Everything is Going to be OK, told through music.
It’s hard to think of anyone who knows more classical music than a classical music radio host. And when a radio host says they not only have a clear favorite piece of music, but also a favorite recording then it’s probably worth a listen!
Piano Concerto no. 2, Movement 3 - Johannes Brahms
Brahms’s Piano Concerto No. 2 took three years to complete, from 1878 to 1881, and he premiered it himself in Budapest that September. The concerto was written nearly 20 years after his first piano concerto, and Brahms had changed considerably as a composer in those 20 years. The Second Piano Concerto is expansive, moving through four movements rather than the three that were standard for most concertos of the period.
The third movement, Andante, is the emotional center of the work. It opens with a long, expressive melody in the cello, an unusual choice for a piano concerto. The piano eventually joins the cello, creating an intimate exchange between the two instruments. A contrasting middle section becomes more restless before the opening material returns.
The cello melody is actually shared with another song Brahms wrote, Immer leiser wird mein Schlummer (“Ever gentler grows my slumber”), Op. 105.
About Kabin Thomas
Kabin Thomas is a CPR Classical on-air host, joining listeners each weekday morning. Learn more about Kabin in this episode of Colorado Matters.
Kabin Thomas joined CPR Classical with decades of experience as a tuba player, actor and professor of classical music. For 11 years, he taught classical music to students at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. During that time he was also the narrator and host of the Emmy Award-winning documentary, “The Sound of Dreams,” about the Hot Springs Music Festival.
Kabin was a substitute tuba player with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra for 14 years. He and his wife currently perform a show called, “Peace, Love, and TubaStanding,” which uses storytelling and music to tell a powerful story about love and courage amid racial tensions and fear.