ITL #17: Kind of Baroque

Short clips on Instagram @impolitelisten

Spotify playlist for this episode's music

Discuss this episode on r/impolitetolisten

Useful Links:

Ennio Morricone Plays Chess - Paris Review interview

Leonard Bernstein explains the harmonic series

Bernstein conducts Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique

Composer Alexander Liebermann notates animal sounds

Olivier Messiaen - Le Merle Noir (The Blackbird)

Arnold Schoenberg's paintings

Chris's Elementary School chess handbook

Bobby Fischer Against the World on YouTube

Arthur Rimbaud - one of the few poetic prodigies

Sergei Nakariakov - shopping for a new trumpet

How many chess games are possible? - Numberphile video

Gustav Mahler - wikipedia

Program for Mahler's matinee with the New York Philharmonic

Scheherazade (1001 Arabian Nights)

Scheherazade (Rimsky-Korsakov piece) - wikipedia

Scheherazade - Sinfónica de Galicia (YARR!)

Leif Segerstam - Finnish composer/conductor

Bernstein conducts Mahler's unfinished Symphony no. 10

Mahler - "Ulricht" from Symphony no. 2 on theremin

Who is Gustav Mahler? - Leonard Bernstein's Young People's Concerts

The Unanswered Question: Bernstein on Mahler

Mahler rehearsals with Leonard Bernstein

Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack

The Mask of Zorro suite by James Horner

Alma Mahler - wikipedia

Bernstein & Alma

Tom Lehrer - "Alma"

ITL #13: The Christmas Special

December 18, 2020 by

Chris and Sridhar say goodbye to 2020 with an epic Christmas Special. They discuss classic and Classical Christmas music, what makes music sound Christmassy, their favorite things to listen to around this time of year, and yes... The Nutcracker.

If you enjoy the show, consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or telling your friends about us. We appreciate your support.

Check out the Impolite to Listen Spotify playlist for this episode's music

Bach - Christmas Oratorio

Useful Links:

Home Alone soundtrack

Mariah Carey - All I Want for Christmas is You

Darlene Love - Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)

John Lennon - Happy Xmas (War is Over)

Paul McCartney - Wonderful Christmastime

E.T.A. Hoffmann - The Nutcracker and the Mouse King

1889 World's Fair in Paris

The Nutcracker - Coffee (Arabian Dance) played on theremin

White Christmas (weather) - wikipedia

Charles Dickens - "the man who invented Christmas"

Felix Mendelssohn - wikipedia

Mendelssohn - A Midsummer Night's Dream

Santa's Midsummer Night's Dream

Vince Guaraldi

A Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack

Brian Setzer jazzy Nutcracker arrangement

Ding Dong Merrily on High - Philharmonia Brass Quintet

German Brass - "Now you are well avenged" from Bach's Christmas Oratorio

German Brass - "Let honor be sung to You, O God" from Bach's Christmas Oratorio

German Brass goes Bach

Matthias Höfs - A Spanish Christmas

Béla Fleck - banjo player

Béla Fleck & the Flecktones - Jingle All the Way

Jingle All the Way starring Arnold Schwarzenegger

Handel's Messiah - Christopher Hogwood/Academy of Ancient Music

Tom Lehrer - wikipedia

Tom Lehrer - A Christmas Carol

Tom Lehrer - concert in Copenhagen

Eric Idle - Monty Python comedian/musician

Eric Idle - F*ck Christmas

Eric Idle - Boozy Philosopher's Song

Nat King Cole - wikipedia

Nat King Cole - The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)

Hoagy Carmichael - wikipedia

Stardust - Nat King Cole

Nat King Cole L-O-V-E

Duke Ellington's Nutcracker Suite

Boston Pops Christmas album

Boston Pops Sleigh Ride - conducted by John Williams

Boston Pops Sleigh Ride - conducted by Shaq

John Sergeant - Home Alone/Nutcracker medley

Verily, He is Worthy - Russian Orthodox chant

Irving Berlin/Bing Crosby - White Christmas

Some of our favorite Nutcrackers:

San Francisco Ballet (audio only)

New York City Ballet (movie w/Home Alone kid)

Berlin Philharmonic (audio only - abridged)

Bolshoi Theatre (complete performance)

ITL #12: Talking Tango - Interview with Iona Italia

November 30, 2020 by

Impolite to Listen welcomes its first guest as Sridhar interviews tango dancer, teacher, and author Iona Italia. They discuss the complexity of tango music, how it evolved from immigrant influences in Buenos Aires, interpreting music through dance, the dynamics of leading and following, orchestras of tango’s Golden Age, placebo effects in dancing, Tango Nuevo, and more.

