Hank Reynolds
Tarquinio Merula, Ballo detto Pollicio Tarquinio Merula (1595-1665) probably doesn’t show up on your iTunes playists (or mine). And his music is not what I expected to find in my email inbox a short while back. But that’s where I found it, and since it came … Read more
Prima, Sing, Sing, Sing (With a Swing) The King of Swing, Louis Prima (1910-1978), was a singer, trumpet player, and band leader. He first recorded Sing, Sing, Sing in 1936. It was the Benny Goodman Band, however, that made it a hit. Many people refuse … Read more
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Stephen Paulus, The Road Home We are not done with the subject of American choral music yet (and of course we never will be). William Billings and Eric Whitacre provide some nice bookends, chronologically at least, for some further discussion. Choral music has proven to be … Read more
Handel, Royal Fireworks It was 1749 and the king wanted a celebration. George II had signed the Treaty of Aix-La-Chapelle ending the War of the Austrian Succession. Handel (1685-1759) was the logical composer for the occasion. By then he had had a long career in London … Read more
William Billings, Methinks I See an Heavn’ly Host If you are wandering around Boston Commons, you may reach a small cemetery on south side off Boylston Street. (Or maybe you have seen a video of Professor Carol teaching American music from this cemetery.) A plaque next … Read more
Eric Whitacre, Water Night Instead of adding my own commentary to the Friday Performance Pick for this week, I’m going to rely on Carol’s post from this morning and Eric Whitacre’s own commentary in his Ted Talk. After hearing from those two, there really isn’t … Read more
Allegri, Miserere mei Deus Gregorio Allegri (c. 1582-1652) composed his setting of Psalm 51 to be sung in the Sistine Chapel Tenebrae service on Holy Wednesday and Good Friday. The work has been recorded frequently and is performed each year during Holy Week in many churches. … Read more
Schumann, “Hör’ ich das Liedchen klingen” from Dichterliebe This short song may inspire you to listen to the entire song cycle Dichterliebe (poet’s love) by Robert Schumann. If it doesn’t, go listen to the entire cycle anyway and give it a little more time. A song … Read more
Schubert/Liszt, Auf dem Wasser zu Singen Our listening in the past two weeks has focused on songs without words and how the qualities of a song were incorporated into short character pieces for piano. And in the case of Tchaikovsky last week, we look at a transcription … Read more
Tchaikovsky, Song Without Words, Op. 2, No. 3 Mendelssohn wasn’t the only one to write “songs without words.” Another Mendelssohn wrote piano works under this title: his sister Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel. (Some say it was she, in fact, who gave Felix the idea.) Tchaikovsky also … Read more