Friday Performance Pick – 372

yorktown

Schuman, New England Triptych (Chester) When it comes to American patriotic tunes, Chester sits pretty much at the top of the list. Col. Jim Keane, director of the U.S. Army Field Band and a contributor to some of our courses, remarked in one of Carol’s … Read more

Friday Performance Pick – 370

alban-berg

Berg, Lyric Suite In my years as an undergraduate majoring in music composition, we spent considerable time analyzing music of what’s called the “Second Viennese School” or the “New Viennese School”—essentially Arnold Schoenberg and his students Anton Webern (1883-1945) and Alban Berg (1885-1935). (The “First … Read more

Friday Performance Pick – 369

jephtha

Carissimi, Plorate, Filii Israel (from Jephte) The oratorio was developed in Italy during the Counter-Reformation, the Catholic Church’s response to Lutheran reforms. The priest Philip Neri (1515-1595) began holding prayer services during the penitential season of Lent in the Oratory (prayer hall). Music was important … Read more

Friday Performance Pick – 368

percy-grainger

Grainger, Lincolnshire Posy Percy Grainger (1882-1961) is another composer, with others like Bartók and Kodály, who collected folk songs and incorporated them into his compositions. The new technology of the gramophone made field recordings possible, while that same leap in technology threatened the cultural forces … Read more

Friday Performance Pick – 367

carlos-simon

Carlos Simon, Amen! Professor Carol has had a close association with the Dallas Winds for many years, giving their pre-concert lectures and doing other promotional work. Now that we are in Winston-Salem, she agreed to serve on the board of the Piedmont Wind Symphony. There … Read more

Friday Performance Pick – 366

Footprints in the Snow Quite a few years ago, my older sister developed a liking for Flatt & Scruggs. She wasn’t hanging out in Bluegrass circles, but picked up the fad from her boyfriend’s Georgia Tech fraternity. I suspect the budding engineers at the fraternity … Read more

Friday Performance Pick – 365

chausson

Chausson, Le temps des lilas Ernest Chausson (1855-1899) entered the Paris Conservatory in 1879 to study with Jules Massenet. Already 24 years old at the time, this somewhat late move came after he had obtained a law degree and was sworn in as a barrister. … Read more

Friday Performance Pick – 364

heinrich-schutz

Schütz, Alleluia: Lobet den Herren Psalm 150 catalogues the many instruments to be used in praising God: trumpets, lutes, harps, strings, pipes, drums, and cymbals. I suspect there was no intent to exclude others that didn’t make the list. The Psalm is an open invitation … Read more

Friday Performance Pick – 363

ennio-morricone

Morricone, Cinema Paradiso Ennio Morricone (1928-2020) was primarily a film composer with one of the most impressive lists of works. Not all of his more than 400 films were masterpieces, and many are foreign films that didn’t get much attention with English-speaking audiences. Among the … Read more