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Concert Hall Classics

Concert Hall Classics, hosted by Curt Timmons, offers three hours of stunning music, presenting extended selections from the KUCO library and his personal collection. The program allows KUCO listeners to indulge in their favorite masterworks as well as discover more unusual offerings.

Curt Timmons

A Preview of Upcoming Programs on CHC

Monday, October 20, 2025

3-hour programs 11 am-2 PM & 9 PM-12 am Monday through Thursday

Concert featuring the Marcusson organ of Hadersley Cathedral, Denmark; The Sandtner organ of Villingen Minster, Germany; music of Belgian composer Joseph Jongen played on three organs in Brussels, London and Detroit

Part 1: Bohuslav Martinu: Vigilia; Antonin Dvorak: Prelude and Fugue in g minor; Leos Janacek: Two Compositions for Organ and the organ solo Postlude from the Gladolitic Mass; Viteszlav Noak: Prelude on a Moravian Song; Anton Bruckner: Prelude and Fugue in c minor; Ludwig van Beethoven: Adagio for Mechanical Organ; Peter Planyavsky: Perpetuum Mobile and Toccata alla Rumba

John Scott Whitely plays the Marcussen organ in Hadersley Cathedral, Denmark

Part 2: Sigfried Karg-Elert: Partita in E, Op. 100; Organ Sonata IV, Op. 68 of Francis Jackson

Graham Barber plays the Sandtner organ of Villingen Minster, Germany,

Part 3: Joseph Jongen: Choral, Op. 37 No. 3; Scherzetto Op. 108, No 1; Prayer, Op. 108, No. 2, played on the 1912 Merklin organ of Notre Dame de Laeken, Brussels;  Gaudeamus Verset for the celebration of Assumption; Légende (unfinished by Jongen and completed by organist John Scott Whitely) played on the 1989 Daniel Pilzecker organ in St. Jude’s Church, Detroit; Improvisation-Pastorale played on the 1912 Merklin organ of Notre Dame de Laeken, Brussels; Marche Religieuses, Op. 38 No. 1 played on the restored 1960 JW Walker organ at York Minster, London; Larghetto, Op. 38 No. 2 played on the 1912 Merklin organ of Notre Dame de Laeken, Brussels; Sarabande in the ancient style played on the 1989 Daniel Pilzecker organ in St. Jude’s Church, Detroit; and the Sonata Eroica, Op. 94 played on the restored 1960 JW Walker organ at York Minster, London

John Scott Whitely, organist

 

                

                

Tuesday, October 21, 2025

3-hour programs 11 am-2 PM & 9 PM-12 am Monday through Thursday

Madrigalian motets from the Jacobean era in England; American Choral Gems with Quire Cleveland; Choral music of William Boyce, Orlando Gibbons and Charles Villiers Stanford with the Choir of Rochester Cathedral

Part 1: Five-voice motets: Richard Nicolson (fl1595-1639): Cantate Domino; Alfonso Ferrabosco Jr (c1575-1628): Ego dixi Domine and Convertere Domine; Martin Peerson (c1572-1651): Laboravi in gemitu meo; Thomas Lupo (1571-1627/8): Miserere mei; Thomas Ravenscroft (c1590-c1635): Ne læteris; Alfonso Ferrabosco Jr: O nomen Jesu; Martin Peerson: O rex gloriæ; Six-voice motets by Thomas Tomkins (1572-1656): Celebrate Jehovam; John Wilbye (1574-1638): Homo natus de muliere; Robert Ramsey (fl1616-1644): In monte Oliveti; John Mundy (c1555-1630): Judica me Deus; William Byrd (1539/40-1623): Laudate Dominum; Thomas Weelkes (1576-1623): O vos omnes; William Byrd: Venite exultemus; George Kirbye (died 1634): Vox in Rama; Seven-voice motet John Tomkins (1586-1638): Cantate Domino; Eight-voice motet by Hieronymous Prætorius (1560-1629): Laudate Dominum

