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Classical Music at Mahina

Approachable stories about composers, performers and the music itself

A musician's hand bowing the strings of a cello

Jacqueline du Pré and Elgar's Cello Concerto: Why the 1965 Recording Endures

How did a recording by a twenty-year-old cellist make the work and performer so closely associated in listeners' minds? Follow it by ear, from the opening four chords to the final recollection.

Classical Music at Mahina

Seong-Jin Cho in Debussy's Reflets dans l'eau: Ripples and Light Made at the Piano

There is no water or light inside a piano, so why can this music suggest a trembling surface? Follow its small three-note motif and the figures that spread around it.

Black-and-white photograph of a grand piano in a concert hall

Classical Music at Mahina

Michelangeli in Debussy's Hommage à Rameau: A Slow Sarabande Heard Note by Note

How do the beats of a slow sarabande and the spaces between its chords remain connected? Listen in turn to three voices and their resonance in Michelangeli's recording.

Classical Music at Mahina

Sabine Meyer and Mozart's Clarinet Concerto: The Low Notes Restored by the Basset Clarinet

How does an instrument that descends below the familiar clarinet change Mozart's melodies? Hear the difference between the reconstructed basset-clarinet version and the traditional clarinet version.

Portrait of Frédéric Chopin in dark clothing

Classical Music at Mahina

Martha Argerich in Movement 2 of Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1: A Piano That Sings in the Larghetto

How can a piano sing without words? Follow the breath of the right-hand melody and the flow sustained by the left hand and orchestra through the Larghetto.

Classical Music at Mahina

A First Hearing of Debussy's Clair de lune: Following Its Slow Pulse and Long Resonance

Clair de lune is so familiar that it can be easy to let it pass by. Hear it again through three scenes: the quiet opening, the widening wave and the returning resonance.

Portrait of Erik Satie wearing a black hat

Classical Music at Mahina

Satie's Gymnopédie No. 1: Why the Repeated Steps Never Become Dull

The left hand repeats almost the same steps, yet the music does not seem to stand still. Follow the bass and harmony as they change within the repetition.

Black-and-white portrait drawing of Edvard Grieg

Classical Music at Mahina

Grieg's Morning Mood: Can Music Really Sound Like ‘Morning’?

The famous melody may suggest a Nordic forest, yet its original stage setting is Africa. Listen together to the image created by the title, the scene in the drama and the instruments' exchange.

Portrait of Johann Sebastian Bach holding a score

Classical Music at Mahina

The Melody Known as Bach's Air on the G String: What Was Different in the Original?

Neither the G string nor a solo violin appears in the original title. Listen to the ensemble's interwoven lines and the continuously moving bass, and this familiar music opens in a new way.

Black-and-white portrait of Camille Saint-Saëns

Classical Music at Mahina

Saint-Saëns's The Swan: How the Pianos Create Ripples Beneath the Cello Line

We remember the cello's song, but the water that carries the swan lies beneath it. Listen to the small ripples created by the two pianos.

Portrait of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart dressed in red

Classical Music at Mahina

Mozart's Clarinet Concerto, Movement 2: Where Does the Long-Breathed Melody Rest?

Even the clarinet melody that seems to continue without end must breathe. Follow the close of each phrase and the orchestra's response, and feel the phrasing through your own breath.

Classical Music at Mahina

Chopin's ‘Raindrop’ Prelude: Why the Same Note Sounds Different as Harmony and Register Change

The same note sounds throughout, yet at one moment it is calm and at another unsettling. Listen to how its emotional character is changed less by the note itself than by the harmony and register around it.

Jean-Pierre Rampal holding an award at the 1969 Classical Edison Awards in Amsterdam

Classical Music at Mahina

Jean-Pierre Rampal: From Medical Student to a Defining Flautist of the Twentieth Century

Learn Jean-Pierre Rampal’s dates, the evidence behind his twentieth-century stature, and his path from medical studies to an international career in music.

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Classical Music at Mahina

Jacqueline du Pré and Elgar's Cello Concerto: Why the 1965 Recording Endures

Seong-Jin Cho in Debussy's Reflets dans l'eau: Ripples and Light Made at the Piano

Michelangeli in Debussy's Hommage à Rameau: A Slow Sarabande Heard Note by Note

Sabine Meyer and Mozart's Clarinet Concerto: The Low Notes Restored by the Basset Clarinet

Martha Argerich in Movement 2 of Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1: A Piano That Sings in the Larghetto

A First Hearing of Debussy's Clair de lune: Following Its Slow Pulse and Long Resonance

Satie's Gymnopédie No. 1: Why the Repeated Steps Never Become Dull

Grieg's Morning Mood: Can Music Really Sound Like ‘Morning’?

The Melody Known as Bach's Air on the G String: What Was Different in the Original?

Saint-Saëns's The Swan: How the Pianos Create Ripples Beneath the Cello Line

Mozart's Clarinet Concerto, Movement 2: Where Does the Long-Breathed Melody Rest?

Chopin's ‘Raindrop’ Prelude: Why the Same Note Sounds Different as Harmony and Register Change

Jean-Pierre Rampal: From Medical Student to a Defining Flautist of the Twentieth Century