Friday FIVE: June 19 - Bethena, A Concert Waltz

Friday FIVE: June 19 - Bethena, A Concert Waltz

Scott Joplin gave America the Maple Leaf Rag and the Entertainer. But in 1905, grieving the death of his wife of ten weeks, he wrote something entirely different. Bethena is a concert waltz, marked cantabile, wistful and searching in ways ragtime was never supposed to be. In this episode, I reflect on the backstory behind this neglected composition, a quiet parallel to Bach's Partita No. 2 in D Minor, and what Bethena reveals about who Joplin really was beyond the title of King of Ragtime. The Friday FIVE is a weekly five-minute podcast series from Musically Speaking that features five minutes of music commentary, examples, and recommendations from Jarrod Richey. Here’s a recording of Bethena: https://youtu.be/FzckSxYw7fg [https://youtu.be/FzckSxYw7fg] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jarrodrichey.substack.com [https://jarrodrichey.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Friday FIVE: June 12 - Straighten Up & Fly Right

Nat King Cole’s first major commercial hit came from an unlikely source, his father’s pulpit. In this episode, I reflect on the story behind Straighten Up and Fly Right, the folk fable at its heart, and what made the King Cole Trio so distinctive. Along the way, I share a few of my favorite Cole recordings, including his shuffle cover of On the Street Where You Live. Sometimes the best advice and the best music come from the same place. The Friday FIVE is a weekly five-minute podcast series from Musically Speaking that features five minutes of music commentary, examples, and recommendations from Jarrod Richey. Here’s a recording of “Straighten Up and Fly Right”: https://youtu.be/o-4VTlQlros [https://youtu.be/o-4VTlQlros]And one of my all-time favorites, his cover of “On the Street Where You Live": https://youtu.be/l0wfLdcV1ak [https://youtu.be/l0wfLdcV1ak] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jarrodrichey.substack.com [https://jarrodrichey.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Friday FIVE: June 5 - Another Lens on Beethoven

A few years ago, a friend told me I needed to hear Trio X of Sweden. He was right. In this episode, I reflect on this Swedish improvisational trio and their remarkable reinterpretations of Beethoven, Schumann, sacred music, and more. When they take on the Moonlight Sonata, it is not novelty or irony. It feels like another lens through which to hear a familiar work. Sometimes great art holds up precisely because it can be seen differently and still endure. The Friday FIVE is a weekly five-minute podcast series from Musically Speaking that features five minutes of music commentary, examples, and recommendations from Jarrod Richey. Here’s a link to Trio X’s Cover of Moonlight Sonata: https://youtu.be/s9HHNbQYoJo [https://youtu.be/s9HHNbQYoJo] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jarrodrichey.substack.com [https://jarrodrichey.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Friday FIVE: May 29 - Someone Had to Write It

As America approaches its semiquincentennial on July 4, 2026, composer and pianist Stephen Limbaugh decided the occasion deserved more than a theme song. In this episode, I reflect on his America 250 Symphony, a full four-movement, 28-minute orchestral work documented in real time over two years on X [https://x.com/StephenLimbaugh/status/1945148693042085974]. Working in the lineage of Dvořák, Copland, and Gershwin, and collaborating with Hollywood orchestrator Conrad Pope, Limbaugh is attempting something serious. Whether or not it becomes a landmark work, the instinct behind it is worth paying attention to. The Friday FIVE is a weekly five-minute podcast series from Musically Speaking that features five minutes of music commentary, examples, and recommendations from Jarrod Richey. Here’s the link to support the work: https://www.givesendgo.com/A250symphony [https://www.givesendgo.com/A250symphony] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jarrodrichey.substack.com [https://jarrodrichey.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Friday FIVE: May 22 - The Oratorio Before Elijah

On May 22, 1836, Felix Mendelssohn premiered his oratorio St. Paul in Düsseldorf to immediate acclaim. One hundred and ninety years later, one chorus from it still stops people in their tracks. In this episode, I reflect on what made St. Paul significant in his time, what How Lovely Are the Messengers does with a text from Romans 10, and why a group of fourth through tenth grade boys in West Monroe, Louisiana, sang it better than they may have known. The Friday FIVE is a weekly five-minute podcast series from Musically Speaking that features five minutes of music commentary, examples, and recommendations from Jarrod Richey. Here’s the recording of “How Lovely are the Messengers”: https://youtu.be/wE5Ngf9_uqo [https://youtu.be/wE5Ngf9_uqo] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jarrodrichey.substack.com [https://jarrodrichey.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]