Episodes

  • The Ear Worm

    The Ear Worm
    May 1 2026
    Richie has a problem; he’s got a tune stuck in his head. And it’s not his tune. Can Stratton help?
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    16 mins
  • Amazing Ms. Maestro

    Amazing Ms. Maestro
    Apr 24 2026
    Online Stratton was asked to name the 10 best conductors leading orchestras today. He took what he thought was a bold step; he included JoAnn Falletta’s name. When he saw the 25 or so lists submitted from correspondents around the world, 19 listed among their 10 choices JoAnn Falletta. Could it be? Then just a few weeks ago Richie announced that we should do an episode about JoAnn, “because, you know, she’s a great conductor.”
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    16 mins
  • Psychedelica

    Psychedelica
    Apr 17 2026
    Nancy, our Music Librarian, was telling Stratton about a piece of music that she thought was “psychologically brilliant”. But what Richie heard her say was that the piece of music was “psychedelically brilliant”. Being Richie, he loved that description. When we explained that he got it wrong, he proclaimed, “who really wants to hear a piece because it’s psychologically brilliant, but anyone would want to hear a piece that’s psychedelically brilliant.”
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    13 mins
  • Tim Smith & Hans Rot

    Tim Smith & Hans Rot
    Apr 10 2026
    When Stratton asked Richie if he knew of a 20th Century composer whose music was reviled at first, but whose reputation is enjoying a reappraisal, he answered immediately, “Tim Smith, leader of the Cardiacs”. As luck would have it, Stratton claimed not to know Tim Smith’s name; nor had he ever heard of the Cardiacs. Richie sent him some files.
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    16 mins
  • Danny Elfman Crosses Over

    Danny Elfman Crosses Over
    Mar 11 2026
    Richie has often told us that Danny Elfman’s score to “Batman” was what inspired him to pursue music as his vocation. Stratton on the other hand discovered Danny Elfman not just as another very good film composer, but as a composer of what Stratton would call concert pieces in the best tradition of classical music. After reviewing Elfman’s unlikely journey as a music maker, Richie and Stratton discuss Stratton’s belief that Elfman has become a composer who is forging the future of classical music.
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    18 mins
  • Brothers

    Brothers
    Mar 11 2026
    Stratton noticed that Richie has a brother who is a working musician. He began to wonder about other brothers who both have made music their livelihood. In the classical period there were the Haydn brothers, Joseph and Michael. Then in the full bloom of musical romanticism two young pianists became the toast of Russia, the brothers Anton and Nicolai Rubinstein. In our time at least two successful “bands” were built around brothers; The Kinks featuring Dave and Ray Davies, and the British band with the warring brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher.
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    16 mins
  • Jazz Fusion

    Jazz Fusion
    Mar 11 2026
    JAZZ FUSION is a distinct strain of American musical practice; one that Stratton has largely ignored over a lifetime of music listening. Can Richie really catch him up by, once again, making Stratton apply his considerable skills as a listener to a genre of music that has enriched Richie’s own life?
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    16 mins
  • Oceans

    Oceans
    Mar 11 2026
    Stratton’s plan was to talk about pieces that reference “the sea”, except Richie wants to talk about pieces that he describes as “oceanic” instead. It’s all about what lurks below the surface.
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    16 mins