“The Swan" by Saint-Saëns — The piece draws on the ancient Greek legend of the ‘swan song’: the belief that the mute swan, silent for most of its life, sings one astonishing melody at the very end. That idea of beauty distilled into a single, final line is exactly what Saint-Saëns captures in the cello’s voice, while the piano moves like water beneath it, carrying swan forward. | Robert N. Johnson