What is classical music and how has it evolved? Indeed, it is incredible how music has the ability to communicate to us wordlessly. We may not immediately be able to understand or analyse everything the music intends to say – but we experience it. “It’s like getting to know a person,” says one of the musicians in this programme. Music – and our understanding of it – has evolved continuously throughout history. And it will continue to do so: at one point in time, the music that we currently experience as “beautiful” and “classic” was new – and possibly shocking to its contemporary audience. 

In this episode, we hear music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Helena Munktell, Igor Stravinsky, Carin Malmlöf-Forssling, Maurice Ravel and John Cage. 

Mankind and Music is a series about western classical music with various themes. Why does music exist? What happens to us when we listen to music, and how are we affected by playing an instrument and making music with other people?