Classical Music Playlist, January 8, 2026
The 1941 Violin Concerto by American composer Samuel Barber was written on commission from a wealthy soap magnate for his young adopted violinist son. But the violinist's coach expressed that the opening two movements were insufficiently showy for the violinist and would harm his student's reputation. They also told Barber, who had not yet sent them a finale movement, that the finale should be more virtuosic. Barber didn't change a note of the first two movements and wrote the finale to need extreme virtuosity for its technical demands and breakneck speed. The young violinist rejected the Concerto and today it’s a standard of the violin repertoire with audiences attracted to its beauty and capable violinists to its challenge. American violinist Hilary Hahn demonstrates how to play the Barber Violin Concerto for today’s Midday Masterpiece.
6:00 a.m.
Johann Christoph Pez
Concerto pastorale in F major
Les Violons du Roy; Bernard Labadie, conductor
6:18 a.m.
Bernhard Crusell
Clarinet Quartet No. 1 in Eb major Opus 2
Allegri String Quartet (members of) Thea King, clarinet
6:39 a.m.
Lucas Ruiz de Ribayaz
Tournament (Torneo)
The Harp Consort
6:45 a.m.
Stanislaw Moniuszko
Bajka (The Fairy Tale): Overture
Warsaw Philharmonic; Antoni Wit, conductor
7:00 a.m.
Johann Heinichen
Concerto for violin, flutes, oboes, strings in G major S 213
Musica Antiqua Koln; Reinhardt Goebel, conductor
7:16 a.m.
Camille Saint-Saens
Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor Opus 22
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; Andre Previn, conductor Jean-Philippe Collard, piano
7:41 a.m.
Alexander Glazunov
Symphony No. 5: II. Scherzo in Bb major Opus 55
BBC Welsh Symphony Orchestra; Tadaaki Otaka, conductor
7:46 a.m.
Aaron Copland
Rodeo: Hoe-Down
Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra; Leonard Slatkin, conductor
7:52 a.m.
Juventino Rosas
Over the Waves (Sobre las olas)
Vienna State Opera Orchestra; Franz Bauer-Theussl, conductor
7:59 a.m.
Antonio Vivaldi
Sinfonia in G minor RV 157
Bach Sinfonia; Daniel Abraham, conductor
8:06 a.m.
Robert Schumann
Symphony No. 1 "Spring" in Bb major Opus 38
Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique; John Eliot Gardiner, conductor
8:38 a.m.
John Williams
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom: Parade of the Slave Children
Boston Pops Orchestra; John Williams, conductor
8:44 a.m.
George Enescu
Romanian Rhapsody No. 1 in A major Opus 11
National Orchestra of France; Cristian Macelaru, conductor Yuja Wang, piano
9:00 a.m.
Franz Joseph Haydn
Symphony No. 102 in Bb major
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
9:27 a.m.
Heitor Villa-Lobos
Prelude No. 1
Xuefei Yang, guitar
9:33 a.m.
Johann Sebastian Bach
Keyboard Concerto No. 6 in F major BWV 1057
Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields; Murray Perahia, conductor Murray Perahia, piano
9:50 a.m.
Samuel Barber
School for Scandal Overture
St. Louis Symphony Orchestra; Leonard Slatkin, conductor
10:00 a.m.
Georg Philipp Telemann
Concerto for trumpet, violin and strings in D major
Musica Antiqua Koln; Reinhardt Goebel, conductor Friedemann Immer, Trumpet; Reinhard Goebel, violin
10:13 a.m.
Teresa Carreno
Mi Teresita (Little Waltz)
Gabriela Montero, piano
10:19 a.m.
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Symphony No. 2 in C minor Opus 17
Philharmonia Orchestra; Riccardo Muti, conductor
10:52 a.m.
Manuel Ponce
Concierto del Sur: III. Allegro moderato e festivo
Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas; Alondra de la Parra, conductor Pablo Sainz Villegas, guitar
10:59 a.m.
Ludwig Van Beethoven
String Quartet No. 16 in F major Opus 135
Emerson String Quartet
11:25 a.m.
Charles Stanford
Irish Rhapsody No. 4 in A minor Opus 141
Ulster Orchestra; Vernon Handley, conductor
11:44 a.m.
Frederic Chopin
Nocturne No. 7 in C# minor Opus 27/1
Jeneba Kanneh-Mason, piano
11:51 a.m.
Gustav Holst
The Planets: Jupiter, the Bringer of Jolity Opus 32
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; Andre Previn, conductor
12:00 p.m.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Symphony No. 31 "Paris" in D major K 297
English Baroque Soloists; John Eliot Gardiner, conductor
12:19 p.m.