Quire Cleveland conducted by Ross W. Duffin

Part 2: John Stafford Smith: The Star-Spangled Banner ( in the 1814 version arr. by Ross Duffin); Thomas Ravenscroft: Psalm 98 from 1640; John Playford: Psalm 23 from 1608; James Lyon: “The Lord descended from above” from 1761; William Billings: When Jesus wep’t the falling tear from 1770; The dying Christian’s last farewell from 1704; I am the rose of Sharon from 1778; Daniel Read: “Down steers the Bass” from 1768; William Billings: “Modern Music” from 1781; Lowell Mason: O look to Golgotha from 1843; Amazing Grace from 1847 arr. by William Walker; J.E. Spilman: “Flow gently, sweet Afton” from 1857; Stephen Foster: “Come where my love lies dreaming” from 1855; Oliver Wendell Holmes: “Hymn of Peace” from 1869; Patti Stair: “Minuet” from 1903; Amy Beach: “Through the house give glimmering light” from 1897; Patti Stair: “So sweet is she” from 1916; Edward MacDowell: “The Witch” from 1898; Nathaniel Dett: “Don’t be weary, traveler” from 1920; and Dudley Buck: “Hymn to music” from 1877

Quire Cleveland conducted by Ross W. Duffin

Part 3: Charles Villiers Stanford: Te Deum and Jubilate in C; Orlando Gibbons: Short Service; William Boyce Te Deum and Jubilate

The Choir of Rochester Cathedra, with Roger Sayer, organist, is conducted by Barry Ferguson

 

                

                

Wednesday, October 22, 2025

3-hour programs 11 am-2 PM & 9 PM-12 am Monday through Thursday

Canadian Orchestras: Edmonton Symphony Orchestra in a concert of Canadian and Russian works; CBC Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in Canadian and American music for chamber orchestra

Part 1: Canadian composers: Malcolm Forsyth: Jubilee Overture; Godfrey Ridout: Fall Fair; Oskar Morawetz: Overture to a Fairy Tale

Russian composers: Dmitri Shostakovich: Festival Overture; Alexander Borodin: Overture to Prince Igor; Dmitri Kabalevsky: Overture to Colas Breugnon; Mikhail Glinka: Overture to Russlan and Ludmilla

Uri Mayer conducts the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra.

Part 2: Healy Willan: Overture to an Unwritten Comedy; Poem for Strings; Godfrey Ridout: George III, His Lament; Ian McDougall: Andante from the Concerto for Clarinet; Jean Coulthhard: The Bird of Dawning Singeth All Night Long; Rudolf Komorous: Serenade for Strings; Andre Prevost: Scherzo for String Orchestra

The CBC Vancouver Symphony Orchestra is conducted by Mario Bernardi

Part 3: Aaron Copland: Quiet City, with Jerold Gerbrecht, trumpet and Roger Cole, English horn; Samuel Barber: Adagio for Strings; Victor Herbert; John Corigliano: Elegy; Charles Ives: The Unanswered Question; Charles Tomlinson Griffes: Poem for Flute and Orchestra, with Kathleen Rudolf, flute; David Diamond: Rounds for String Orchestra

The CBC Vancouver Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mario Bernardi

                

                

Thursday, October 23, 2025

3-hour programs 11 am-2 PM & 9 PM-12 am Monday through Thursday

Wind Band music from the French Revolution; Concert in the Park; The United States Air Force Heritage of America Band

Part 1a: François-Joseph Gossec: Symphonie Militaire; Louis-Emmanuel Jadin: Overture in F; Gossec: Marche lugubre; Luigi Cherubini: Hymne à la Victoire; Jean-Xavier Lefèvre: Hymne à l’Agriculture; Rouget de Lisle: Hymne à la liberté

The wind ensemble The Wallace Collection is conducted by its founder John Wallace

Part 1b: Hector Berlioz: Symphonie funèbrae et triumphale

Leeds Festival Chorus and the Wallace Collection conducted by John Wallace

Part 2: Jaromir Weinberger: Polka from Schwanda the Bagpiper: Howard Cable: Newfoundland Rhapsody; Donald Coakley: Lyric Essay; Camille Saint-Saens: Pas redouble; John Barnes Chance: Variations on a Korean Folk Song; Carl Maria von Weber: Fantasia and Rondo; Sir Artur Sullivan: Pineapple Poll Suite; James Gayfer: Canadian Landscape; Robert Farnon: Excerpts from the works of Robert Farnon; Healey Willan: Élégie héroïque; R.E.J. Milne: Auprès de ma blonde

