music listener education

Discovery Orchestra Chat 111 – A Very Special Melody

A composer will sometimes create a melody that is so beautiful, so haunting, that it just stands out as one of the best melodies ever. This was the case when…

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Discovery Orchestra Chat 110 – Another Effective Surprise

All surprises in life feel the way they do because of the unexpected aspect of the surprise. Composers can create “musical surprises” – see how in this Chat featuring pianist…

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I'm thankful for Musicians

Thanks! An Encore Presentation. . .

As I began to write what I hope will be an annual Thanksgiving Day blog post, I re-read last year’s – my first. It appeared to contain some good thoughts,…

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Discovery Orchestra Chat 109 – Follow that Subject

A fugue’s main melody is called its “subject”. Maestro Maull explores different subjects using Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 performed by The Discovery Orchestra and Bach’s Unaccompanied Sonata No. 1…

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Discovery Orchestra Chat 108 – The Land of 6th’s and Octaves

When composers want to add harmony to a melody, there are a number of ways they can do it. Learn more in this Discovery Orchestra Chat, featuring high-school musicians Katie…

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Classical Podcasts

Musical Discoveries of the Third Kind

You may recall the motion picture Close Encounters of the Third Kind that centers about a groundbreaking encounter with extraterrestrials. If groundbreaking classical music discoveries are what you seek, you…

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Thank you so much for inviting us to attend the Saint-Saens “Organ Symphony” recording session. I have always enjoyed listening to this work. As is always the case, your tutorial was excellent! I cannot believe how much more I now know about the “Organ Symphony”. And with more understanding comes a better appreciation. The Discovery Orchestra is much bigger than I remember. Their performance was excellent and truly exciting! A really big pipe organ performed by Mark Miller further enhanced the entire listening experience.

— Earle Eaton, Recording Engineer of our predecessor entity the Philharmonic Orchestra of New Jersey