Useful Links:

Iona Italia - ionaitalia.com

Buy Iona's tango books on Milonga Press

"Our Tango World vol. 1: Learning & Community" on Amazon (also available on Kindle)

"Our Tango World vol. 2: At the Milonga" on Amazon (also available on Kindle)

Follow Iona on Twitter @ionaitalia

Two for Tea Podcast on SoundCloud (also available on most podcast players)

Areo Magazine

Persuasion on Substack

Letter - a platform for thoughtful conversation

Iona dancing to "Vuelves"

Iona Italia on YouTube

Milonga - wikipedia

Tango waltzes

"Si la llegaran a ver" - Juan D'Arienzo

Bandoneon - wikipedia

Noelia Hurtado & Carlitos Espinoza (one of Iona's favorite couples)

Tango music - wikipedia

Orquesta típica - wikipedia

Astor Piazzolla - wikipedia

The Golden Age of Tango - tangology 101

Lunfardo - Buenos Aires argot

Piazzolla - Zero Hour

Piazzolla - Oblivion played on theremin

Piazzolla - Histoire du Tango: Bordel 1900

Piazzolla - Histoire du Tango: Café 1930

Piazzolla - Nightclub 1960

Piazzolla - Histoire du Tango: Concert d'aujourd'hui

Some Golden Age orchestras on YouTube:

If you enjoy the show, consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or telling your friends about us. We appreciate your support.

ITL #11: The Vertigo Effect

November 16, 2020 by

Chris and Sridhar discuss Keith Jarrett’s retirement, the blurry line between composition and improvisation, late Romantic/early Modern music by Claude Debussy and Erik Satie, and the San Francisco Ballet’s new video with music from Alfred Hitchcock’s “Vertigo”.

Useful Links:

Keith Jarrett - American pianist

Keith Jarrett Confronts a Future Without the Piano - The New York Times

Keith Jarrett & Michala Petri play Bach Flute Sonatas

Keith Jarrett & Kim Kashkashian play Bach Viola da Gamba Sonatas

Keith Jarrett - solo Bach

Keith Jarrett - The Köln Concert

Keith Jarrett - Live in Tokyo

Clifford Brown - Joy Spring

John Coltrane - Giant Steps

Claude Debussy, musicien français

Debussy - Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune

L'après-midi d'un faune (poem by Stéphane Mallarmé)

Debussy himself plays the Faune flute solo

Leonard Bernstein - Norton Lecture on Debussy & Wagner

Debussy - Pelléas et Mélisande

Debussy - Sonata for Flute, Viola, and Harp

Richard Wagner - German composer

Wagner's Ring Cycle - wikipedia

Erik Satie - gymnopédist

Alice Sara Ott plays Satie's "Gymnopédies" and "Gnossiennes"

Jessye Norman sings Satie's "Je te veux"

Furniture music (musique d'ameublement)

Clip from "Parade" (ballet by Satie, Picasso, Cocteau, and Diaghilev)

San Francisco Ballet - Dance of Dreams (music video w/Herrmann's "Scène d'amour")

Benjamin Millepied - choreographer/Natalie Portman's husband

"Vertigo" - music by Bernard Herrmann

Scène d'amour - scene from "Vertigo" (SPOILERS!)