Edmonton Wind Ensemble is conducted by Harry Pinchin

Part 3: Jack Stamp: Aloft!; Mark Watter: Forged in Fire; James Barnes: The Gathering of Eagles; Master Sergeant Aldo Rafeal Forte: Synergy! Concerto for Band: John Heins: Concerto for Clarinet and Band, with Charles West, soloist; Ron Nelson: To The Airborne; Robert Jager: Lord, Guard and Guide; and Robert Crawford: The U.S. Air Force Song

The United States Air Force Heritage of America Band is conducted by Captain Larry H. Lang

 

                

                

Previous Programs on CHC

Monday, October 13, 2025

3-hour programs 11 am-2 PM & 9 PM-12 am Monday through Thursday

Organ music of Leo Sowerby, Symphony for Organ and Orchestra of Aaron Copland; Historic recording of Francis Poulenc’s Concerto for Organ, Strings and Timpani with Charles Munch conducting; “Ein Feste Burg” with the Chicago Gargoyle Brass and Organ Ensemble

Part 1: Leo Sowerby: Fantasy for Flute Stops; Requiescat in pace: Symphony in G for Organ

Catherine Crozier plays the Aeolian-Skinner Organ at Saint John’s Chapel of the Groton School, Groton, Massachusetts (1987 digital)

Part 2a: Aaron Copland: Symphony for Organ and Orchestra

Wayne Marshall plays the CB Fisk Opus 100 organ in the Meyerson Symphony Center Hall – Dallas Symphony Orchestra conducted by Andrew Litton (1997 digital)

Part 2b: Francis Poulenc: Concerto for Organ Strings and Timpani

Berj Zamchochian plays the Boston Symphony Hall organ: Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Charles Munch (1960 analog)

Part 3: James Curnow: Rejouissance-Fantasia on “Ein Feste Burg” composed in 1987 for wind ensemble and arranged for brass and organ in 2011; Heinrich Schütz: Three Becker Psalms, Op. 5 arranged for brass qurtet; Johann Sebastian Bach: “Nun komm der heiden heiland,” BWV 659; Three Lutheran Chorales BWV 680, 687, and 651; Otto Nicolai: Church Festival Overture on “Ein Feste Burg,” Op. 31, originally for orchestra and arranged for brass and organ; Felix Mendelssohn: Organ Sonata No. 6 in d, Op. 65; an arrangement of the last movement of Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 5, the Reformation symphony Op. 107

Jared Stellmacher and Mark Sudeith, organists, with the 2006 Rogers Op. 1038 organ at St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church in the Curnow, Heinrich Schütz Bach “Nun Komm…”, and Mendelssohn Sonata; The 2001 Schantz Organ Op. 2300 at the Church of the Gesu, Marquette University Milwaukee, Wisconsin and the 1982 Casavant Op. 3544 in the First United Church of Oak Park, Illinois in the remaining works – Chicago Gargoyle Brass Ensemble conducted by Stephen Squires

                

                

Tuesday, October 14, 2025

3-hour programs 11 am-2 PM & 9 PM-12 am Monday through Thursday

The Martyrdom of Saint Sebstian by Claude Debussy; Ballet music to Daphnis et Chloe & One act opera L’infant et les sortilege by Maurice Ravel

Part 1: Claude Debussy: Le Martyre de saint Sébastien (The Martyrdom of St. Sebastian)

Suzanne Danco, soprano; Nancy Waugh and Marie-Lise de Montmollin, mezzo sopranos; Union Chorale de la Tour-de Peilz – L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande conducted by Ernest Amsermet (1954 analog stereo)

Part 2: Maurice Ravel: L’enfant et les sortilèges: Fantaisie lyrique en deux parties (The Child and the Spells: A Lyric Fantasy in Two Parts)

Soloists, and the Choir and Orchestra of French Television and Radio conducted by Lorin Maazel (1961 analog)

Part 3: Maurice Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé, symphonie chorégraphique

Choral ensemble Spirito; Orchestre National de Lyon conducted by Leonard Slatkin (2015 digital)

                

                

Wednesday, October 15, 2025

3-hour programs 11 am-2 PM & 9 PM-12 am Monday through Thursday

Records I Grew Up With (continued) – Leonard Bernstein and the NYPO – Early & Late 1960s Columbia Masterworks Symphonic Standards

Part 1a: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Marriage of Figaro overture (1968 analog); Symphony No. 39 in E-flat, K. 543 (1961 analog)

