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The passing of Britain’s longest reigning monarch and one of the world’s most remarkable people merits a special show in her honor. We’ll hear music that she loved as well as music that was important in her life and role as Queen for 70 amazing years.

Hungarian composer Bela Bartok was one of his country’s most famous and revered composers. He also worked for years to preserve his nation’s ethnic music and his own compositions were infused with the folk harmonies and rhythms he learned in small towns and villages. Hear his Second Violin Concerto and his demanding Piano Sonata, both in masterful performances.

Antonio Rosetti was a Bohemian composer who wanted an Italian name. Vasily Kalinnikov was the son of a police officer and a struggling composer who died young with great promise ahead. Hear lively and tuneful works by both composers.

The Last Night of the Proms is one of the most joyous events in classical music. There’s a degree of enthusiasm and audience participation that’s hard to top. Hear live recordings from over the years on the same weekend as the 2022 Last Night.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, many composers wrote music about hunting. Hear selections from eight different composers ranging from Leopold Mozart to Johann Strauss II. It’s lively and often dramatic music, and no permits are required!

Richard Strauss wrote a lot more music than the big tone poems for which he’s rightly famous. This week, we’ll hear the first concerto he wrote and music from one of his loveliest but lesser-known operas.

Explore how composers can transform a theme by the age-old method of variations. We’ll hear two conventional variations by Sergei Rachmaninoff and Zoltan Kodaly and a completely different – even bizarre – short set of variations by Luciano Berio on a theme by Mozart.

This week, more from the extensive library of classical music recorded for and released by Reader’s Digest in the 1960s. Hear music by Schumann, Dvořák, and Ziehrer in fine performances and excellent recorded sound.

What’s Halloween without really scary music? Have (no?) fear….we’ve got you covered. It’s amazing the eerie sounds that can come from an orchestra and even a solo piano. Just wait for some of the creepiest sounds you’ve ever heard.

Mention piano sonatas to a music lover and they probably think of Beethoven. But there were other sonatas before Beethoven wrote his 32, including 62 by Haydn. We’ll enjoy two lovely Haydn sonatas a thrilling performance of Beethoven’s masterful “Waldstein” sonata.