Autumn has always been my favorite season—a season of new beginnings.  For many of you, it marks the beginning of the Academic Year.  That means tackling new subjects, learning new languages, and launching your course of Discovering Music.

Then, there’s the beginning of Football Season which, at least here in Texas, rules the roost!  Plus, Autumn is “festival season.”  This Saturday we will enjoy our local “Chicken and Bread Days,” including a Fiddle Competition.  Even a tiny festival like ours in Bowie, Texas is rooted in important cultural traditions.  So, if you attend such a festival in your area, go up to the “Old Timers” and ask about its origin!  You’ll likely hear some fascinating stories.

Autumn brings other “beginnings”: September 1 marks the beginning of the Liturgical Year in the Eastern Christian (Orthodox) world.  The Liturgical Calendar is a principal topic in Unit 6 of the Discovering Music, as you will see.   In the Western world, the Liturgical Calendar begins with the First Sunday in Advent (December).  While these “liturgical” dates aren’t well recognized in today’s modern world, for centuries they were the most important of all “new beginnings.”

And, of course, the 2009-2010 Concert Season begins in Autumn. My own concert season started with two gala (humongous!) performances of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana by the Dallas Wind Symphony.

It’s a wild and wonderful piece.  Even if you don’t recognize the name, I bet you’d recognize the music: it shows up in commercials and film scores.  It’s amazing that Medieval poems recorded in the year 1230 could result in such glorious “swooshes” of sound!  For a whirlwind tour of Carmina Burana, please click on my audio program “A Modern Medieval Mega-Hit.”

The next stop in the concert season, for me, was a magical concert by Japanese pianist Nobuyuki Tsuji.  Perhaps you saw in the news when 21-year-old Mr. Tsuji split the Gold Medal at the Thirteenth International Van Cliburn Competition back in May 2009.  His victory was particularly newsworthy because Mr. Tsuji is blind.  While any good pianist will tell you that the “real” piano keyboard exists primarily in a person’s mind, still it’s a rare feat for a person without eyesight to become a virtuoso at such an internationally competitive level.  His playing is radiant with joy.  You can see one of his performances here.

Next on the schedule was an imaginative concert presented by the Arts District Chorale (80 singers), mixing comic scenes from the Italian theatrical tradition known as Commedia dell’ arte (Unit 8 in Discovering Music) into Rossini’s Petite Messe Solonnelle (Solemn Little Mass)—all cleverly staged in the huge foyer of the Dallas Museum of Art.  The whole show was held together by a actor named Fred Curchack who, costumed as Rossini, delivered a hilarious and informative narrative.  I wish you had been there with me.  So many topics from Discovering Music came together in that concert.

In my next post, I’ll tell you about another new season that’s about to start.

Meanwhile, keep moving through those units of Discovering Music. Let me know which pieces on the 3-disc audio set you find most interesting.  I’m especially curious to know what you think about Monteverdi’s short Toccata that opens Orfeo (1607). Aren’t the sounds of those early instruments ear-catching?

Also, even though you’ve likely completed the exercises in Unit 1, let those be the beginning, not the end, of such inquiries.  Look carefully at everything around you, and stitch together as much cultural and historical context as you can, while (of course) enjoying the beauty and pleasure of music.  And keep telling folks about Discovering Music, so our Circle will continue to grow!