Part 1b: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony No. 41 in C, K551 (1968 analog)

Part 2: Hector Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique,Op. 14 (1963 analog)

Part 3: Johannes Brahms: Symphony No. 1 in c minor, Op. 68 (1960 analog)

The New York Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Leonard Bernstein

                

                

Thursday, October 16, 2025

3-hour programs 11 am-2 PM & 9 PM-12 am Monday through Thursday

Early analog recordings of The Canadian Brass; The Artistry of trumpeters Gerard Schwarz and Niklas Eklund; The Millar Brass Ensemble

Part 1: Eldon Rathburn: Canadian Brass Rag; JS Bach (adapted): The Cathedral; GF Handel: A Royal Firework; Claude Debussy: Golliwog’s Cakewalk; Larry Crosley: Days Before Yesterday; Don Gillis: El Sueño; Erik Satie: Gymnopedie No. 1; Don Gillis: The Joust; Scott Joplin: The Entertainer Rag; Ragtime Waltz; The Favorite Rag; Sycamore Rag; Euphonic Sounds Rag; Rosebud March; Figleaf Rag and Easy Winners Rag; TK Filmore: ‘Lasses Trombone and Slim Trombone; Amazing Grace (arr.) Bourbon Street Medley: Just a Closer Walk with Thee-Tin Roof Blues-Muskrat Ramble

The Canadian Brass (taken from the 1970s analog CBC albums “Canadian Brass Plays Rags” and “Unexplored Territory”)

Part 2a: Johann Ernst Altenberg: Concerto in D (7 trumpets); Antonio Vivaldi: Concerto in C (2 trumpets); Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber: Sonata in C (8 trumpets); Giuseppe Torelli: Sonata a cinqe No. 1 in G (Trumpet in A); Georg Philipp Telemann: Concerto in D (Piccolo trumpet in A)

New York Trumpet Ensemble, Gerard Schwarz, solo trumpeter; and The Y Chamber Symphony of New York conducted by Gerard Schwarz (1979 digital)

Part 2b: George Frederick Handel: Overture to Atalanta

Niklas Eklund, solo trumpet; Drottingholm Baroque Ensemble

Part 3: Sergei Prokofief: March, Op. 99; March from Love of Three Oranges; Tylaman Susato: Six Dances from La Danserie; Edvard Grieg: Funeral March; Jean Joseph Mouret: Rondeau; Thomas Morley: Now Is the Month of Maying; Giovanni Gabrieli: Sonata pian’ e forte; Canzona septimi toni, No. 2; Pavel Chesnokov: Salvation Is Created; Benjamin Britten; Russian Funeral; Johann Sebastian Bach: Suite de Danses (arr. by Jean Thilde)

The Millar Brass Ensemble (1995 digital)

 

                

                

Previous Programs on CHC

Monday, October 6, 2025

3-hour programs 11 am-2 PM & 9 PM-12 am Monday through Thursday

Organ masses of François Couperin; Organ music of German-Dutch composer Gerard Bunk and Dutch composer Hendrik Andriessen; Concert of Dutch Royal organs found in the Dutch Royal House Archives

Part 1: François Couperin: Organ Mass No. 1 for the use of the Parishes; Organ Mass No. 2 for use of the Convents

Anthony Newman plays the Fisk organ at Downtown Presbyterian Church in Rochester, New York

Part 2a: Gerard Bunk: Legend, Op. 29

Pieter van Dijk playing the Walcker organ at the Martinikerk in Doesburg, Netherlands

Part 2b: Hendrik Andriessen: Selections from Intermezzi for Organ, Nos. 13, 16, 19, 21, 24

Albert de Klerk playing the Cavaille-Coll organ at St. Augustine Church, Amsterdam

Part 3: Marius Brandts Buys: Variations on Wilhelmus van Nassouwe, played on the Immanuelchurch organ, Jakarta, Indonesia; Concerto in B-flat by Johan Andrea Colizzi; Johannes Albertus Groneman Trio Sonata in e minor; Giullaume Kühner Sophien Walzer; and the Marche funebrae of Deuard Gregior, played on the Gothic House organ in The Hague; Leopold Kozeluch Sonata La Chasse played on the organ at Beekbergen, Netherlands; Allegro in F and Andante and Vivace in G from Joannes de Grutter’s Carillonbook played on the Het Loo Palace organ in Alpendoorn; Jacob Bijster Variations on a Dutch tune; Johann August Just Allgro from Concerto in D; and Christiaan Frederick Hendriks Variations on the old Wilhelmus, played on the Schecternach organ now located in Luxemburg

