Theme & Variations

SUNDAYS @ 2PM

Theme & Variations introduces a new topic each week, presenting a wide range of music associated with that theme. Drawn from a millennium of Western classical music, the selections are an eclectic mix of familiar favorites and rarities. Theme and Variations is produced locally in Discover Classical's studios by host Joe Law.

4/5

On Easter, you’ll hear music for the season by William Billings, Josef Bohuslav Foerster, Joseph Haydn and John Philip Sousa.

 

4/12

This week's program bring you music by Mily Balakirev and members of his circle: Alexander Borodin, Cesar Cui, Alexander Dargomizhsky, Modest Mussorgsky, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and P. I. Tchaikovsky.

 

4/19

Every month in 2026, in celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, you’ll hear music by American composers. This week’s program highlights eight living composers: Brent Michael Davids, Philip Glass, Ricky Ian Gordon, Adolphus Hailstork, Jake Heggie, Jennifer Higdon, Libby Larsen and Carlos Simon.

 

4/26

Shakespeare goes to the opera this week, with excerpts from operas by Thomas Adès, Samuel Barber, Hector Berlioz, Hermann Goetz, Otto Nicolai, Gioachino Rossini, Antonio Salieri, Ambroise Thomas, Ralph Vaughn Williams, Giuseppe Verdi and Richard Wagner.