Classical Music Playlist, January 19, 2026
William Dawson (circa 1930)
Alabama-born composer and Director of Music at the Tuskegee Institute from 1931–1955, William Dawson, in 1934 composed his only symphony, the "Negro Folk Symphony," about which he wrote: "The themes are taken from what are popularly known as Negro Spirituals. In this composition, the composer has employed three themes taken from typical melodies over which he has brooded since childhood, having learned them at his mother's knee."
Dawson describes the symphony's three movements:
The first movement contains a simple musical motif that represents “the link [that] was taken out of a human chain when the first African was taken from the shores of his native land and sent to slavery.”
The 2nd movement, "Hope in the Night," is an "atmosphere of the humdrum life of a people whose bodies were baked by the sun and lashed with the whip for two hundred and fifty years; whose lives were proscribed before they were born."
The final movement quotes two spirituals, "O Le' Me Shine, Shine Like a Morning Star!" and "Hallelujah, Lord, I Been Down Into the Sea."
After a trip to West Africa in 1952, Dawson revised the Symphony with added African rhythms to convey a more authentic "rhythmic foundation strongly inspired by African influences.” The “Negro Folk Symphony” by William Dawson is today’s Midday Masterpiece.
6:00 a.m.
Antonio Vivaldi
Flute Concerto in A minor P 440
Australian Chamber Orchestra; Richard Tognetti, conductor Emmanuel Pahud, flute
6:09 a.m.
Ernest Chausson
Concert for Violin, Piano & String Quartet in D major Opus 21
Takacs Quartet Joshua Bell, violin; Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano
6:48 a.m.
William Boyce
Symphony No. 8 in D minor Opus 2
Aradia Ensemble; Kevin Mallon, conductor
7:00 a.m.
Hubert Parry
Symphonic Variations
London Philharmonic Orchestra; Adrian Boult, conductor
7:14 a.m.
Bernhard Crusell
Clarinet Concerto No. 3 in Bb major Opus 11
Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra; Okko Kamu, conductor Martin Frost, clarinet
7:38 a.m.
Margaret Bonds
Spiritual Suite: I. Valley of the Bones
Michelle Cann, piano
7:41 a.m.
William Grant Still
Symphony No. 4: III. Moderately fast
Philadelphia Orchestra; Yannick Nezet-Seguin, conductor
7:45 a.m.
Johann Friedrich Fasch
Concerto "The Hunt" (Die Jagd) in D major
Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields; Iona Brown, conductor
7:59 a.m.
Arnold Bax
Morning Song (Maytime in Sussex)
London Philharmonic Orchestra; Bryden Thomson, conductor Margaret Fingerhut, piano
8:08 a.m.
Franz Joseph Haydn
Symphony No. 46 in B major
The English Concert; Trevor Pinnock, conductor
8:27 a.m.
Antonin Dvorak
The Hero's Song Opus 111
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra; Bohumil Gregor, conductor
8:50 a.m.
Adolphus Hailstork
Epitaph for a Man Who Dreamed (In Memorium: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.)
Chicago Sinfonietta; Paul Freeman, conductor
8:59 a.m.
Florence Price
Piano Quintet in A minor
Takacs Quartet Marc-Andre Hamelin, piano
9:26 a.m.
Carlos Baguer
Symphony No. 12 in Eb major
London Mozart Players; Matthias Bamert, conductor
9:42 a.m.
Howard Hanson
MERRY MOUNT suite
Seattle Symphony; Gerard Schwarz, conductor
10:00 a.m.
George Friederich Handel
Concerto Grosso No. 7 in Bb major Opus 6/7 HWV 325
Boston Baroque; Martin Pearlman, conductor
10:13 a.m.
Ludwig Van Beethoven
Piano Concerto No. 2 in Bb major Opus 19
Philharmonia Orchestra; Giuseppi Sinopoli, conductor Martha Argerich, piano
10:44 a.m.
Alessandro Piccinini
Passacaglia
Ronn McFarlane, lute
10:48 a.m.
Federico Moreno Torroba
The Wedding (La Boda)
Los Romeros
10:52 a.m.
Bedrich Smetana
THE SECRET: Overture
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra; Gianandrea Noseda, conductor
11:00 a.m.
Aaron Copland
Our Town
Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra; Leonard Slatkin, conductor
11:10 a.m.
William Grant Still
Symphony No. 2 in G minor
Fort Smith Symphony; John Jeter, conductor
11:38 a.m.
Johann Heinrich Schmelzer
Sonata Quarta, from Sonatae unarum fidium in D major
Carrie Krause, baroque violin; John Lenti, theorbo
11:48 a.m.
