Friday Performance Pick – 273

piazzolla-tuba

Piazzolla, Tango-Étude No. 3 The powers that be are extending many of the closings and social distance rules, so I am extending my series of performance picks for solo instruments. As a practical matter, a tuba requires a certain amount of social distancing just because … Read more

Friday Performance Pick – 272

Puccini, Nessun dorma A snazzy style of television “talent” contests gained popularity some years back. Either the audience or a panel of judges I didn’t know would vote thumbs up or down on a steady stream of musical acts trying to achieve instant stardom. I … Read more

Friday Performance Pick – 271

tin-pan-alley

Donaldson, You’re Driving Me Crazy Tin Pan Alley exerted a strong influence on American music for more than half a century beginning in the late 1880s. The name refers to a specific block in Manhattan, 28th Street between Broadway and Sixth Avenue. Music publishing houses … Read more

Friday Performance Pick – 270

piazza-banchi

Stradella, Sinfonia in D Minor, No. 22 Alessandro Stradella (1643-1682) gives us one of the more colorful composer biographies. A couple of years ago we said a few words about Gesualdo’s colorful history—the fact that he murdered his wife and her lover. Stradella found himself … Read more

Friday Performance Pick – 268

malcolm-arnold

Arnold, Fantasy for Horn Continuing from last week’s theme of music for quarantine, we turn to a work for solo horn by Sir Malcolm Henry Arnold (1921-2006). Arnold composed the score for numerous films from 1947 to 1969. He won an Academy Award in 1957 … Read more

Friday Performance Pick – 267

kuhlau

Kuhlau, Fantasy for Flute Solo, Op. 38 As tiresome as talk of sheltering-in-place may be, it does prompt me to return to a theme we explored more than three years ago: music for solo, unaccompanied instruments. This week’s feature was filmed, appropriately enough, in an … Read more

Friday Performance Pick – 266

bach-window

Bach, Jesu Meine Freude, BWV 277 “Motet” often means a sacred polyphonic work with a Latin text. But motets took different forms over a long history from the 13th to the 18th century, varying from place to place and era to era. Secular motets dominated … Read more

Friday Performance Pick – 265

byrd

Byrd, Ne Irascaris Domine/Civitas Sancti Tui As I thought about using this selection by William Byrd (c. 1543-1623) as today’s performance pick, I recalled that Byrd had appeared here somewhat recently. So I looked back at the list and discovered, of course, it was during … Read more

Friday Performance Pick – 264

kenny-rogers

Children Go Where I Send Thee I thought about posting this week’s performance previously, but the occasion never seemed quite right. Christmas perhaps, or as part of a series focused on pop/folk music or vocal ensembles. But on hearing that Kenny Rogers (1938-2020) died last … Read more