WRTI Picks from NPR Music

Though overshadowed during his own lifetime by his employer, Duke Ellington, the composer-arranger wrote more than 1,000 pieces. Here are takes on his most famous tunes.

Once a kid with polio from Tel Aviv who hated practicing his instrument, the master violinist says he's still learning, even as he prepares to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Writing music for The Good Dinosaur was a seven-month journey for brothers Mychael and Jeff Danna, not all of it glamorous.

"He clearly believed that New Orleans had something to say to the world," says NPR contributor Gwen Thompkins. "And he was right."

Almost every composer, sooner or later, must come to grips with Beethoven. John Adams is inspired by the master's wit and rhythm.

With minutely detailed instructions from Kiev-born composer Valentin Silvestrov, a British pianist probes the heart of melancholy in music that appears light but weighs heavy.

The new Dallas Opera production is a meta-story about the value — and cost — of great art.

In an conversation from the Song Exploder podcast, score composer Harry Gregson-Williams explains how he matched moments to melodies in the new film, which stars Matt Damon as a stranded astronaut.

In the Philadelphia Orchestra trumpeter's slightly twisted world, bears play bass trombones, Liszt has a brother named Bukhett and snowblowers can be filed as musical instrument deductions.

Marking the 100th anniversary of An Alpine Symphony, take a guided tour through Strauss' evocative music with conductor Semyon Bychkov and author David Hurwitz as trail guides.