This program from the Famous Composers series introduces the life and work of German composer Richard Strauss, born to a horn player, Franz Strauss, in 1864. The film sheds light on Strauss' childhood in Munich, which revolved around the boy's musical education. His father's conservative tastes played a large role in shaping the composer, but also kept him away from the important influence of Wagner until later in life. By 1883 he left Munich for...

What is this life-and this death? Gustav Mahler famously asked when composing his second symphony. Does consciousness "continue" on a higher cosmic level, he wondered, or is it "only an empty dream?" Narrated by renowned baritone Thomas Hampson, this film explores the musical, biographical, and philosophical background of the monumental work. Viewers are treated to beautifully produced historical reenactments as well as interviews with many of the...

1000 Masterpieces from the Great Museums of the World takes us on a fascinating journey through the history of art and provides a deeper insight into the masterpieces of painting. This film explores Giulio Romano’s “The Virgin and Child with the Infant John Baptist,” completed circa 1523 and housed in the National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh.

In this program from the Famous Composers series, viewers are introduced to the life and work of Ludwig van Beethoven beginning with an overview of his family's history and eighteenth century Germany. By the age of seven, under the tutelage of his father, Beethoven was playing concerts. At 17 Beethoven went to Vienna for the first time and met Mozart but returned home quickly to help support his family in the wake of his mother's death. He managed...

The rebellious artist, the attraction to the dark side, love and death, and the primacy of nature-all of these are themes that suffused the artistic and ideological revolution known as Romanticism. This program vividly conveys how new ways of thinking and seeing reshaped the humanities in the 18th and 19th centuries. The writings of Holderlin, Emerson, Poe, Whitman, Byron, Wordsworth, and Keats, as well as the paintings of Turner and Goya and the...

Composed in 1723, Antonio Vivaldi's The Four Seasons is among the most recognized and beloved works of classical music. Although its melodies are familiar, not every listener knows about the poetic word imagery Vivaldi created to accompany his four violin concertos. This entertaining and educational program helps viewers fully experience the details and nuances of the Baroque masterpiece. Before a live audience, conductor-host George Marriner Maull,...

1000 Masterpieces from the Great Museums of the World takes us on a fascinating journey through the history of art and provides a deeper insight into the masterpieces of painting. This film explores Reginald Marsh’s “Twenty Cent Movie,” completed in 1936 and housed in the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York.

This program retraces the life and places, the glories and despairs of Antonio Vivaldi, the red(haired) priest whose working relationship with a diva set tongues wagging and whose love for opera led to his downfall. And throughout and above all, of course, his music. Exquisite performances of the range of his work, from the "Estro Armonico" and other string masterpieces, pieces from some operas, "Juditha Triumphans," and examples of the sacred vocal...

This program, devoted to the 17th century, explains how the St. Mark's sound was first rescued and then enhanced by Claudio Monteverdi, and covers the art of the madrigal, the rise of women composers, and why the world's first public opera house was built in Venice. Live performances in San Nicolo dei Mendicoli and the Ducal Palace.

This program from the Famous Composers series offers an overview of the life and work of composer and pianist Johannes Brahms beginning with an introduction to Brahms' family and hometown, the nineteenth century seaport city of Hamburg. The film follows Brahms' musical education with teachers Otto Cossel and Eduard Marxsen, his days of playing in bars and teaching to earn money, and his eventual move to the musical capital of Vienna. The film characterizes...