Every season of Now Hear This ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best seasons of Now Hear This!

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.

Something Completely Different

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.

The Riddle of Bach

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.

Man Out of Time

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.

Italian Style

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.

The King of Strings

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.

The Schubert Generation

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.

Becoming Mozart

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.

Beethoven's Ghost

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.

Amy Beach, American Romantic

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.

Florence Price and the American Migration

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.

Dean of American Music

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.

New American Voices

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.

Piazzolla’s History with Tango

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.

Genius and Madness

Rising Stars

Virtuosos

Old Friends

The Composer Is Yoo

Chopin’s Polish Heart

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Episode 4

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 modern storytelling that captivates. Now Hear This opens the world of classical music to new audiences, while giving existing fans new ways to love their music. Now Hear This is presented by Great Performances, celebrating its 50th season on PBS, and this year begins international distribution.

The Best Seasons of Now Hear This

The Best Seasons of Now Hear This

Season 3

Season 4

Season 1

Season 2

Season 5

Season 6