption, set to the spin of the roulette wheel.
Mussorgsky: Boris Godunov, Monologue
July 26, 2011 13:00 - 1 ByteCan you guess this piece? Here’s a hint: A salute to the history of the Motherland
Mozart: Magic Flute Overture
July 25, 2011 13:00 - 1 ByteCan you guess this piece? Here’s a hint: Fantasy and philosophy take the stage
Elfman: Nightmare Before Christmas, Oogie Boogie Song
July 22, 2011 13:00 - 1 ByteCan you guess this piece? Here’s a hint: stop-motion show-tunes…
Herrmann: Suite from Psycho
July 21, 2011 13:00 - 1 ByteCan you guess this piece? Here’s a hint: nothing like a nice refreshing shower…
Mussorgsky: Night On Bald Mountain
July 20, 2011 13:00 - 1 ByteCan you guess this piece? Here’s a hint: beware the summer solstice!