I've just stumbled on a great BBC program (OK, programme) online, called "Discovering Music." A typical program takes a piece of music apart, explaining in plain terms what's going on--it's for general audiences so all terminology is thoroughly explained or exemplified. Sometimes a program will be on a thematic or generic topic--"Elgar's Englishness" and "Songs" being respective examples. In general, the analyses stick to formal aspects of the music, as opposed to culturally contextual or biographical.
The archive, organized by composer or topic name, can be found at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/discoveringmus...ioarchive.shtml.
It's great to hear these analyses illustrated with copious audio examples, by the fairly unpretentious and knowledgable narrator. It made me think, of course, how wonderful a similar program would be in re ballet, complete with visual and audio examples. I mean if one can easily spend an hour dissecting a Schubert sonata, surely one could do the same with Serenade.