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In the 1940's, Aaron Copland developed lighter, clearer, more open textures for his ballets like Appalachian Spring. Hear critic Ted Libbey explain how the San Francisco Symphony puts those ideas across best, in a full-fledged recording.

Hear a full-album preview of Laura Gibson's quiet masterpiece, Beasts of Seasons, streaming on NPR Music as an exclusive first listen.

The Seattle band Ivan and Alyosha counts neither an Ivan nor an Alyosha among its ranks. It takes its name from characters in the Dostoevsky novel The Brothers Karamazov. Turns out the questions of faith in that book can be found in this group's music, too — however inverted.

Singer-songwriter Tristen Gaspadarek has spent the past few years studying the DNA of the pop hook. The fruit of that labor is audible on her debut release, Charlatans at the Garden Gate.

The Bad Plus isn't the only piano trio to have recorded parts of The Rite of Spring. Hear from the band E.S.T. and its late leader, pianist Esbjorn Svensson, about their hidden take on "Spring Khorovod."

"Vivire Para Ti" has an opening riff that recalls early-'90s acid-jazz and funk, coupled with an irresistible chorus. The song features Mexican pop singer-songwriter Natalia Lafourcade, and is far more earnest and romantic than most of Los Amigos Invisibles' past work.

When the Beatles broke up in 1970, the group had one final album in the can. Let It Be was a collection of live studio performances that was marinated with orchestra, chorus and overdubs by producer Phil Spector. Now, EMI has released a new "back to the roots" version of the album, stripping away Spector's add ons. Music critic Tim Page has a review of Let It Be... Naked.

Susan Stamberg and Murray Horwitz bring four generation-spanning Hanukkah stories to life.

Novelist Geraldine Brooks, poet Robert Hass, Western essayist William Kittredge: from critic Alan Cheuse, an array of books to keep winter's chill and the ever-earlier dark at bay — at least in the circle of light by the reader's chair.

Eritrean cyclist Biniam Girmay sprinted to victory in Belgium and became the first Black African to win one of road cycling's classic races.

President Bush says George Tenet has resigned as CIA director for "personal reasons" and will leave the spy agency next month. Tenet has been under intense fire for intelligence failures in Iraq. His deputy will lead the agency temporarily until a successor is found. Hear NPR's Steve Inskeep and NPR's Mary Louise Kelly.

Every summer, Charlottesville, Va., hosts an annual Woodstock of sorts for photography lovers and practitioners called the Look3 Festival of the Photograph. One of the most popular exhibits — YourSpace — celebrates the achievements of everyday photographers.

Singer Patti Scialfa's new CD was a long time coming — her previous solo release was in 1993. But she says husband Bruce Springsteen offered this encouragement: "The record will tell you when it's complete."

A series of shootings and explosions killed more than 120 in and around the French capital on Friday night. This is what Paris looked like in the immediate aftermath.

In its Tiny Desk performance, the trio makes music strictly for the moment — creating a shared language in real time.

New Jersey became the first state in more than four decades to abolish the death penalty. Gov. Jon Corzine signed into law a measure that replaced the death sentence with life in prison without parole. The law spares eight men currently on death row.

Guatemala finishes its first round of voting. A former general vowing to crack down on crime in Central America's most violent country and a businessman who promises to alleviate desperate poverty were in a near-tie in Guatemala's presidential vote.

Beijing says it has vaccinated more than 73,000 people in the two days since China's first domestic coronavirus vaccine was approved for commercial use.

Indonesia, an archipelago of 270 million people, sits along the Pacific "Ring of Fire," which leaves the country prone to earthquakes, tsunamis and eruptions.

We're looking at what they call the market garden concept when we transition into spring and we start seeding our trees and prepare for the garden season…