Ernest Farrar
Rhapsody No. 1 "The Open Road" Opus 9
Philharmonia Orchestra; Alasdair Mitchell, conductor
11:59 a.m.
Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach
Sinfonia No. 3 in D minor HW 1/3
Les Violons du Roy; Bernard Labadie, conductor
12:08 p.m.
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Symphonic Dances Opus 45
Detroit Symphony Orchestra; Leonard Slatkin, conductor
12:43 p.m.
Carlos Troyer
Traditional Zuni Songs: Lover's Wooing & Zunian Lullaby
Dario Muller, piano
12:50 p.m.
Antonin Dvorak
Vanda: Overture Opus 25
Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra; Libor Pesek, conductor
1:00 p.m.
Michael Torke
Bright Blue Music
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra; David Zinman, conductor
1:10 p.m.
Florence Price
Piano Sonata in E minor
Michelle Cann, piano
1:36 p.m.
Ina Boyle
Phantasy for Violin and Chamber Orchestra
Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra (THESS-sal-loh-NEE-kee); Daniel Geiss, conductor Daniel Hope, violin
1:43 p.m.
Virgil Thomson
Louisiana Story: Acadian Songs and Dances
New London Orchestra; Ronald Corp, conductor
2:00 p.m.
William Dawson
Negro Folk Symphony
Philadelphia Orchestra; Yannick Nezet-Seguin, conductor
2:35 p.m.
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
Five Negro Melodies: 4. They will not lend me a child
Neave Trio
2:41 p.m.
Gabriela Lena Frank
Four Folk Songs: III. Serenata
Claremont Trio
2:46 p.m.
Ariel Ramirez
MISA CRIOLLA: II. Gloria
Seraphic Fire; Patrick Dupre Quigley, conductor
2:53 p.m.
Antonin Dvorak
Slavonic Dance No. 8 in G minor Opus 46
Cleveland Orchestra; Christoph Von Dohnanyi, conductor
2:58 p.m.
Fredrich Ernst Fesca
Symphony No. 2 in D major Opus 10
NDR Radio Philharmonic Hanover; Frank Beermann, conductor
3:24 p.m.
Kevin Puts
Home
Conspirare; Craig Hella Johnson, conductor Mir� Quartet
3:32 p.m.
Gioachino Rossini
Bassoon Concerto
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra; Gianandrea Noseda, conductor Karen Geoghegan, bassoon
3:50 p.m.
Adolphus Hailstork
Three Spirituals
Virginia Symphony Orchestra; JoAnn Falletta, conductor
4:00 p.m.
Franz Joseph Haydn
Symphony No. 93 in D major HOB I:93
Chamber Orchestra of Europe; Claudio Abbado, conductor
4:23 p.m.
Leo Brouwer
El Decameron Negro: 2. La huida de los amantes por el valle de los ecos
Sharon Isbin, guitar
4:27 p.m.
Isaac Albeniz
Asturias (Leyenda) - from "Suite Espanola" Opus 47
Raphael Feuillatre, guitar
4:34 p.m.
Hugo Wolf
Italian Serenade in G major
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
4:41 p.m.
Mikhail Glinka
RUSLAN AND LUDMILA: Overture
Philharmonia Orchestra; William Boughton, conductor
4:48 p.m.
Robert Schumann
Carnaval Opus 9
Minnesota Orchestra; Eiji Oue, conductor
4:59 p.m.
Felix Mendelssohn
Piano Concerto No. 2 in D minor Opus 40
Royal Flemish Philharmonic; Phillippe Herreweghe, conductor Martin Helmchen, piano
5:23 p.m.
Julia Perry
Ye, Who Seek the Truth
Experiential Orchestra; James Blachly, conductor
5:28 p.m.
Aaron Copland
The Red Pony Suite
Dallas Symphony Orchestra; Andrew Litton, conductor
5:53 p.m.
Leo Delibes
Sylvia: Procession of Bacchus from Act III
San Francisco Symphony; Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor
6:00 p.m.
Valerie Coleman
Portraits of Langston (w/Narration)
McGill/McHale Trio Mahershala Ali, narrator
6:27 p.m.
William Grant Still
In Memoriam
Fort Smith Symphony; John Jeter, conductor
6:36 p.m.
Jessie Montgomery
Voodoo Dolls
Apollo Chamber Players Hector del Curto, bandoneon
6:41 p.m.
Margaret Bonds
Hold On
PubliQuartet Musicality Vocal Ensemble; Lara Downes, piano
6:46 p.m.
Edward K. (Duke) Ellington
The River Suite: IV. The Lake
Buffalo Philharmonic; JoAnn Falletta, conductor
6:53 p.m.
Thelonious Monk
Monk's Mood
Kristin Lee, violin; Jeremy Ajani Jordan, piano