In all performances the organs are played by Gert Oost

                

                

Tuesday, October 7, 2025

Te Deum of Hector Berlioz from a live concert recorded in 1996: Sacred choral music of Maurice Duruflé; Rarely heard choral music of Alan Hovanhess

Part 1: Hector Berlioz: Te Deum, Op. 22

Voices of Ascension Chorus and Orchestra; Young Singers of Pennsylvania, John Aler, tenor soloist, Mark Kruczek, organist – conducted by Dennis Keene

Part 2: Maurice Duruflé,: Requiem, Op. 9; Messe Cum Jubilo, Op. 11; Notre Père

Patricia Spence, soprano, and François Le Roux, baritone (soloists in the Requiem and Mass)

Voices of Ascension Chorus and Orchestra conducted by Dennis Keene

Part 3: Alan Hovhaness: Magnificat, Op. 157; Psalm 23 (cantata derived in 1960 from his Symphony No. 12, Op. 188); Selection of shorter choral works: A Rose Tree Blossoms, Op. 246, No. 4; Jesus, Lover of My Soul, Op. 53b;Jesus Christ is Risen Today, Op. 100; The Lord’s Prayer, Op. 35; Peace Be Multiplied; O for a shout of Sacred Joy, Op. 161; Out of the Depths, Op. 142; O God, Our Help in Ages Past, Op. 137

The Choirs and Orchestra of St. John’s Cathedral, Denver, Colorado; organist Eric Plutz; conducted by Donald Pearson

                

                

Wednesday, October 8, 2025

Orchestral suite from the opera Les Paladins of Jean-Philippe Rameau; Mozart’s Symphonies Nos. 38 and 39 conducted by Karl Böhm; Bruckner’s Romantic symphony conducted by Herbert von Karajan

Part 1: Jean-Philippe Rameau; Orchestral suite from the opera Les Paladins

Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment on period instruments conducted by Gustav Leonhardt

Part 2: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony No. 38 in D, K504, “Prague”; Symphony No. 39 in E-flat K543

Karl Böhm conducts the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

Part 3: Anton Bruckner: Symphony No. 4 (1880 Hass edition)

Herbert von Karajan conducts the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra

 

                

                

Thursday, October 9, 2025

Concerts presented by The United States Heritage of America Air Force Band, The United States Navy Band, and The United States Marine Band

Part 1: John Stafford Smith: The Star-Spangled Banner, arr. L.H. Lang); Carolyn Bremer: Early Light; Dudley Buck: Festival Overture on the American National Air, arr. T. Watts and V. Osborne; E.E. Bagley: National Emblem ; John Zdechlik: Celebrations; Louis Panella: American Red Cross; CW Parker: American Legion March ; Samuel Barber: Commando March; Jack Lawrence: Heave Ho! My Lads, Heave Ho!; Peter DeRose: The Song of the Seabees; Julie Giroux: Fort McHenry Suite; Eric Ewazen: A Hymn for the Lost and the Living; William Steffe: The Battle Hymn of the Republic, arr. Sammy Nestico, narrated by Colonel Jay Walsh; Armed Forces Salute arr. by Robert Cray; John Philip Sousa: The Stars and Stripes Forever

The United States Heritage of America Air Force Band conducted by Major Larry H. Lang

Part 2: James Curnow: Rejouissance (Fantasia On “Ein Feste Burg”); Henry Filmore: Rolling Thunder; Bryan Kidd: Concert Moods for Trumpet, with solo trumpet Chief Musician Robert Birch; Darius Milhaud: Suite Francaise; Cliftion Williams: Pastorale; Urban F. Carvalho: Song and Dance with alto soloist Dale Underwood; Edwin Franko Goldman: The Chimes of Liberty; Hugo Alfven: Swedish Rhapsody No. 1, Op. 19; Philip Sparke: Jubilee Overture

The United States Navy Band conducted by Commander Philip Howard Field

Part 3: William Schuman: American Hymn; Dmitri Shostakovich, October, Op. 131

The United States Marine Band conducted by Colonel Jason K. Fettig