Tinsel Tunes: A Classical Holiday Playlist
Hear a slightly off-kilter collection of beloved carols, Hanukkah favorites and works by Prokofiev, Mahler and Thomas Adès.
Music Lists
You Better Not Cry: The Sad Songs Of Christmas
Happy holidays? More like Sappy Bawlidays. If Christmas sends you down the chimney of despair, these 10 of the season's saddest ditties will meet you there.
A Year Of Listening Desperately: 10 Classical Albums That Saved 2016
The contentious presidential election colored the listening habits of NPR's classical producer.
The 2016 NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll
Critic Francis Davis surveyed the jazz community to determine the best albums of the year. The winner has had a very good 2016.
Why The 2016 Jazz Critics Poll Belongs To The Avant Gentry
Jazz critic Francis Davis says veteran musicians — particularly Wadada Leo Smith and Henry Threadgill — are making some of the most adventurous music of their careers.
Hip For The Holidays: A World Cafe Playlist
Feeling a little jingle belled out? Here's your musical stocking stuffer — plus a holiday bedtime story.
David Dye's Top 10 Albums Of 2016
These are the albums that the longtime World Cafe host turned to the most this year. Some may surprise you.
Talia Schlanger's Top 10 Albums Of 2016
World Cafe's contributing host shines a spotlight on the brilliant artists who provided the soundtrack to an eventful year.
In Memoriam 2016
NPR Music remembers musicians — singers, songwriters, instrumentalists — and other visionaries we lost in 2016. Explore and celebrate their musical legacies.
Folk Alley's 10 Favorite Albums Of 2016
Folk Alley's Elena See and Linda Fahey share their takes on the best Americana, roots and folk records of the year.