Kairoff At The Keyboard

Series produced by WFDD

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Steinway recording artist Peter Kairoff makes classical music accessible to all in Kairoff At The Keyboard.

Steinway recording artist and Wake Forest University Professor of Music Peter Kairoff has performed as a piano and harpsichord soloist all over the world, and he brings his talent, knowledge, and accessible style to Kairoff At The Keyboard.

Peter makes classical music engaging, easy to understand, and his passion for the subject is infectious. What makes Romantic music romantic? Who was Bach, and what made him so great? What exactly is musical form? Find out the answer to these questions and everything else you ever wanted to know about Classical music but were afraid to ask with Kairoff At The Keyboard.


35 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
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In this episode, Peter guides us through Gymnopédie No. 3 by quirky French composer Erik Satie.

Bought by Delmarva Public Media and KWAX


  • Added: Aug 29, 2018
  • Length: 04:29
  • Purchases: 2
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Peter explores the life and music of Domenico Scarlatti.

Bought by Delmarva Public Media


  • Added: Aug 29, 2018
  • Length: 04:29
  • Purchases: 1
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Peter explains how Chopin pushed piano music to the limit.

Bought by Delmarva Public Media


  • Added: Aug 29, 2018
  • Length: 04:29
  • Purchases: 1
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In this episode, Peter looks at Schumann’s obsession with literature of the day and how that obsession infused itself into his music.

Bought by Delmarva Public Media


  • Added: Aug 29, 2018
  • Length: 04:28
  • Purchases: 1
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Franz Schubert composed music in nearly every genre imaginable—symphonies, chamber music, operas, piano pieces—and yet each piece was infused with ...

Bought by Delmarva Public Media


  • Added: Aug 29, 2018
  • Length: 04:29
  • Purchases: 1
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Peter Kairoff reveals the expressive tenderness of late 19th century American composer Edward MacDowell.

Bought by Delmarva Public Media


  • Added: Aug 29, 2018
  • Length: 04:29
  • Purchases: 1
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It don’t mean a thing if ain’t got that…dynamic variation. In this episode, Peter explains the importance of loud, soft—and everything in between—i...

Bought by Delmarva Public Media


  • Added: Aug 29, 2018
  • Length: 04:28
  • Purchases: 1
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Peter explores musical form--how the beginning relates to the middle and end of a musical composition.

Bought by Delmarva Public Media


  • Added: Aug 29, 2018
  • Length: 04:29
  • Purchases: 1
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In this episode, Peter reveals the best of the Baroque, including ornamentation, polyphony, and the father of the mighty piano: the harpsichord.

Bought by Delmarva Public Media


  • Added: Aug 29, 2018
  • Length: 04:29
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Measures 1-8 of fourth variation of Bach's Goldberg Variations, Credit: Public Domain (http://bit.ly/2zL7CjB)
In this episode, Peter shows the many ingenious ways in which composers varied melodies, bass lines, harmonies, rhythms and more and how it impact...

Bought by Delmarva Public Media


  • Added: Aug 29, 2018
  • Length: 04:29
  • Purchases: 1
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In this episode, Peter guides us through a musical movement inspired by Impressionism in art.

Bought by Delmarva Public Media


  • Added: Aug 29, 2018
  • Length: 04:28
  • Purchases: 1
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For composers like Bach and Handel, a suite meant a collection of dances. In this episode, Peter provides a glimpse into how Baroque society got it...

Bought by Delmarva Public Media


  • Added: Aug 29, 2018
  • Length: 04:29
  • Purchases: 1
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Peter takes an in-depth look at Johannes Brahms.

Bought by Delmarva Public Media


  • Added: Aug 29, 2018
  • Length: 04:29
  • Purchases: 1
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In this episode, Peter shows how Beethoven used form to bridge the Classical and Romantic eras of musical history.

  • Added: Aug 29, 2018
  • Length: 04:29
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Peter explains the powerful simplicity behind Frederick Chopin's Prelude in E minor, one of the twenty-four preludes Chopin composed in homage to h...

  • Added: Aug 29, 2018
  • Length: 04:29
Caption: Franz Joseph Haydn, 1791, Credit: Public Domain (http://bit.ly/2hAqaIW)
In this episode, Peter walks us though exactly what makes classical music so, well…Classical.

  • Added: Aug 29, 2018
  • Length: 04:29
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In this episode, Peter takes a look at the Baroque dance suite.

  • Added: Aug 29, 2018
  • Length: 04:29
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The late Romantic composer combined the best of Bach and Beethoven to write some of the most emotionally gripping music ever.

  • Added: Aug 29, 2018
  • Length: 04:29
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Peter takes a look at one of the most well-known Impressionist composers: Claude Debussy.

  • Added: Aug 29, 2018
  • Length: 03:49
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In this episode we’ll hear the passion, tragedy, and playfulness of human existence all wrapped up in just six little piano pieces that Schubert ca...

  • Added: Aug 29, 2018
  • Length: 04:29