Technicolor folksongs, two American originals and a symphony that's not a symphony

By Dan Margolies,

Published October 11, 2023 at 8:50 AM CDT

Michael Stern conducts the Kansas City Symphony in a performance of Howard Hanson's Symphony No. 2, known as the "Romantic" symphony, February 2019.

This week, hear the Kansas City Symphony perform Giuseppe Verdi's expanded string quartet known as the Symphony in E minor and Percy Grainger's anthropological 'Lincolnshire Posy' featuring the Symphony brass section. We'll also hear the third symphony by American iconoclast Charles Ives, and Howard Hanson's Symphony No. 2, which inspired John Williams' score for "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial."

An agreement with the Kansas City Symphony allows us to share audio for this program up to four weeks after the program's original air date. You can listen to currently available episodes here.

Hosts

Michael Stern
Dan Margolies

Program

Symphony for Strings in E minor
by Giuseppe Verdi
Streaming performance, January 2021

Lincolnshire Posy
by Percy Grainger
Live performance, June 2021

Symphony No. 3 - The Camp Meeting
by Charles Ives
Live performance, April 2016

Symphony No. 2, Op. 30
by Howard Hanson
Live performance, February 2019