The Music of Ukrainian Composers

When it comes to a piece like the Mozart Clarinet Concerto, a few words or phrases regularly come up: the concerto is described as "mellow" or Mozart's "swan song," but most often it is described as "perfect." Such a perfect piece as Mozart's Clarinet Concerto must have been huge ...  Show more

It took a lot to make the composer and critic Virgil Thomson happy. He was famous for savaging new works he didn't like, and the truth is, he didn't like very many new works at all. One exception was Bohuslav Martinů's very first symphony, written in 1942. Thomson said this: "The ...  Show more

Homegrown rap, rock and dance music were bigger than ever in Ukraine – and then Russia attacked. Ukrainian musicians tell us about their once-thriving scene, and the realities of life in wartime Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices 

For a country that is under attack, Ukraine certainly doesn’t show it in their musical extravaganzas. Once again, Vidbir took place to allow Ukrainians to choose their entry for Eurovision. Michael and Io review some of the songs that were beaten by Ziferblat in the final. What d ...  Show more

Powerful stories linked to this beautiful and stirring Ukrainian folk song.Chervona Kalyna inspired Pink Floyd to reform so they could release their own version, 'Hey Hey Rise Up', alongside Andriy Khlyvnyuk of Boombox.It's a clarion call with roots stretching back to 17th centur ...  Show more

Monocle’s Andrew Mueller finds out about Soviet-era rock’n’roll in Ukraine ahead of the release of ‘Even The Forest Hums: Ukrainian Sonic Archives 1971-1996’. Plus: we discuss a new biography about filmmaker Agnes Varda and hear from Serbian performance artist Marina Abramovic. S ...  Show more