Enrique Granados
Danzas espanolas No. 10 "Triste"
Raphael Feuillatre, guitar
12:24 p.m.
Igor Stravinsky
The Fairy's Kiss: Divertimento
Chicago Symphony Orchestra; Fritz Reiner, conductor
12:50 p.m.
Leos Janacek
Moravian Dances
Warsaw Philharmonic; Antoni Wit, conductor
1:00 p.m.
Johann Sebastian Bach
Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 in Bb major BWV 1051
Berlin Academy of Ancient Music
1:17 p.m.
Antonin Dvorak
Poetic Tone Pictures: VII. Furiant Opus 85
Leif Ove Andsnes, piano
1:21 p.m.
Carl Nielsen
Symphony No. 2 "The Four Temperaments" Opus 16
San Francisco Symphony; Herbert Blomstedt, conductor
1:55 p.m.
Carl Maria Von Weber
Abu Hassan Overture J 106
Tapiola Sinfonietta; Jean Jacques Kantorow, conductor
2:00 p.m.
Samuel Barber
Violin Concerto Opus 14
Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra; Hugh Wolff, conductor Hilary Hahn, violin
2:24 p.m.
Arcangelo Corelli
Concerto Grosso No. 4 in D major Opus 6
Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra; Nicholas McGegan, conductor
2:34 p.m.
Franz Joseph Haydn
Symphony No. 8 "Le Soir" (Evening) in G major
Lausanne Chamber Orchestra; Jesus Lopez-Cobos, conductor
2:53 p.m.
Dmitri Kabalevsky
Colas Breugnon: Overture
Chicago Symphony Orchestra; Fritz Reiner, conductor
3:00 p.m.
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini Opus 43
Dallas Symphony Orchestra; Andrew Litton, conductor Stephen Hough, piano
3:24 p.m.
Philip Glass
Symphony No. 3: Movement IV
Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra; Dennis Russell Davies, conductor
3:27 p.m.
Percy Grainger
Mock Morris
City of London Sinfonia; Richard Hickox, conductor
3:32 p.m.
Georg Philipp Telemann
Overture in G minor in G minor
La Stravaganza
3:52 p.m.
Ethel Smyth
Serenade in D: II. Scherzo. Allegro vivace in D major
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra; Odaline de la Martinez, conductor Tasmin Little, violin; John Lenehan, piano
3:59 p.m.
Franz Krommer
Symphony No. 4 in C minor Opus 102
London Mozart Players; Matthias Bamert, conductor
4:30 p.m.
Manuel Ponce
Romantic Sonata: III. Musical Moment (Sonata romantica "Hommage a Franz Schubert")
Marcin Dylla, guitar
4:33 p.m.
Fanny Mendelssohn
Song Without Words Opus 8/1
Tzimon Barto, piano
4:41 p.m.
Victor Ewald
Quintet No. 1 in Bb minor Opus 5
Center City Brass Quintet
4:55 p.m.
Gian Carlo Menotti
AMELIA GOES TO THE BALL Overture
Columbia Symphony Orchestra; Thomas Schippers, conductor
5:00 p.m.
Johann Sebastian Bach
Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F major BWV 1047
European Brandenburg Ensemble; Trevor Pinnock, conductor
5:13 p.m.
Adolfo Mejia
Bambuco en mi in E minor Bambuco in e minor
Jose Antonio Escobar, guitar
5:16 p.m.
Modest Mussorgsky
Scherzo in Bb major
Toronto Symphony Orchestra; Jukka-Pekka Saraste, conductor
5:20 p.m.
Cecile Chaminade
Piano Trio No. 1 in G minor Opus 11
Neave Trio
5:43 p.m.
Zoltan Kodaly
Dances of Galanta
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra; Yoel Levi, conductor
6:00 p.m.
Niels Gade
Symphony No. 7 in F major Opus 45
Stockholm Sinfonietta; Neeme Jarvi, conductor
6:32 p.m.
Rebecca Clarke
Dumka
Daniel Hope, violin; Philip Dukes, viola; Sophia Rahman, piano
6:43 p.m.
Sergio Assad
Farewell
Los Angeles Guitar Quartet
6:46 p.m.
Carlos Gardel
Cuando Tu No Estas
Franz Halasz, guitar
6:51 p.m.
Roger Quilter
Slumber Song
Julian Lloyd Webber, cello; John Lenehan, piano
6:53 p.m.
Nainita Desai
My Mind Is Still
Voces8
