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The Best Episodes of Now Hear This

Every episode of Now Hear This ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Now Hear This!

The Best Episodes of Now Hear This

Now Hear This is a primetime PBS miniseries now filming its 5th season that brings the greatest music ever written to millions of viewers, with...

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  1. 9.8/10(8 votes)

    #1 - Dean of American Music

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    S3:E3

    Scott spends a month each year teaching students, just as Aaron Copland did during his career. Together they’ll play Copland’s music to learn how he drew from his roots and American folk songs to invent the American sound.

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  2. 8.9/10(25 votes)

    #2 - Something Completely Different

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    S1:E1

    Scott Yoo investigates the story behind Vivaldi’s Four Seasons – and discovers a new Vivaldi work, his connection to Stradivarius, a treasure trove of original manuscripts, and that Vivaldi himself was almost lost to history.

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  3. 8.9/10(22 votes)

    #3 - The Riddle of Bach

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    S1:E2

    In Germany, Scott discovers a riddle that Bach left in his only official portrait. In trying to solve it, he and his wife Alice Dade, also a star musician, discover Bach’s true personality and his surprising influences, leading them to a spectuacular finale in Paris.

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  4. 8.9/10(21 votes)

    #4 - Man Out of Time

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    S1:E3

    Scott goes on the trail of Domenico Scarlatti, the most influential composer you’ve never heard of. From Italian, Spanish, Moorish, Jewish, Gypsy, dance and guitaristic roots, Scarlatti created a new musical language, more relevant today than in his own time.

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  5. 8.7/10(17 votes)

    #5 - Italian Style

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    S1:E4

    Before becoming London’s most famous composer, Handel did his ‘graduate school’ in Italy. Scott traces his footsteps and his inspirations – not just music, but art, architecture, fashion, food and wine – to understand how Italy shaped this German composer for the rest of his life.

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  6. 8.7/10(6 votes)

    #6 - Florence Price and the American Migration

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    S3:E2

    Scott explores the newly rediscovered music of Florence Price, to understand how African-American spirituals — a mixture of West African songs and European hymns — influenced her work and nearly all of American popular music.

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    The 20 WORST Episodes of Now Hear This

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  8. 6.8/10(8 votes)

    #7 - Amy Beach, American Romantic

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    S3:E1

    At his music festival, Scott plays America’s greatest Romantic composer, Amy Beach. In New England, he explores her roots and career. At a time when society looked down on women composers, Beach worked to invent a new American music.

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  9. NaN/10(0 votes)

    #8 - The King of Strings

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    S2:E1

    Scott discovers how Joseph Hadyn combined folk music from across Europe with his own unique style and belief system to create the string quartet, influencing all composers after him.

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  10. NaN/10(0 votes)

    #9 - The Schubert Generation

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    S2:E2

    Scott meets some of today’s leading young musicians, none older than Franz Schubert during his career, to gain a deeper appreciation for the composer’s brilliant work and tragically short life.

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  11. NaN/10(0 votes)

    #10 - Becoming Mozart

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    S2:E3

    Scott teaches pianist Stewart Goodyear to conduct, so he can lead the orchestra through Mozart’s titanic 20th piano concerto — while improvising the solos — just as Mozart would have done.

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  12. NaN/10(0 votes)

    #11 - Beethoven's Ghost

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    S2:E4

    Scott makes a landmark recording, centered around Beethoven's famous Ghost Trio. This summons the ghost of Beethoven, trailed by Sigmund Freud who’s intent on analyzing him, in this eccentric mix of documentary and ghost story.

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  13. NaN/10(0 votes)

    #12 - New American Voices

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    S3:E4

    Scott meets and plays with modern masters: Sergio Assad shows him how Brazilian music inspires his work, now staples of the classical canon. Reena Esmail draws from traditional Indian rhythms and scales to create her signature sound.

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  14. NaN/10(0 votes)

    #13 - Piazzolla’s History with Tango

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    S4:E1

    Scott and Alice travel to Buenos Aires to discover the music of Astor Piazzolla, who fell in love with tango. Then fell out of love. Then tango fell out of love with him. Scott and Alice play with Argentina’s greatest musicians and dancers, to find out if Piazzolla and tango could reconcile.

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  15. NaN/10(0 votes)

    #14 - Genius and Madness

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    S4:E2

    Scott goes to Scotland, Germany and France, with leading musicians, psychiatrists and scholars, to try to understand the connection between mental health and creativity in the work of Robert Schumann and other great artists. Featuring the great cellist Bion Tsang.

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Best Episodes Summary

"Dean of American Music" is the best rated episode of "Now Hear This". It scored 9.8/10 based on 8 votes. Directed by N/A and written by N/A, it aired on 4/29/2022. This episode scored 0.9 points higher than the second highest rated, "Something Completely Different".