If you ever have trouble waking up at 7am, struggle no more. These high energy selections will be sure to get you geared up for marathon week. With works by Ibert, Prokofiev, and more, you won't be able to hit snooze.

Sure, there was Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven. But composers living in Vienna 1790-1810 faced a lot of competition: Schubert, Kozeluch, Hummel, Wranitzky, Spohr, Ries, Krommer, Gyrowetz, Clementi, Ditters von Dittersdorf, and Vogler – to name a few.

Inspired by centuries of certitude, European rivers were sources of life, livelihood, and death – great composers wove tales of sirens, fishermen, Pharaohs, and journeys to come. We’ll hear music of Schubert, Strauss, Horner, Ewazen, Smetana and more.

Violinist and Charlottesville native David McCormick of Early Music Access Project makes a guest appearance in the WTJU studios to offer highlights from his personal collection of early music recordings. His selections run the gamut from medieval tunes performed by his New York-based ensemble Alkemie to a Mozart sonata on gut strings from baroque violinist Rachel Podger. Other highlights include folk-inspired ancient tunes from multi-instrumentalist Brian Kay and newly-composed works for medieval instruments by Elliot Cole.

The Voces8 Foundation is London focuses on acapella vocal music from the middle ages to contemporary composers. We’ll hear the groups in various settings and collaborations, with their heavenly vocals and soaring harmonies.

Join Allen Hench for a selection of holiday favorites, performed by musicians and ensembles from Charlottesville and the surrounding area!

Josquin – sometimes referred to as “Josquin Des Pres” – was the principal renaissance composer in Europe from 1480 to 1520; he died on August 27, 1521, and 2021 represents the 500th anniversary of that event. Josquin was so popular that nearly half of the music composed in that era was at one time attributed to him. The Early Music Show hosts Sandy Snyder and Uncle Dave Lewis have been sifting through Josquin’s work for months trying to find the right combination of pieces to represent him at his best, and they will be featuring a selection of Josquin’s most noted contemporaries as well for sake of context.

A focus on Irish pianists of renown, past and present, including Miceal O'Rourke and Michael McHale.

Join Ralph Graves as he wiles away the late evening and early morning hours with glorious music. He'll be featuring recent recordings and even some music of the season!

The show Andrew always wanted to produce: two hours of nothing but his absolute favorite pieces from seven years of hosting at WTJU.

This program features music from early composers, such as Sor, Tarrega, Carruli, Carcassi, and Giuliani, along with the finest artists of our time, including Andre Segovia, Julian Bream, and John Williams.   The program includes modern pieces such as “Romance” by Rene Bartoli and “Cavatina” by Stanley Meyers, as well as classical guitar interpretations of select pieces by Bach, Beethoven, and Chopin.

Ride the wave of the sea shanty revival of the 2020s. Enjoy the enchanting songs of the sea sung by voices and instruments alike.

Special Guest Nathaniel Lee, principal trombone of the Charlottesville Symphony and founding member of the American Trombone Quartet, joins us in the studio for two hours of classic and unexpected works for the trombone.

The recording career of Marian Anderson began during the Coolidge Administration, and it was still going after the peak of the British Invasion began to cool. She is remembered as a pioneer of civil rights in America; noted for her history making concert at the Lincoln Memorial in 1939 and for breaking the color line at the Metropolitan Opera. But a fitting tribute to what made this all possible – Anderson’s magnificent contralto voice, the best anyone had heard up to that time – has been overdue, stymied by the lack of available recordings. Utilizing a new release which contains most of Anderson’s recorded catalog, Uncle Dave Lewis will lead an exploration into her legacy, practically unheard for all too long.

Pops orchestras and pops concerts are a popular tradition on the American classical music scene and around the world. Tune in and let your hair down with a selection of light classics, Americana, popular music, film scores, and more, performed by notable pops orchestras and other ensembles.

"Who can retell the things that befell us, Who can count them? In every age, a hero or sage came to our aid." Join Xavier as we reflect on this text and explore the music of Hannukah.

