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.

8/30

This week’s offering returns to musical form this program is named. You’ll hear sets of variations on themes by Beethoven, composed by Wilfred Josephs, Max Reger, Archduke Rudolph of Austria, Camille Saint-Saëns and Henri Vieuxtemps. 

 

9/6

September is the birthday month of the American composers whose music will be heard on this program: Amy Beach, John Cage, Gabriela Lena Frank, George Gershwin, Edward Burlingame Hill, Richard Hundley, Arnold Schoenberg and Robert Ward.

 

9/13

This week’s program salutes families with music composed by the Boulanger sisters (Nadia and Lili); a concerto by Robert Casadesus (played by Robert, his wife Gaby and their son Jean); three generations of the Strauss family (Johann I, Johann II, Eduard, Josef, Johann III); and three (out of five) generations of Puccinis (Giacomo Sr., Domenico, Giacomo the younger). Finally, there’s a performance featuring five of the Kanneh-Mason siblings (Braimah, Isata, Jeneba, Konya and Sheku).