What’s my favorite part of being Professor Carol? It’s lovely to hear from the kids, of course. But that happens most often when there’s a discovery that thrills the student, such as a 13-year old who realized she could take her newly achieved ability to … Read more
Morley: Now Is the Month of Maying Well, it’s May. We could do something on International Worker’s Day, but drawing on older celebrations of May Day seem more appropriate. May Day is celebrated in many countries with dances and songs and Maypoles marking the beginning … Read more
How is this little red schoolhouse related to online learning? You can find out by joining me for my series of online presentations with Susan Wise Bauer’s Well-Trained-Mind Online Conference. I’m kicking the conference off tomorrow, April 30, at 11 a.m. EDT. I will be doing two more presentations … Read more
Holst: The Planets (IV Jupiter, The Bringer of Jollity) If you grew up listening to the musical themes from Star Trek and Star Wars, you will find the sounds of Gustav Holst’s The Planets quite familiar. (No, I’m not even suggesting musical plagiarism, a subject … Read more
These days we’re spending a lot of time practicing “nose,” “eyes,” and “mouth” with our 19-month old granddaughter. It’s a fantastic thing, helping a child figure out what’s on her face, and watching her realize other people have these structures too. The hardest thing, though, … Read more
Ginastera: Danzas argentinas, Op. 2 A few weeks ago, I commented that we were featuring performances by composers who are not generally listed among the “great masters.” But looking back over the past 23 weeks, I see mostly famous names. So I’m ready to venture into … Read more
I love window-shopping on Amazon, especially putting books into the “cart” and returning to read more about them. Sometimes I buy, but usually I hit “delete” or move them to the “wish list.” The other day I bought a book by accident: Isaiah Berlin: A … Read more
Beethoven: Cello Sonata No. 3, Op. 68 If you have already taken our mini-course “7 Days to Beethoven,” you will recognize this video. It shows up in Professor Carol’s discussion of musical rhetoric. Beethoven was a musical wordsmith, and the third movement of this Cello Sonata … Read more
At the edge of the hill known as Prague Castle in the Czech Republic sits a lovely Palace that belonged to the wealthy Lobkowicz family. Beethoven fans may recognize the name since Count Lobkowicz loved his music and helped support him during an important period … Read more
Bach: St. John Passion, Mein teurer Heiland, laß dich fragen Today being Good Friday, it seems appropriate to turn to the Passion story. It has been a fertile field for music and art. Bach wrote two Passions. His St. John Passion was composed in 1724, … Read more