Scène d'amour - score analysis

The Vertigo Effect

Wagner - Tristan and Isolde: Prelude and Liebestod

Wagner - Prelude to Act I of Lohengrin

Tristan chord

ITL #10: Side Notes

October 16, 2020 by

After some John Cage follow up, Chris and Sridhar discuss the Steinway & Sons Spirio player piano, vinyl revival, the concertos of Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff, and how AI might affect the future of the music industry.

Useful Links:

4'33'' performed by a death metal band

Tabla - Indian percussion instrument

Zakir Hussain - tabla virtuoso

Zakir Hussain plays tabla

Sridhar's essay on John Cage

Player piano - wikipedia

Steinway & Sons Spirio player piano

Music Streaming is Fueling Vinyl's Resurgence

Music industry sales visualized

Sir Patrick Stewart reads Shakespeare's Sonnet 130

Mozart - Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major

Khatia Buniatishvili - French-Georgian pianist

Khatia Buniatishvili plays Rachmaninoff Piano Concertos 2 & 3

Sergei Rachmaninoff - Russian composer/pianist

Rachmaninoff - Vocalise on theremin

Denis Matsuev - Russian pianist

Denis Matsuev plays Rachmaninoff Piano Concertos 2 & 3 back-to-back

Vladimir Horowitz plays Rachmaninoff 3 with Zubin Mehta

Zubin Mehta - Indian conductor

Zubin Mehta's final 3 minutes of conducting the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Russian composer

Valery Gergiev conducts Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6

Gil Shaham plays Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto

Tchaikovsky - Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor

Denis Matsuev plays Rachmaninoff - Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini

Augustin Hadelich plays Paganini - Caprice no. 24

AIVA - artificial intelligence composer

AIVA soundtrack playlist

Aiva.ai - website

AIVA - TED Talk

Victor Borge - (music/comed)ian

Victor Borge - Live in Minneapolis

Louis Armstrong - trumpeter

Louis Singin' 'Dinah' in Copenhagen

Ken Burns: Jazz

ITL #9: The Glass Cage

September 23, 2020 by

After issuing a correction from Episode 1, Chris and Sridhar discuss Glenn Gould's early appreciation of recording technology, the music of John Cage and Philip Glass, the phenomenon of 20th century music generally, and humans' attitudes towards the new.

Useful Links:

Glenn Gould plays Beethoven's 6th Symphony on piano

Longer clips on YouTube

Gould's "Acoustic Orchestrations" album

Gould's Scriabin recording session (short documentary)

Gould's recording of Scriabin's Sonata No. 5 - a look under the hood

Chris and Glenn

Glenn Gould statue in Toronto - map link

Gould's CBC archives

Marshall McLuhan - Canadian media theorist

Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Glenn Gould, and the Goldberg Variations

John Cage - American composer, artist, philosopher, mycologist

Cage's 4'33'' played by David Tudor

4'33'' score

Cage's Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano

Cage's notes for preparing the piano for Sonatas and Interludes

Prepared piano - wikipedia

Aleatoric (chance) music - wikipedia

"Making Music With Dice" - 12Tone video

I-Ching - Book of Changes

A Year With John Cage - How To Get Out Of The Cage (Documentary by Frank Scheffer)

Cage plays "Child of Tree" for amplified cactus and feather

Cage's obsession with mushrooms

Cage and his cat Losa

Cage's "Roaratorio, an Irish Circus on Finnegans Wake"

Finnegans Wake - Irish pub in San Francisco's Cole Valley

James Joyce's "Finnegans Wake" with annotations

The Philip Glass Ensemble

The Orange Tree by Philip Glass (from The Illusionist)

The Illusionist - full movie with music by Philip Glass (shh...don't tell anyone)

Philip Glass' (disowned) Sonatina No. 2

Helen's Theme from Candyman (by Philip Glass) played on theremin

Anton Ego's monologue from "Ratatouille" - voiced by Peter O'Toole

Applebee's All You Can Eat Riblets commercial

ITL #8: #Beethoven250?

September 02, 2020 by

After catching up on some long overdue housekeeping items, Chris and Sridhar discuss Daniel Barenboim's marathon performances and masterclasses on Beethoven's Piano Sonatas, the issue of tempo and tempo relations in Beethoven interpretations, Beethoven as a cusp composer, and yes, #Beethoven250.

