Notker Balbulus (c.840-912), also known as Notker of St Gall or Notker the Stammerer, was a renowned Benedictine monk at the Abbey of St Gall in Switzerland who made substantial contributions to both the music and literature of his time. In this podcast Michael Alan Anderson, musical director of Schola Antiqua of Chicago, explains to Raymond Bisha the challenges of marrying elaborate melodies with threadbare musical notation to unravel the mediaeval mysteries behind plainsong performance.

Since the 1970s, Brazilian conductor Isaac Karabtchevsky has steadfastly developed one of the most brilliant careers across the Brazilian and international music scenes, The Guardian in 2009 hailing him as one of Brazil's living icons. He's heard in this podcast In conversation with Raymond Bisha, discussing the music of fellow Brazilian icon, the composer Heitor Villa-Lobos. Extracts from Karabtchevsky's recordings of Villa-Lobos' complete symphonies (8.506039) and cello concertos (8.574531) amplify the composer's attachment to his country's musical heritage and the conductor's assiduous scholarly approach to its performance.

American composer Daron Hagen talks about his cantata Everyone, Everywhere in conversation with Raymond Bisha. Composed In 2023 to mark the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Hagen found impetus in the contemporary political status of his own nation to recontextualise the declaration's dry language and enable him to convey its emotional essence (“as a citizen, a person and a father”). Also drawing on texts by a range of significant historical figures, this sweeping work for choir, vocal soloists and orchestra marries intellect and emotion in a passionate cry for justice and peace, and in a way that only music can.