This week, all who love film and music are celebrating the 90th birthday of John Williams, one of our finest-ever American composers. Even the shortest list of films for which Williams wrote the score dazzles the mind: Jaws, E.T., the Star Wars series, Schindler’s List, … Read more
Wellerman The Sea Shanty craze may have died down a bit. But that provides an excuse for a site like ours, focused on music history, to take up the topic. Of course, sea shanty history didn’t begin with Nathan Evans’ TikTok recording, but he did … Read more
Wednesday of this week, February 2, was Candlemas. This liturgical event, also known as the “Feast of the Holy Encounter,” officially ends the Christmas season. Flourishing especially in Medieval England, Candlemas begins with the annual blessing of candles for the church’s use, as well as … Read more
Kancheli, A Little Daneliade I’m guessing that many if not most of you will be intrigued with this piece by Giya Kancheli (1935-2019). The music makes more sense when you know that it serves as the film score to the 1986 Russian-language film Kin-dza-dza. The … Read more
Hymn Workshop: Spirituals Tuesday, Feb. 8 at 8 pm EST Let’s turn in the month of February to one of the most emotional and powerful forms of singing praise: the American Spiritual. This seemingly simple form of musical prayer and worship has had enormous influence, … Read more
Granados, Intermezzo from Goyescas This intermezzo by Enrique Granados (1867-1916) comes from his 1915 opera Goysecas. It has become a popular concert piece for piano and for piano and cello. The opera is in the form of a Zarzuela, which developed initially as a Baroque-era … Read more
We did not lose our electricity in the storm that just swept the East Coast. Here, at the northern edge of Winston-Salem, four inches of snow fell, followed by two inches of freezing rain, resulting in five inches of solid ice. For some reason, the … Read more
The story of Lohengrin is timeless, touching, and powerful. A knight of the Holy Grail, son of Parzival, arrives in a boat pulled by swans to defend Elsa, the beleaguered duchess of Brabant, and restore her claim to the throne. The evildoers, though, are not … Read more
Berlin, Alexander’s Ragtime Band Irving Berlin (1888-1989) contributed as much to American music over his long lifetime as anyone. It’s hard to imagine a more famous collection of songs—God Bless America (1938), White Christmas (1942), There’s No Business Like Show Business (1946), just to name … Read more
I have no idea how I learned to read. It’s been a while ago, clearly. Yet, I imagine I learned through the tried-and-true method of phonics. In the raising of our now-grown daughter, I watched the chaos that ensued when she was not taught phonics. … Read more