Useful Links:

Check out our website!Rate, review, and share us on Apple Podcasts

"The Importance of Being Earnest" by Oscar Wilde

Short clips on Instagram

Longer clips on YouTube

Steve Waugh, Australian cricketing legend

Steve Waugh's perfect day against England

McMurdo Station in Antarctica

"Absolutely on Music" - reading for the Impolite to Listen bookclub

Haruki Murakami

Seiji Ozawa

Chopin Piano Competition

A young Maurizio Pollini at the Chopin Competition

Daniel Barenboim Barenboim's interview on 60 Minutes

Barenboim Beethoven masterclasses - BBC documentary

Playlist of Barenboim's full masterclass videos (Made by Sridhar)

Playlist of Barenboim's performances of all 32 Beethoven Piano Sonatas

Beethoven Piano Sonata no. 14 in C-Sharp Minor ("Moonlight")

Beethoven Piano Sonata no. 17 in D Minor ("The Tempest")

Beethoven Piano Sonata no. 21 in C Major ("Waldstein")

Beethoven Piano Sonata no. 32 in C Minor (the one with the boogie-woogie)

Beethoven Symphony no. 7 on theremin

Glenn Gould on Beethoven's 3rd Piano Concerto

Glenn Gould's brilliant thoughts on Beethoven & his performance of the 17th Piano Sonata

Glenn Gould - Beethoven Variations on a Theme in C Minor

Octatonic Scale Leonard Bernstein's final concert - Beethoven 7 at Tanglewood

The hot mess that is #Beethoven250 on Twitter

We blame #Beethoven250

Barenboim plays Adios Muchachos

ITL #7: The Source Code

August 04, 2020 by in Uncategorized

Chris and Sridhar discuss whether or not Bach is beyond criticism, the comparisons between Bach and Shakespeare, Bach's pedagogical importance, and his influence on popular music. They then wade into the period instruments debate, and finish off by talking about performance spaces that aren't concert halls.

Useful Links:

Leonard Bernstein: The Creative Performer

Ira Glass thinks Shakespeare sucks

Jacques Bono plays Bach on electric bass

Elton John: Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding

Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F Major, 1st movement

Penny Lane - hilarious music video

David Mason - Penny Lane trumpeter

Penny Lane - Canadian Brass Ensemble

Penny Lane - Anthology version without piccolo trumpet solo

What the hell is a piccolo trumpet?

The Beatles: In My Life

Bach: Concerto for Two Violins in D Minor

One of Bach's subpar fugues

Bach's magnum opus: St. Matthew Passion

András Schiff prefers Bach to "silly" piano exercises

Voyager 1 Golden Record

Bach Air played on air...

Historically informed performance - wikipedia

Shunske Sato plays Bach Chaconne on violin

Chris Thile plays Bach Chaconne on mandolin

Shunske Sato talks about the baroque violin and bow

Chopin played on Chopin's piano

Beethoven played on Beethoven's piano

A brief history of the modern piano

All of Bach - Violin Concerto in D Minor in the Rijksmuseum

Rembrandt - The Night Watch

Rembrandt - The Sampling Officials

Charlie Parker - Yardbird Suite (ft. Young Miles Davis)

Sridhar plays Bach in a café

Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D Major, 1st movement

Bach: Coffee Cantata

Coffee Cantata text

ITL #6: Remembering Ennio Morricone

July 16, 2020 by

Chris and Sridhar honor the passing of the legendary composer Ennio Morricone. They discuss the iconic status of his film scores, his gifts as a melodist, his use of non-orchestral instruments, his role in the evolution of Hollywood music, and his passion for chess.

