Romantic, 1859: The music of Richard Wagner marked a growing “crisis” in Romantic harmony marked by the so called, "Tristan Chord". This is the opening harmony of the prelude to Wagner’s 1859 opera Tristan and Isolde. Never before has one group of four notes rocked the musical world so completely.

Robert Schumann

Join Vermont Public Classical host James Stewart on a journey into the events, characters and concepts that shaped our Western musical tradition. We'll start at the very beginning and trace the steps of music through history. This music, and its history, is ours.