This show explores the work of 17th century baroque composer Heinrich Biber, paying special attention to the composer's use of rhythm and dissonant harmony, as well as his virtuosic violin pieces. Featuring local performances by Charlottesville's Baroque Ensemble Three Notch'd Road, and a performance recorded at the 2016 Staunton Music Festival.

Join Ralph Graves as he wiles away the late evening and early morning hours with glorious music. He'll be featuring recent recordings and even some music of the season!

I recently found the Readers’ Digest Festival of Light Classical Music at my dad’s house. For the first time in 50 years, we’ll be spinning these LPs, sharing the greatest music in the world from some of the, um, well, from some of the orchestras of Europe.

In Richard II, William Shakespeare describes his native country as “This other Eden, demi-paradise, this fortress built by Nature for herself […] This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England.” The English countryside has inspired countless composers to recreate the landscape of green pastures into captivating music. Join us as we journey across this verdant land, “this other Eden,” and hear the sounds of English idylls.

The Arctic is the place on Earth where water meets its limit, where its constant flow becomes frozen in space and time. At the same time, the sea is the primary life-sustaining source for the communities that call the Arctic home. This juxtaposition of generativity and impenetrability has fascinated composers for centuries. We will explore works from the 18th-century to contemporary times that evoke the moving sounds of the Arctic that remains, for now, iced-in.

Roanoke-based pianist Erica Sipes presents a selection of works composed by women composers who she's discovered through her project, Piano Music She Wrote and with her work as a pianist with the trio, the Alma Ensemble. Selected pieces will span the centuries and include works written by composers known and unknown for various instrumentation but mostly focusing on piano music. Composers included will be Marie Jaëll, Germaine Tailleferre, Olga Nazayinskaya, Clara Schumann, and Liza Lehmann, among others.

Five musicians have a power, whether it be a string quintet, a bluegrass band, or the Rolling Stones. Explore all the ways the classical equivalent of a “band” takes shape; and the musical paths where it takes us.

Superb choral music by French, German, American and other non-British composers.

Join Brian and Kyle as they explore the best of 2021 — both new compositions and releases — on this special edition of A New Sound.

Perhaps equally well known for his varied jazz recordings as for his wildly eclectic and imaginative interpretations of famous classical works, your Living Time co-hosts will provide a sampling of Caine’s classically oriented material. From The Goldberg Variations to Mahler, Verdi and others.

Join Ralph Graves as he wiles away the late evening and early morning hours with glorious music. He'll be featuring recent recordings and even some music of the season!

It's hard to think of a film composer who has written more memorable themes than John Williams. In a compositional career that has spanned seven decades, he has been nominated for an incredible 52 Academy Awards and left an indelible impression on generations of moviegoers. Enjoy many of your favorite John Williams musical moments on this show, with a few surprises along the way!

Some connoisseurs of the violin consider David Oistrakh the greatest of all the Russian virtuosi. His performances received rapturous reviews and acclaim from the public. His appearances in the West during the Soviet era were landmarks in the cultural thaw of the Cold War. You will hear what all the fuss was about during this special Marathon salute to one of the greats of the violin.

Bächleins is "little brooks" in English. We'll be bathing in the Bach family’s world, including holy water, rivers, and the vast ocean of God’s love.

Using some of his personal favorite music, Benjamin Rous delves into how composers create musical surfaces that appeal to the senses, and use those surfaces to encircle worlds of meaning, often looking to the heavens for inspiration.

Join conductor Michael Slon, in conversation with Andrew Morgan on the choral art and music bouncing back from the pandemic. Hear some of Joby Talbot’s remarkable Path of Miracles, the American folksong “How Can I Keep from Singing,” and other treasures well and lesser known from the world of choral music.

Standard as well as wacky modes of transportation inspired many composers, well-known and otherwise. Listen to find out how one composer reacted to a ride in a “high performance sports car”. Or what about an ox-cart?

