Fascinating discussion about classical music

No classical music without the symphony. But what exactly is a symphony? Sander De Keere delves into the origins and evolution of this quintessential classical music genre. Why did Joseph Haydn compose more than a hundred, whereas Beethoven stopped at nine?

What makes the monumental symphonies of Mahler and Bruckner so stunning? How can a symphony tell a concrete story, like Richard Strauss does in his Alpine Symphony? When did it become a political statement? When did symphonies by female composers appear? And are symphonies still being written these days?

Sander De Keere (°1992) is a musicologist, composer and radio presenter at Klara. In almost 50 episodes, every week he and Clara De Decker take a closer look at a piece of classical music in First Aid for Classical Music – a podcast for anyone who starts to sweat at the sight of difficult words and doesn’t know where to start or how to listen to classical music.

On Iedereen Beroemd (VRT1), Sander has been talking to Thibault Christiaensen (Studio Brussel, Equal Idiots) for three seasons now in the music section Classics. In 2022, Sanders’ debut EP Primitive Structures was released on W.E.R.F. records. A repetitive trip for various line-ups with influences from minimal music, without falling into epigonism.

His single for Ruth Crawford was released on 17 November 2023, a piano composition in tribute to the American composer Ruth Crawford, who died 70 years ago. In the meantime, Sander continues to work on his first album as a classical composer.

Photo: Rebecca De Cavel