Thursday Morning Classics with David Paul

Two of the giants in classical music were born on this day: Johannes Brahms in 1833 and Peter Tchaikowsky in 1840.

Johannes Brahms - Serenade No. 1 in D Major, Opus 11, performed by Sir Charles Mackerras and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra

Robert Schumann - Movement III Adagio from the String QuartetNo.1 Opus 41 in A Minor performed by the Muir String Quartet (Writing as a music critic, Schumann was the first to recognize Brahms' genius and proclaim him as a possible successor to Beethoven.)

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikowsky - Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in A Minor Opus 82 - Jascha Heifetz, violin, with the London Philharmonic Orchestra directed by Sir Thomas Beecham

Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov - Capriccio Espagnol Opus 34, performed by the London Symphony Orchestra directed by Sir Charles Mackerras - A slightly younger contemporary of Tchaikowsky vorn in 1844, Rimsky-Korsakov was the best-known member of an ultra-nationalist group of composers known as "the Five" or "the Mighty Handful," that included Balakirev, Borodin, Cui, and Mussorgsky. They tenced to regard the classically trained Tchaikowsy with suspicion.)

Ralph Vaughn Williams - Fantasia on Greensleeves, performed by the
Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Leonard Slatkin - If I had to select music to take with me to a desert island, the work of RVW would be at the top of the list.