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Bennington Chamber Music Conference

Even as the Marlboro Music Festival is celebrating its 60th anniversary season, Vermont is the home of another music festival that’s now rounding out its 66th(!) season. This morning I’ll talk with Phillip Bush, Music Director of the Bennington Chamber Music Conference and Composer’s Forum in anticipation of their final concert tomorrow evening. 
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Marlboro Month: Haydn

Franz Joseph Haydn’s "Gypsy rondo" Piano Trio ends with a big ol’ Hungarian style finale. We’ll hear an exciting performance of it from the 1998 Marlboro Music Festival this morning, along with a set of songs by Johannes Brahms, who had a lifelong fascination with Hungarian music.
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Marlboro Month: Barber

Matthew Arnold’s darkly evocative Victorian poem "Dover Beach" has inspired cultural references in everything from Ray Bradbury’s "Farenheit 451" to Joseph Heller’s "Catch-22". It inspired Samuel Barber too, and in 1931 he created a musical setting of the poem. This morning we’ll hear Barber’s "Dover Beach" in a live performance from last year’s Marlboro Music Festival.
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Marlboro Music: Strauss

Richard Strauss sure loved his wind instruments. The indelible result of being the son of an excellent Horn player? …Probably. This morning’s Marlboro Month feature piece is the Strauss Serenade in Eb for 13 Winds, in an exciting – breezy! – live performance from the 2009 Festival.
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Marlboro Month: Dvorak

Antonin Dvorak’s music appears frequently on the Marlboro Music Festival’s public concerts – that’s partly because it’s so listenable, and also because it has so much to teach performers. This morning’s "Marlboro Month" feature piece is the Dvorak Piano Quartet #2 in Eb, Op. 87.