Hank Reynolds
Losing a teacher is like losing a parent. That was Carol’s remark to me on the news of Stan Shumway’s passing. Dr. Stanley N. Shumway, Professor Emeritus at the University of Kansas, shepherded me through my graduate studies there. My long and unorthodox path to … Read more
Bernstein, Theme from The Magnificent Seven No, it’s not Leonard. Nor was Elmer Bernstein (1922-2004) related to Leonard Bernstein. Elmer built his musical career in Hollywood. He and Leonard were sometimes referred to respectively as “Bernstein West” and “Bernstein East.” Elmer Bernstein composed more than … Read more
Strauss, Don Juan We have a tendency to divide people’s lives into different periods and assign categories to them. Beethoven has his reasonably well-defined early, middle, and late periods. Bach has his “stations,” which are useful for being objective facts that determined the type of … Read more
Mozart, Overture to Abduction from the Seraglio One day during my graduate studies, the orchestra conductor, Dr. George Lawner, handed me the task of creating a two-piano arrangement of this overture. He was directing a scaled down version of the opera Abduction from the Seraglio … Read more
Sousa, The Naval Reserve March We have a tradition here of turning to something specifically American near the Fourth of July, often something of a patriotic nature. This seems like a very good year to uphold that tradition. As a former Army band guy, I … Read more
Wagner, Tristan und Isolde – Vorspiel und Liebestod Few opening statements in music are as iconic as that of the opera Tristan and Isolde by Richard Wagner (1813-1883). Musical scholars point to it as a turning point in the musical vocabulary of the 19th century or … Read more
Tavener, Mother of God Here I Stand Sir John Tavener (1944-2013) composed mostly choral music informed by Orthodox Christianity. He converted to Orthodoxy in 1977. While he remained firmly rooted in Orthodoxy, he was also drawn to other Eastern traditions and assimilated some of those … Read more
Clementi, Sonata in G minor, Op. 7, No. 3 Muzio Clementi (1752-1832) lived 80 years. He was born before Mozart and died after Beethoven. In 1766, he found a patron in Sir Peter Beckford and moved to the Beckford Estate in Dorset where he completed … Read more
Barber, Knoxville: Summer of 1915 Summer may not start officially until June 21, but I grew up with the firm understanding that summer meant summer vacation, which commenced at the beginning of June. And I grew up in Houston where, if one looks only at … Read more
Last Monday night, Professor Carol presented another edition of her notorious Opera Boot Camp. I say notorious because she has offered Opera Boot Camp for several years to a variety of audiences: school kids of various ages, opera administrators, and cruise ship passengers to name … Read more