A melody in Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Second Symphony was made famous to fans of Eric Carmen’s pop tune “Never Gonna Fall in Love Again.” But in the symphony, that melody leads to one of the most beautiful, and difficult, clarinet solos in the literature. WRTI’s Susan Lewis has the story.

In correspondence with a patron, Tchaikovsky confessed he was grappling with the idea of fate in his Symphony No. 4. The composer tried to make sense of his world with music that still resonates today. In this conversation from 2017, Yannick Nézet-Séguin talks with WRTI's Susan Lewis about this concept in Tchaikovsky's music.

When the young Robert Schumann fell in love with his piano teacher’s daughter, Clara Wieck, her father was not pleased and tried to keep them apart. How did they keep their passion alive?

Two composers—working centuries apart—come together in Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis. WRTI’s Susan Lewis has the story about what became one of Vaughn Williams' most successful orchestral works.

Composer and jazz trumpeter Hannibal Lokumbe wrote Healing Tones as a hymn to Philadelphia in 2019. It's an oratorio-like work that celebrates the healers among us, including midwives, doctors, artists, and musicians.

While the history of the organ is steeped in majesty and tradition, modern organs are being used to express a range of new sounds. WRTI’s Susan Lewis spoke with soloist James McVinnie in 2019 about the organ and its starring role in Nico Muhly’s concerto, Register.

Joaquin Rodrigo wrote Concierto Andaluz in 1967 for the Romero Quartet, an ensemble that's known as the "The Royal Family of the Guitar." WRTI's Susan Lewis spoke with the Grammy-winning Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, whose members were mentored by the Romeros.

Ernest Chausson's Poeme de l'amour et de la mer is a 19th-century song cycle about love, loss, and the sea and illustrates the way music and poetry can move us.

An instrument dating from ancient times, the flute turned out to be the ideal voice to express what was in the heart and mind of composer Samuel Jones. Here's the story of his Flute Concerto, premiered in 2018 by The Philadelphia Orchestra.

One of the most beloved and exciting works in the orchestral repertoire is The Planets by Gustav Holst. But the way we hear it now is not the form in…