The longevity of ragtime’s popularity beyond the 1920s suffered from musical cliches and heavy-handed performances with rigid, racing, honky-tonk beats. The ragtime revival of the 1970s, catalyzed by expressive and sensitive interpretations by classically-trained pianists like Joshua Rifkin, helped lift up ragtime from the saloons & brothels where it was born to the concert stage & repertoire. This ragtime celebration will feature well-known works by ragtime’s “Big Three” (Joplin, Scott, and Lamb) as well as rags by lesser-known and more recent composers.

Harold Budd pioneered a thoughtful “soft pedal” technique for playing the piano on his early ambient-electronic masterpiece albums made with Brian Eno Ambient 2: The Plateaux of Mirror (1980) and The Pearl (1984). Eno called Budd "a great abstract painter trapped in the body of a musician". Budd rejected the label ‘ambient’, however, and went on to hone his minimalist style of piano on many solo albums and collaborations with others such as Robin Guthrie and Cocteau Twins, and the producer Daniel Lanois. Harold Budd passed away in December 2020 at the age of 84 due to complications from COVID-19.

Join Ralph Graves as he wiles away the late evening and early morning hours with glorious music. He'll be featuring recent recordings and even some music of the season!

Italy may be considered the cradle of classical music. From Monteverdi to Vivaldi and the Scarlattis to Puccini, up through Morricone and Einaudi, Italy has spawned tremendous and significant composers and music. This program will explore melodic Italian (non-operatic) music from the Baroque period to the present.

Come celebrate the musical repertoire of Harold Arlen as Brian Keena continues his annual exploration of 20th Century American composers. Rediscover the Broadway hits that became jazz standards, including the music of The Wizard of Oz, as well as his collaborations with Johnny Mercer, Ted Koehler, and Ira Gershwin. Together we will represent Arlen's music in grand style with some of his greatest interpreters, such as Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, The Free Bridge Quintet, and others.

Is this "A Time for Singing" or "Piano Forte"? Both and neither at the same time! Seasoned and new WTJU listeners alike will enjoy a show chock full of intimate performances.

Join flutist Kelly Sulick as she shares some of her favorite works from across the classical music spectrum—and beyond! From beloved orchestral classics featuring the flute to weird and wonderful chamber pieces that she only dreams of playing, Sulick will take listeners on a journey that stretches the boundaries of what we consider classical music. Join her to see if you agree with Samuel Johnson that classical music is the “least disagreeable” of all noises!

Take a sound bath with Baby Shampoo as she lathers in the healing suds of Gregorian chants and New Age trance. Transcend the trappings of decorum and soak for two hours in unbridled tranquility. Pledge your parasympathetic support for community radio shamanism and receive a unique gift.

This inspirational show will celebrate the lives and music of pianists who overcame great challenge to create great art, including Nobuyuki Tsujii, born blind and who became the first blind pianist to win the prestigious Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, and Nicholas McCarthy, born without a right hand and who became the first left-hand-only pianist to graduate from the Royal College of Music in London.

Perry Medlin, host of On With the Show, brings us two hours of Broadway music magic, with your favorite selections arranged for large chorus.

Students and faculty of the Weimar-era Bauhaus school were sophisticated, talented visionaries. And they knew how to have a good time. Their playful experiments with color, shape, and space went beyond design class. From atonality and experimental sound art you could still dance to, the Bauhaus was inspired by new compositions from the likes of Wolpe, Hindemith, Krenek, Busoni, and Schoenberg. Taking a cue from Oskar Schlemmer’s Triadic Ballet, we’ll create a soundtrack for the world’s first Bauhaus Ball.

Join Ralph Graves as he wiles away the late evening and early morning hours with glorious music. He'll be featuring recent recordings and even some music of the season!

This year, the annual “Early Music Special” will focus on music from the Medieval and Renaissance periods of Classical Music (leaving Baroque to a separate show). While most of the music we have from the Middle Ages is attributed to that ubiquitous early music composer, “Anonymous”, we have a few hymns and chants associated with a composer (Hildegarde von Bingen), or abbey (“Nuns of Chester”), along with some foot-tapping dances and chants for this festive season. The Renaissance period, by contrast, brings us many favorite Christmas melodies, hymns, anthems, motets, and masses. Featured composers will include Josquin (Ave Maria), Michael Praetorius (Es ist ein Ros’), Walter (Joseph, leiber), Mouton (nasciens mater), and many more.

