#YearOfWonder2026 Day 112: "Danza Gaya" by Madeleine Dring
Burton-Hill describes the "rhythmic vibrancy and great charm" of Dring's compositions, and I have to agree.
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#YearOfWonder2026 Day 111: "Dawn over the Moskva River" from Mussorgsky's "Khovanshchina"
Despite the ease with which a nation's leaders can destroy, the composers will continue creating. And the Russians know how to lift sublime beauty out of an orchestra.
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#YearOfWonder2026 Day 110: Henry Purcell & John Dryden's "Music for a While"
Performed here by countertenor Andreas Scholl and harpsichordist Tamar Halperin, there's a certain sense to baroque music of being simultaneously historically distant and still vibrant when it's sung into the air.
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#YearOfWonder2026 Day 109: "Valse Lente" by Germaine Tailleferre
Some days, a piece like this just meets you where you are.
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#YearOfWonder2026, Day 108: Vivaldi's "Stabat Mater", mov. 7 "Eia mater, fons amoris"
Two things to appreciate about this: the rare opportunity (in most music) to hear a countertenor, and the lovely way Vivaldi sets the instruments and vocals in juxtaposition without repetition between them.
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#YearOfWonder2026 Day 107: "Ellis Island" by Meredith Monk
Written to accompany silent footage from the island, this piece evokes a forward flow of elements that relate with each other, but are individual at the same time.
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![[EXTRAIT] ALCINA by Haendel "Tornami a vagheggiar" (Sabine Devieilhe)](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:fkku3cy6mpunfqgfwqb656ww/bafkreic5ruztwcyorq47zo4fuhj5vx54wvwrwvsncoer5d65lx6rqtqo74)
#YearOfWonder2026 Day 106: "Tornami a vagheggiar" from Händel's "Alcina"
Few composers write more notes per syllable than Händel, and Sabine Devielhe acquits herself brilliantly here, nailing the music, the intention, and the comedy.
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#YearOfWonder2026 Day 105: Chopin's 2nd Piano Concerto, 2nd mov. Larghetto
Rubinstein brings his mastery to this piece, which was written when Chopin was only 19. I can't help but wonder what it would feel liked played with a gentler touch.
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#YearOfWonder2026 Day 104: Franz Schubert's "Frühlingsglaube"
Sung here by Peter Kendall Clark in the time of social distancing on his brownstone steps, it's good reminder that music must continue being made in times of challenge.
"Nun muss sich Alles, Alles wenden."
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#YearOfWonder2026 Day 103: Wagner's Overture to "Tannhäuser"
As on Day 37, I place the baton purposefully in Sir Georg Solti's hand for this composer's work. His artistry in leading an orchestra is S-tier. The music is good.
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#YearOfWonder2026 Day 102: "Metamorphosen" by Richard Strauss
Composed in 1945 for just 23 strings, this piece feels like you're stepping through rubble, taking stock of destruction and loss. As Burton-Hill notes: "It is a singularly moving musical response to the senselessness of war -- any war."
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#YearOfWonder2026 Day 101: Alberto Ginastera's "Tres piezas" 1. Cuyana
This piece from 1940 takes you for a ride, not in the way many contemporary/modernist pieces do, but within tonality and key, still consistently feeling fresh and vibrant.
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#YearOfWonder2026 Day 100: Mozart's Concerto in F major for Three Pianos:
It's not often one hears three pianos sharing the stage (even this piece has been rewritten for only two), but when those three are played by three of the most famous conductors, it's even more worth the time to watch.
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#YearOfWonder2026 Day 99: "En la Macarenita", arranged by Bob Chilcott
This is a perfectly fine modern madrigal, but I chose this video because I think more music should be performed in the dark or dim lighting. It adds something.
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#YearOfWonder2026 Day 98: "Le Printemps" (Spring) by Darius Milhaud
This piece rustles with activity, tossing energy back and forth between the violin and piano. Not the vein one might expect from someone who taught both Brubeck and Bacharach, but a beautiful encapsulation of the season.
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#YearOfWonder2026 Day 97: "Walking the Dog" by George Gershwin (from "Shall We Dance")
I forget sometimes that Gershwin died at 38, given how large he looms in music and popular song even now. This piece has become an orchestral standard as popular as any of his vocal tunes, and for good reason.
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#YearOfWonder2026 Day 96: The 2nd movement of Haydn's 101st Symphony, aka the "Clock" Symphony
When someone writes a hundred symphonies, and the 101st is still a delight, the muse is with them.
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#YearOfWonder2026 Day 95: "Fanfare for the Common Man" by Copland
Most people know this piece, so I offer you this imperfect but skilled performance by a large high school orchestra, student-played, student-conducted, as a reminder that the future is theirs.
(Copland conducts it himself below.)
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#YearOfWonder2026 Day 93: Brahms' Intermezzo in B♭ minor:
Burton-Hill spends a portion of this page feeling the need to defend Brahms from those who dismiss his work. I would too. This is warm, sensitive, and evokes a specific if unnameable emotional state.
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#YearOfWonder2026 Day 92: Beethoven's 5th Violin Sonata "Spring", mov. 1 Allegro
Burton-Hill observes that Beethoven seems impatient with classical traditions, and is straining to jump off and swim in the Romantic waters. That pull forward is what keeps his music lively even after all this time.
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#YearOfWonder2026 Day 91: Tchaikovsky's first Piano Concerto, mov. 1 - Allegro non troppo e molto maestoso
Tchaikovsky was told that this was unoriginal and "had better be destroyed." Instead it's become one of the more familiar openings to a classical piece in the canon.
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#YearOfWonder2026 Day 88: "Ambre" by Nils Frahm
Frahm decided that the 88th day of the year should be "Piano Day", so if you're near a piano, play a bit of something, even if you're self-conscious, even if you're not practiced, just hit a few notes and bring some music into the air.
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#YearOfWonder2026 Day 87: "In the Month of March" by Tōru Takemitsu
Takemitsu's work would be mostly encountered in films (for which he scored over a hundred!) so it's nice to hear an independent piece that feels right for this moment.
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#YearOfWonder2026 Day 86: Overture to Mozart's "La Clemenza di Tito"
The man writes an exciting overture, what else is there to say? Hit play and take the ride!
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