Useful Links:

Ennio Morricone: wikipedia

Watch "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" on Netflix

Watch "Cinema Paradiso" on Amazon

"The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" soundtrack

"Cinema Paradiso" soundtrack

"The Hateful Eight" soundtrack

"The Battle of Algiers" soundtrack

"Django Unchained" soundtrack

Morricone receiving an Honorary Oscar

Morricone wins Best Original Score for "The Hateful Eight"

"The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" standoff

"Ecstasy of Gold" on theremin & voice

Moog synthesizer

Vladimir Nabokov's index cards

Tom Hanks does a Clint Eastwood impression

Il Gruppo (Morricone's avant-garde composers collective)

Morricone plays trumpet

"If This is a Man": Holocaust memoir by Primo Levi

Primo Levi

"If This is a Man" music by Morricone

Yo-Yo Ma's tribute to Morricone

"Yo-Yo Ma plays Ennio Morricone" album

Morricone's Paris Review interview about chess

Janos Starker: Cellist, Artist, Teacher

Leonhard Euler: wikipedia

Euler's Speculum Musicum

Tonnetz: wikipedia

What the Heck is Neo-Riemannian Analysis? - video explanation by 12tone

ITL #5: What is American Music?

July 04, 2020 by

Chris and Sridhar celebrate the Fourth of July by asking: what makes American music American? They discuss 19th century American music, jazz as the quintessential American art form, George Gershwin, the universality of West Side Story, Dvořák in the New World, the American landscape reflected in its music, California as the creative capital of the world, and (regrettably) John Philip S***a.

Useful Links:

Leonard Bernstein: What is American Music?

Ken Burns: Jazz

George "Jazz in a Tux" Gershwin

Nadia Boulanger: teacher extraordinaire

Gershwin plays his Three Preludes

LA Philharmonic & Gustavo Dudamel: Gershwin's Cuban Overture & An American in Paris

Leonard Bernstein plays & conducts Rhapsody in Blue

West Side Story synopsis

West Side Story lyrics

West Side Story movie on Amazon

Officer Krupke

America

Pyramus and Thisbe

Verdi: Bella figlia dell'amore from Rigoletto

Benjamin Britten: Storm Interlude from Peter Grimes

Jerry Robbins behind the scenes of West Side Story

The Making of West Side Story documentary

Antonín Dvořák

Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 “From the New World”

Paul Robeson: Going Home

Aaron Copland

Copland: Fanfare for the Common Man

Copland: Duo for Flute & Piano

Ken Burns: The National Parks - America's Best Idea

Grizzly Man soundtrack

Beef: It's What's For Dinner

Copland: Piano Variations

Werner Herzog: A Guide for the Perplexed

Arnold Schoenberg's Los Angeles

ITL #4: YouTube Showdown

June 18, 2020 by

Chris and Sridhar discuss their favorite classical music YouTube videos.

Useful Links:

YouTube Top 5 Showdown playlist

Jacques Bono plays Bach on electric bass

Benjamin Zander: The Transformative Power of Classical Music

Gilles Apap's cadenza to Mozart Violin Concerto No. 3

Gustavo Dudamel conducts Danse Bacchanale by Camille Saint-Saëns

Jameson Whiskey Ad - "The Hawk of Achill"

Jean-Pierre Rampal plays Bolling Suite for Flute and Jazz Piano Trio

Mnozil Brass

Mnozil Brass: Hungarian Schnapsodie ft. Zoltan

Claudio Abbado conducts Mahler 9 in Lucerne

Gustav "Buried in Vienna" Mahler

Lucerne Festival Orchestra

Gershwin: An American in Paris

Bernstein conducts Beethoven 9 to celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall

Friedrich Schiller: Ode to Joy

European Union Anthem

West-Eastern Divan Orchestra

"Knowledge is the Beginning" - documentary with Daniel Barenboim and Edward Said

Edward Said: Orientalism

Glenn Gould plays Bach Contrapunctus XIV

Bach: The Art of Fugue

Bernstein conducts Tchaikovsky's 5th Symphony at Tanglewood

John Denver: Annie's Song

ITL #3: The Holiday Special

May 21, 2020 by

After doing some housekeeping, Chris and Sridhar discuss the digital world of classical music before veering off into a conversation about The Nutcracker's various innovations and difficulties, eventually finding their way back on topic by talking about Spotify, YouTube, and the Berlin Philharmonic's Digital Concert Hall.

Useful Links: