Sound of History Podcast

Tracing how "world music" was first captured, collected, and commercialized.

Listen to the story of the Con Queen of the Belle Époque, Therese Humbert. But what does her story have to do with Henri Matisse and the birth of modern art?

In this episode, we explore a tale of scandal, ambition, and artistic revolution.

Exploring the origins of the synthesizer and the birth of electronic music.

This episode explores the birth of the commercial music industry and the creation of pop music, while also uncovering the world’s first indie hit song.

A story about the short-lived and tragic friendship between Richard Gerstl, a visionary painter ahead of his time, and Arnold Schoenberg, a radical composer who helped bring atonality into modern music - and how their relationship may have shaped and inspired each other's work.

We dive into the Cakewalk dance craze popularized by Dora Dean, celebrate the first all-Black Broadway show starring Bert Williams, and uncover the story of Pete Hampton, a pioneering black performer who made over 150 recordings in Europe.

Listen to the stories and work of remarkable Black women like Arabella Fields and Belle Davis, who lived and performed in Europe over a century ago.

Their voices, their talent, and their determination deserve so much more recognition than history has given them. 

Check out The Ambientscape Project website

Composer, muse, and magnetic force in early 20th-century Europe, Alma Mahler was far more than a beautiful face. She captivated (and inspired) some of the greatest artists of her time, including Gustav Mahler, whose towering musical legacy was shaped in part by their intense and complicated relationship.

This episode explores the life and mind of Alexander Scriabin, a mystic pianist who believed music could unlock unseen forces, saw color in sound, and dreamed of a symphony so powerful it might end the world (or start a new one).

Discover how his bold ideas and hypnotic music reshaped the boundaries of classical composition, and why his legacy still sparks fascination today.

This episode is about three very different opera singers - the world's most famous superstar from 100 years ago, an eerie relic from the past (⚠️trigger warning) and lastly an opera diva with delusions of grandeur who has one of the worst singing voices in history.

In the bohemian circles of 1890s Paris, Claude Debussy and Erik Satie formed an unlikely friendship that evolved into a complex artistic rivalry. Polar opposites in style and personality, they reshaped classical music forever.

A musical journey through the evolution of ragtime, from its first published pieces in the 1800s to its transformation into early jazz by the 1920s.

We also delve into the ragtime revival of the 1970s and the story of a World War I hero, along with other fascinating discoveries.

In this episode, we delve into an important piece of music history, exploring some of the very first African American groups ever recorded.

Along the way, I uncovered some incredible songs that deserve to be heard. And what better time to share them than during Black History Month.

In this episode we go back to the basics, exploring the origins of sound recording. Delving into the groundbreaking work of early pioneers like Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville, who captured sound waves with his phonautograph in the 1850s, years before Thomas Edison’s phonograph.

We also listen to an early commercial recording of Emile Berliner, and revisit one of the songs played as the Titanic sank, among other things.

In the very first episode of Sound of History, I talk about Europe at the beginning of the 20th century, the events that led up to World War I, the aftermath of WWI and how America became the country that dominated western pop culture influence.