Compact Discoveries

Series produced by Fred Flaxman

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One-hour unusual, audience-appealing, theme-driven classical music programs.

Compact Discoveries (R) is a series of one-hour, classical music radio programs, which, true to its title, introduces listeners to some of the most exciting and unusual compositions to be found on compact discs.

The approach is relaxed, informal and light. The presenter -- award-winning writer/producer Fred Flaxman -- shares his love of music and sense of discovery like one friend talking to another.

Fred sometimes uses humor, sound effects, personal essays, clips from old-time radio programs, and non-classical music to make his theme-based hours interesting and fun. The music is always carefully selected to appeal to the widest possible audience for classical music and to attract new listeners to the genre.

Fred's amusing themes range from "Brazilian Beats" and "Discs for Dishwashing" to "Musical Gardens" and "Best Music for Back Rubs." The programs often feature little-known composers who have written pieces that people will like on first hearing, such as Ernesto Nazareth, Kurt Atterberg, Rene Touzet, Clara Schumann, Cecile Chaminade, Tyzen Hsiao and Joaquin Nin.

Maximum scheduling flexibility is achieved by considering these programs as one-hour building blocks. They can be scheduled one or more times a week; they can be scheduled back to back to create two or three-hour blocks. Fred doesn't say "this program" when he's talking; he says "this hour," making stacking easy. Also, the program/hours are evergreens, except for those created for specific holidays and seasons of the year.

The series began as a local program on WXEL-FM, West Palm Beach, Florida. It was quickly picked up for national distribution via satellite by one of the nation's most prestigious radio syndicators. The series switched to less expensive, more convenient PRX distribution via the internet on Jan. 1, 2006.

Broadcast by stations from Manila in the Philippines to Eugene, Oregon, to West Palm Beach, Florida, the response of listeners has been 100 percent positive. For more information, including short descriptions and complete scripts for each program, go to www.compactdiscoveries.com.

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Compact Discoveries (R) is a series of one-hour, classical music radio programs, which, true to its title, introduces listeners to some of the most exciting and unusual compositions to be found on compact discs.The approach is relaxed, informal and light. The presenter -- award-winning writer/producer Fred Flaxman -- shares his love of music and sense of discovery like one friend talking to another.Fred sometimes uses humor, sound effects, personal essays, clips from old-time radio programs, and non-classical music to make his theme-based hours interesting and fun. The music is always carefully selected to appeal to the widest possible audience for classical music and to attract new listeners to the genre.Fred's amusing themes range from "Brazilian Beats" and "Discs for Dishwashing"... Show full description


253 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
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Norwegian pianist/musicologist Sigurd Slåttebrekk carefully studied all nine of the acoustic recordings that Edvard Grieg made in Paris in 1903 of ...

  • Added: Apr 16, 2011
  • Length: 59:00
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American concertos of the Jazz Age inspired by the success of George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue."

Bought by KENW


  • Added: May 05, 2011
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 1
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If you've never heard of this Late Romantic period Polish composer before, it is because he loved to ski. But you can listen to two of his first-cl...

Bought by KENW


  • Added: May 16, 2011
  • Length: 57:00
  • Purchases: 1
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Fred Flaxman presents three tuneful pieces by this Spanish Basque composer: "Ten Basque Melodies for Orchestra," Basque Images for Choir and Orches...

Bought by KENW


  • Added: Jun 10, 2011
  • Length: 57:30
  • Purchases: 1
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Two melodious, rhythmic, colorfully orchestrated concertos and a "Dance Rhapsody" by this multi-talented, very much alive-and-kicking American comp...

Bought by KENW


  • Added: Jun 23, 2011
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
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This hour includes Jenkins' infectious tune for the "Diamonds are Forever" TV ad, his hilarious tango based on themes from Beethoven, and excerpts ...

Bought by KENW


  • Added: Aug 15, 2011
  • Length: 58:00
  • Purchases: 1
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Fred Flaxman presents two beautiful, romantic works by this Estonian composer: his Piano Concerto No. 1 and his Symphony in C-Sharp Minor.

Bought by KENW


  • Added: Sep 27, 2011
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 1
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An hour of romantic ballads from the movie music by the internationally successful contemporary French composer.

Bought by WMNR and KENW


  • Added: Oct 11, 2011
  • Length: 58:50
  • Purchases: 2
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The London Philharmonic Orchestra plays symphonic orchestrations of video game music.

Bought by KPVL and KENW


  • Added: Nov 12, 2011
  • Length: 58:00
  • Purchases: 2
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This tribute to violinist Rachel Barton Pine includes an interview with her when she was 10, just before her début performance with the Chicago Sym...

Bought by KPVL and KENW


  • Added: Dec 26, 2011
  • Length: 57:00
  • Purchases: 2
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The first of three programs for Black History Month about the life and music of this African-American composer.

Bought by WUAL, WNMU-FM, WMNR, KENW, and WNMU-FM


  • Added: Jan 12, 2012
  • Length: 58:00
  • Purchases: 5
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Three more works by American composer William Grant Still on this second program in a series of three devoted to his music.

Bought by WNMU-FM, WMNR, KPVL, KENW, and WNMU-FM


  • Added: Jan 20, 2012
  • Length: 58:40
  • Purchases: 5
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The third and final hour devoted to the symphonic music of William Grant Still, designed for broadcast during Black History Month (February), but c...

Bought by WNMU-FM, WMNR, KENW, and WNMU-FM


  • Added: Jan 23, 2012
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 4
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Dance music for piano by Shostakovich, Ginastera, Bartok, Tchaikovsky, Sibelius, Piazzolla, Villa-Lobos, Brahms, Satie, Chopin, and Albeniz, perfo...

Bought by KPVL and KENW


  • Added: Feb 25, 2012
  • Length: 58:00
  • Purchases: 2
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"Behold the Bold Umbrellaphant" features such strange musical animals as the Pop-up toadsters, the Circular Sawtoise, the Clocktopus, and the Ballp...

Bought by KENW and KPVL


  • Added: Mar 24, 2012
  • Length: 58:01
  • Purchases: 2
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A dramatic musical based on "The Diary of Anne Frank," with music by Michael Cohen and libretto by Enid Futterman. Perfect for scheduling in April ...

Bought by KPVL and KENW


  • Added: Apr 22, 2012
  • Length: 58:01
  • Purchases: 2
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The Austrian composer Robert Fuchs taught composition to Mahler, Wolf, Enescu, Sibelius and many others. He also composed beautiful, if neglected, ...

Bought by KPVL and KENW


  • Added: Jun 01, 2012
  • Length: 59:01
  • Purchases: 2
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Fred Flaxman presents a second hour of serenades by the Romantic period Austrian composer and teacher. Included are Serenades 3 and 4 and the first...

Bought by KPVL


  • Added: Jun 05, 2012
  • Length: 58:01
  • Purchases: 1
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Beautiful movements from classical pieces that most people -- even classical music lovers -- don't know, but would probably like if they heard them.

Bought by WMNR and KPVL


  • Added: Jun 22, 2012
  • Length: 58:01
  • Purchases: 2
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Using classical, international popular, folk music, and jazz, producer/presenter Fred Flaxman celebrates this 200th "Compact Discoveries" program b...

Bought by KPVL


  • Added: Jul 18, 2012
  • Length: 58:00
  • Purchases: 1