Beautiful choral music from the British isles sung by the best choirs and ensembles from around world, spanning four centuries of musical delights, a perennial marathon offering and favourite.

Pieces featuring double reeds down in the register. Enjoy the mellow sounds of English horns, bassoons, and more.

Join Carrie Finnegan, Director of Orchestras in Albemarle County Schools, as she presents a program featuring female composers of color and a variety of instrumental music.

Composer Beth Anderson is a singular voice in the post-classical music world. Entering music during the heady days of conceptualism at the University of Kentucky, Anderson landed in New York City during the era of No Wave; her early work is easily recognizable as belonging to the avant-garde. But as the past century wound down towards its close Anderson began developing new formal strategies for music that feels familiar but is challenging in other ways. Beth Anderson has agreed to participate in this project, discussing her music in her own words though one of the beauties of her music is that it doesn’t require a lot of explanation.

In this special show, I-Jen Fang, Principal Timpani and Percussion in the Charlottesville Symphony and Associate Professor of Music at UVA, explores the history of percussion in classical music as well as some of her favorite percussion works. She’ll share 18th-century pieces for marching percussion, classical-era symphonic works with prominent timpani and percussion, and the first works for percussion ensemble in the 20th century. We’ll enjoy music by Beethoven, Berlioz, Edgard Varese, John Cage, George Crumb, Christopher Deane, Ney Rosauro, I-Jen’s composer colleagues at UVA, and many others.

Franz Liszt, a great piano virtuoso, pioneered the solo recital. His performances throughout Europe generated ecstatic reactions from his admirers, especially the ladies. Tune in to hear his successors, some of whom trace their pianist lineage directly from Liszt, play his most energetic and exciting compositions in this Marathon piano extravaganza.

During its early years, WTJU was a hub of classical treasures curated by UVA students for each other’s enjoyment. One early program, the “Culture and Chowder Society,” invited listeners to a show featuring an eclectic range of music, or, in the hosts’ words, “‘tip a cup of chowder’ with us and enjoy unusual program variety.” For the 2021 Classical Marathon, we’d like to extend the same invitation: Join us as we journey through the world of classical music. Along the way, we hope you’ll pledge to this community radio station of more than 60 years.

Join Ralph Graves as he wiles away the late evening and early morning hours with glorious music. He'll be featuring recent recordings and even some music of the season!

From Fingal’s Cave to the Flying Dutchman, composers harnessed great roars of the waves into musical gems, inspiring thoughts of pirates, madness, and mysterious latitudes.

Because there is way too much fabulous Early Music for Christmas, this year’s marathon is offering a separate show for a Baroque Christmas. This gives us the opportunity to play more of the composers not usually included in a strict “Early Music” definition, like J.S. Bach, Scarlatti, and Handel (all born in 1685!).

Many, at least around the United States, consider such instruments as banjo, mandolin, and accordion to be part of the world of folk music and not classical. Tune in for two hours of music which will try and prove that sentiment wrong.

Puccini composed the three one-act operas comprising Il trittico, (Il tabarro, Suor Angelica, and Gianni Schicchi) to be performed in one evening, which is rarely done these days. You will hear all three on one afternoon during this special Marathon edition of the Sunday Opera Matinee, presented by our three opera hosts.

A special 2-hour edition of the King of Instruments, monumental music for the pipe organ featuring great instruments from around the world performed by some of the greatest talent, past and present.

The yearly tradition returns! Join members of WTJU's Classical Department for the penultimate program of the marathon: a broadcast of the complete Messiah.

It's the return of the big closing crescendo! When string arrangements are added to just the right rock, soul, country, folk or jazz song, the results can be majestic... or beautifully strange. Join Radio Wowsville's Don Harrison and Rick Clark as they close out the 2021 Classical Marathon with a very special kind of string theory.